One of the top 10 advertising icons of the 20th century belongs to a company that filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Borden Dairy Co. is following in the footsteps of No. 1 milk producer Dean Foods, which did the same in November. CNN reports the company cited the burden of its debt load and pension obligations in its filing, but also pointed to larger industry issues: a 6% decrease in the amount of milk America has consumed since 2015 and a consistent shrinking of the number of family dairy farms here. As the AP explains, the farms that remain have upped their prices, but Borden hasn’t been able to pass that increase on to consumers for fear of getting crushed by competitors like Walmart, which opened a milk processing plant of its own in 2018.
he company has been in operation for 163 years—since prior to the Civil War. Gail Borden figured out how to condense milk on a commercial scale in 1856, opened a plant five years later in New York, and became a supplier to the Union Army. The company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow, entered the public consciousness in 1936.
Oh no, not Elsie the Cow!
Please. Stop the world, I want to get off.
Seriously, this is sad news.
Soy milk, almond milk, rice milk.
nothing new here. Aunt Jemima has been on food stamps since the great pancake epidemic of ’03…..
..chapter 13. They are going to continue operations, just with restructured debt.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/borden-files-for-bankruptcy-2nd-dallas-based-dairy-to-seek-protection-as-milk-consumption-drops/2287333/
…Daisy ain’t hamburger yet…
Soy milk for soy boys…
I had a cousin named Elsie who was a young girl in the 30’s and she always resented being called “Elsie the Cow” even though she was tall and slender her whole life. She always went by her middle name Ann for as long as I can remember. I referred to her one time as Elsie and she punched the shit out of me…I never did it again! RIP Elsie…and Ann!
They should try milk-based energy drinks.
Poor Elsie. Is her husband Elmer still making glue?
https://www.cnbc.com/2011/08/12/Top-Ad-Icons-of-the-20th-Century.html
And the Morton Salt Girl ain’t in the list…
…I’ll just leave this here, make of it what you will…
“I used to have this girlfriend known as Elsie
With whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea
She wasn’t what you’d call a blushing flower
As a matter of fact she rented by the hour
The day she died the neighbors came to snicker
“Well, that’s what comes from too much pills and liquor”
But when I saw her laid out like a Queen
She was the happiest corpse, I’d ever seen”
“Cabaret”, Songwriters: Fred Ebb / John Kander
https://youtu.be/5QS1l1mSDSo
Will the last American company to fold this decade please turn out the lights.
I’d miss Elsie the Cow. But not Moochelle the cow, or Hillary the Cow,
I’ve loathed milk since I was weaned, but I’m sorry to hear that Elsie may be subject to the Biltz-Kerner. She always appeared to be such a happy cow.
I’m a hypocrite, too — I DO use milk in scrambled eggs and omelettes. But DRINK a glass of milk? I’d rather eat earthworms.
Millennials are killing everything worth a crap and will be the death of us all. Generation Exed.
I’ve recently switched to lactose-free milk. But you couldn’t get me to give up that for anything. One thing the NW has that’s better than anywhere else in the US: MILK! (Suck on it Wisconsin.)
One brand I’d like to see disappear is Heinz. I can make my own ketchup if I have to.
@AA, I switched to Hunts as soon as I found out that John Kerry was connected to Heinz.
I’m sorry to hear about Borden. That label reminds me of my Grandmother. She always had a can of “Elsie” in the cupboard.
It’s sadder when you are an employee.
I once worked for a company that was 150 years old when it folded.
The company archives were packed with old photos.
There is something to be said for that, mickey moussauui. I was a Bell Atlantic dude. I was born 99 years after the Bell System came into being. In 1996 I became a Bell man (not Bell System, Bell System was killed, as you know, in 1984).
At first I had no conception of what I was a part of. It was a job. Then it dawned on me very suddenly, in Plant School, that I could be a part of a very big thing.
I was and am very proud to have been a Bell man, even if just on the waning of an operation that made sense. We were very good at what we did.
Not all of us, but I’m proud to say I was a Telephone man.
…Agreed, @mickey moussaoui and @Anonymous Erik. I worked for Sears for 20 years (not recently), and it makes me sad to see them destroyed by an avaricious CEO.
…the company I work for now passed the 150 mark a couple years ago, and it’s third-generation owner seems bent on running IT off the cliff TOO, as third generation owners tend to do…
Every place I’ve ever worked in my life except my construction jobs has gone out of business. Not sure what that says but don’t tell my current employer.😀
Time marches on. The Coppertone girl got mixed up with a black heroin addict who in turn got her hooked and made her work the streets to support their habits. She died from AIDS in 77.
Well milk is gone, guess we are down to apple pie…
I love milk, and drink at least a glass a day.
My children drank milk with their meals, as do my grandkids.
Pop and energy drinks do nothing for real nutrition. They just fill you up for a short time.
Another plus for me -milk, not 1% or skim, but whole or 2% has enough fat in it to truly satisfy hunger, and curb my appetite.
It was always called “canned cow” around our household, and was a necessary coffee ingredient long before the flavored crap became ubiquitous.
Anonymous Eric; Most people have no idea of the major transition from mechanical switchgear to the marvel of today’s digital systems with fiber optic backbones, or the things like streaming services that it allows.
I’ll bet Creepy Joe Biden is still looking for the little Coppertone Girl and her puppy!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coppertone-girl-update_n_57f41eaae4b04c71d6f0a31a
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