Kansas Snapshots by Gloria Freeland - November 8, 2024

Six Twinkies over America

Last week while we were visiting at friend Jo’s place in southwest Wisconsin, we stopped at an antiques and collectibles "mall" in nearby Boscobel (bahs-co-bell). Jo collects cigar boxes, and is especially drawn to those made of wood with eye-catching illustrations.

I knew I had a winner when I spotted one with an engraving of Charles Denby on the cover. "Established 1850, Made By H. Fendrich, Evanston, Ind. House of Mehlhop, Dubuque, Iowa." Inside was a color portrait of Denby.

Having never been a cigar smoker ... or a smoker of any kind for that matter ... none of this was familiar to me.

But I am familiar with curiosity, and husband Art and I seem to have an ample supply of that. While I was making cranberry bread the previous week, Art noticed my Clabber Girl Baking Powder can. His mother had used it for years, as I have, but he decided the time had arrived to check out its history. What the heck is clabber and who was the Clabber Girl?

It turns out clabber comes from the Gaelic "clábair" - meaning sour milk - and is a source of the leavening agent used in baking. The company's website said an artist was commissioned in 1899 to provide a sketch of the girl for the label, but no one knows whether the girl was real. In the 1940s, highlights were added to her hair, but her image hasn't changed since then.

That may be true, but I have changed. I will never again look at that label without a slight feeling of being "in the know" coming over me.

A similar investigation of the cigar box was called for and began as soon as we arrived back at Jo's. Who was Charles Denby? Who was H. Fendrich? What was the House of Mehlhop? Sooo many questions ... and not one of them important!

Denby was a U.S. Civil War officer from Indiana who later practiced law. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed him Minister to China, a post he held for 13 years ... the longest of anyone in that post down to the present.

The four Fendrich brothers - Joseph, Karl, Franz, and Herrmann - immigrated from Germany in 1833 and established a tobacco and cigar business, with the headquarters being in Evansville, Indiana in 1855. Charles Denby was one of the company's brands. After the three older brothers retired, Herrmann continued the business, hence, H. Fendrich Cigar Company.

According to encyclopediadubuque.org, John Mehlhop also immigrated from "Der Vaterland" and went into business in Iowa. His grandson, Henry H. Mehlhop, followed in his footsteps, managing the House of Mehlhop, a wholesale distributor of tobaccos and cigarettes in Dubuque.

Wow! All that history in one little cigar box.

But there was more to come! Jo questioned how Denby's name could be used on the cigars unless he gave permission. Laws governing name usage have changed over the years and what Fendrich did might not be done today. Perhaps the most important lawsuit in changing this area involved none other than famed "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson.

In 1976, a company called "Here's Johnny Portable Toilets, Inc." was incorporated in Michigan. Carson successfully argued that his image, name, and several common phrases - such as "Here's Johnny" - used at the opening of the show, were, in effect, closely associated with him and his commercial endeavors, and that the toilet company was infringing on them. The court agreed. The laws regarding Using someone's name or closely associated items varies by states, the situation of the person - public or private - how it is used, if the person is dead or alive, and if dead, for how long. In short, since the laws are murky, using a person' likeness does provide a basis for legal action which may be successful and so doing so isn't a wise idea. In this case, the cigar box was probably produced more than 50 years after Denby's death.

But there were no such worries years ago.

In 1890, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Karl Benz were all working on automobiles. A car purchased by racer Emil Jellinek was christened Mercedes, after his daughter. In 1926, a merger resulted in the Mercedes-Benz name, probably without the daughter's permission.

In recent times, Dave Thomas named his fast-food chain after his daughter Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas, who today owns a number of the stores.

Here in Kansas, mention of the Hunt name brings to mind the family that owns the Kansas City Chiefs. So when I saw ads for Hunt Brothers Pizza at nearby gas stations, I wondered if it was the same family?

Nope!

Don, Lonnie, Jim, and Charlie Hunt started in the food business, working for their father. In 1991, the brothers founded the company known as Hunt Brothers Pizza. I guess you could say they were successful as the company website says they have "over 10,000 locations across 33 states." The brothers still own the company based in Nashville, Tennessee.

While once there were large numbers of major retailers named after their founders - J.C. Penney for James Cash Penney, Woolworth for Frank Winfield Woolworth, Sears-Roebuck for Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck, Kresge for Sebastian Spering Kresge, etc. - many have either disappeared or are struggling.

But Walmart, named for Sam Walton, is rather a recent addition to this group, starting in 1962, and it is doing well. My pet name for the retail giant is "Six Twinkies over America" because its logo reminds me of Twinkies, one of my favorite snacks. According to walmartmuseum.com, a "spark" of inspiration led Walton to start his stores, and the logo represents that spark, along with the six key ingredients that have led to the company’s success - customers, respect, integrity, associates, service, and excellence.

So what's the deal with that odd-sounding village name where we found the cigar box? The locals say Boscobel stems from the French "bosque belle," meaning pretty woods, of which there are many in the vicinity.

OK, enough enlightenment for today!