ARM & HAMMER BAKING SODA

BRAND NAME COOKING WITH ARM & HAMMER

The official company website:  Arm & Hammer

HISTORY

The following is an excerpt from the book Ideas that Became Big Business by Clinton Woods. Published by Founders, Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1959, 414 pages.

Buy this book: Ideas That Became Big Business

The Baking Soda Story

The first baking soda "factory" in the United States was started in Dr. Austin Church's kitchen. Today the product is used in nearly every home in this country.

"This is the story of a business whose roots are firmly embedded in the American scene.

In 1846 our United States was only in its 70th year, as yet one of the world's youngest nations. Our frontiers were just beginning to break westward of the Mississippi; our center of population was at Parkersburg, West Virginia; Alaska was still in Russian territory; the Dominion of Canada was not yet formed; the Suez Canal still but a dream.

It was during this era, three years before the gold rush of the "forty-niners" that two natives of New England took first steps toward establishing an industry that has since become of national importance: the manufacture of baking soda. It was first prepared for commercial distribution by two early New Englanders, John Dwight of Massachusetts and his brother-in-law Dr. Austin Church of Connecticut.

John Dwight was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1819, a descendant of that John Dwight born in England in 1600 who settled at Dedham, Massachusetts. The building at South Hadley in which this later John Dwight was born is now used by Mt. Holyoke College.

Dr. Austin Church, a somewhat older man than his brother-in-law and partner, was born the year George Washington died, 1799, at East Haddam, Connecticut. He studied Medicine at Yale and took his doctor's degree in 1823. Marrying Nancy Dwight he moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and later lived in Rochester, New York.

In 1846 John Dwight, associated with Dr. Austin Church, started the manufacture of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in this country, the first factory being the kitchen of Dr. Church's home. A plant was later established at 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in New York City and here were developed methods for popularizing the product, which at that time was called "Saleratus." Today the pure bicarbonate of soda is processed and packed by highly specialized modern machines and reaches the consumer untouched by human hands until it is opened in the kitchen and bathroom.

In 1847 the firm of John Dwight & Company was formed. By 1868 business had grown so rapidly that they found it necessary to enlarge their facilities; hence the old factory on 25th Street was given up and a much larger plant established on First Avenue in the Harlem section of New York City. It was not until 1876, however, that the now famous Cow Brand was adopted as a trademark for Dwight's slates, the standard package at that time weighing one pound.

During 1865, Dr. Austin Church felt that he wished to be relieved from all responsibilities and withdrew his connection from John Dwight & Company.

In 1867 Dr. Church and his two sons, James A. and E. Dwight Church, felt that there was now a greater need for this popular product, a need which justified the development of larger production facilities, so a partnership was formed known as Church & Company, doing business under that firm name. A plant for production was established at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, which in due time became an important factor in the business world. The Arm & Hammer Brand was adopted as a trade mark in 1967 to identify the baking soda manufactured by Church & Company.

In 1896 John Dwight & Company and Church & Company consolidated their interests under the firm name of Church & Dwight Company and in 1925 were incorporated under the firm name of Church & Dwight Co., Inc., retaining both the Cow Brand and the Arm & Hammer trade marks.

Today the use of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is no longer confined to the kitchen. Because of its variety of uses, it is rendering real service throughout the home. It has proven of value in every phase of housekeeping and after 113 years there is hardly a home in America that is without either the Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand package.

Because of its efficacy and purity, the medical profession uses it with full confidence, while the dental profession recognizes it as an excellent dentifrice."