Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Kira A. Dietz, Archivist
Permission to publish material from National Biscuit Company Package Catalog must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
The collection is open for research.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: National Biscuit Company Package Catalog, Ms2017-019, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The National Biscuit Company Package Catalog was purchased by Special Collections in March 2017.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the National Biscuit Company Package Catalog was completed in June 2017.
Founded in 1898, the National Biscuit Company was the product of a merger among the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company, the New York Biscuit Company, and the United States Baking Company. The new conglomerate consisted of one hundred-fourteen bakeries across the United States and was headquartered in New York City.
Though the name "Nabisco" was first used as the name for a specific product introduced in 1901 (a sugar wafer), and was used within the company at least as early as the 1930s (likely sooner), the corporate name was not shortened to Nabisco, Inc. until 1971.
In 1981, Nabisco merged with Standard Brands, Inc., which later became part of R. J. Reynolds. It has since become part of several more mergers and separations. It is currently a subsidiary of Mondelēz International.
The collection contains a single package catalog for the National Biscuit Company. Although the catalog is not dated, one item is from June 1931, suggesting the catalog is from about that time. It includes labels for more than forty crackers, cookies, and other snack items, and the back pages include sample display racks for stores.