The Blog

The Borden brand is celebrating June Dairy Month, and their 150th anniversary, in style – with a donation to the New York Historical Society. Included was a scrapbook compiled by and including handwritten notes by Borden founder Gail Borden, the “Father of the Modern Dairy Industry” and inventor of condensed milk. The items will remain permanently at the Historical Society.

The real Elsie the Cow, America’s beloved mascot, joined company and museum officials for a presentation ceremony held on the steps of the Historical Society. Accompanying Elsie were her handlers, along with ninety-year-old Jim Cavanaugh, one of the original “Borden Boys” and one of the men credited with selecting the first Elsie at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

The Borden story began 150 years ago with Gail Borden, who was a publisher, cattleman, surveyor, civil servant, politician and missionary in 19th century Texas before he began inventing new ways to preserve foodstuffs. In 1853, Borden began working on a process to condense milk as a means of preventing spoilage. Four years later, he established his first condensery in Burrville, Connecticut, which became known as the Borden Company.

Elsie the Cow is having the best week ever! As you read in the above post, Elsie visited the New York Historical Society to help honor Gail Borden. And, other select Borden-related items will be featured in collections relating to the 1939 World’s Fair as well as advertising history at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. I don’t know about you, but the history behind these two stories is fascinating to me.

In a special ceremony today, the Smithsonian received a collection of personal memorabilia documenting the Borden Company’s participation in the 1939 New York World’s Fair in commemoration of Borden’s 150th anniversary. The donation includes yearbooks, photographs, personal scrapbooks and other materials. A selection of the Borden-related collection will be on temporary display in the museum’s “Treasures of American History” exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum beginning July 12.

At the World’s Fair, Borden soon discovered that although impressed with the technology on display, most visitors really wanted to know which animal was Elsie, a fictional cow featured in the company’s recent advertisements. An especially sweet-dispositioned Jersey was swiftly identified as Elsie and introduced to the public. She became the focus of the exhibit, where she and her calf Beulah lived in a luxury stall with framed “portraits” of her ancestors on the wall. Due to her immense popularity at the fair, the Borden Company made Elsie its primary advertising icon, a role she still plays today.