Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
March 21, 1988
By Helen Fagg Mitchell
Vigo County Historical Society
Cans reminders of local businesses that packaged foodstuffs for customers
As food products are bought and consumed, the containers usually are discarded. A few from the past, however, miraculously escaped the garbage can and found their way into the General Store at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley.
Farmer’s Pride, Dauntless and Clabber Girl Baking Powder were brand names of food produced by Hulman and Co. This business, located at the corner of Ninth Street and Wabash Avenue, was established in the 1850s by a German immigrant, Frances Hulman. A younger brother, Herman, joined in the enterprise and it soon grew into a large operation.
Crystal and Dauntless were the first baking powders developed by this company in 1897. In 1899 a new formula was patented and named Clabber Baking Powder. In 1923 the word “Girl” was added. And as a result of a national sales campaign in the 1930s, the product became one of the leaders on the market.
The label on the Clabber Girl Double Action Baking Powder has the picture of a young girl carrying a plate of biscuits with a busy family group forming the background. The can also carries the Good Housekeeping seal of approval and the words “moisture proof container” and “factory fresh.”
A recent visitor to the ghost town of Bodie, Calif., said he was quite surprised when he saw a Clabber Girl Baking Powder can in the window of the old general store.
The list of spices and condiments prepared and packaged by Hulman & Co. is long and impressive. The ginger can is representative of the type used for many of these products. Some readers probably can recall entire shelves of such boxes with the familiar blue label.
The Jane Justice can once was filled with great beans. Jan Justice was the patented label for a number of food products distributed by the Charles W. Bauermeister Co. In 1868 Charles Bauermeister, an immigrant, established a grocery, grain and cured meats market at the northeast corner of First and Main streets. The business was later taken over by his son Carl E. Bauermeister, and became the distributor of food products for the Wabash Valley.
Written material concerning the food industries in Terre Haute is very sketchy, but first-hand information was available from the young lady whose picture appeared on each Jane Justice label. When Mary Jane Bauermeister graduated from college in 1932, her father had her photographed in her cap and gown. This became the official label of all of the Jane Justice products.
Mary Jane Bauermeister Hegeman, lives in the Garden Quarter, said there were many different canned products as well as boxed rice and even toothpicks. The canneries with which Bauermeister did business had to meet rigid standards of quality and sanitation before the Jane Justice label could be applied.
An interesting side note for the Jane Justice label was that the labels could be saved and redeemed at the plant for all kinds of gifts. The children were especially favored with gifts of baseballs, mitts, bats and other fascinating articles. This may account for the fact that very few of the cans with labels are found today.
At one time the Wabash Valley was an important center for vegetable crops. To preserve these foods, several canneries were opened in Terre Haute. The Quaker Maid Plant, Loudon’s and Finer Foods Packing Co. were examples. The American Can Co., which produced containers also was located here. When government restrictions became too expensive to follow, the plants closed.
The food containers in the pictures are only a few of those found in the museum. They were presented by Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Kester, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hilton, Warren Yeager and Fred Milton Pearce.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.