Was Betty Crocker a Real Person?

Introduced in 1921, by the 1940s, Betty Crocker was the second-best-known woman in America after the First Lady

Actress Adelaide Hawley Cumming portrayed Betty Crocker on television in the 1950s and early 1960s; image source.

At any given time, chances are I will have a box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix in my pantry. When faced with overwhelming options in the baking aisle, I usually reach for this trusty brand. I must be a marketer’s dream because the wholesome name “Betty Crocker” evokes the image of a kindly, older woman who knows her way around an oven.

So did Betty Crocker exist? After all, I’ve heard her voice, seen her handwriting, and read her recipes. If she was a made-up person, what is her origin story?

It was 1921, and the Washburn Crosby Company had a lot of fan mail to answer…

The flour mill company had just run a contest in the Saturday Evening Post. Instead of entering the competition, women across America used this opportunity to ask for expert baking advice.

Florance Lindeberg wrote Betty Crocker’s original signature, and later, women were taught to imitate it when corresponding with fans; image source.

Home economist and employee Janette Kelley got to work answering the fan mail and addressing the homemakers’ baking woes, everything from why their cakes didn’t rise to why they were too dry.