Friday, November 25, 2011

Morton Salt

Morton Salt is a staple in salt brands (as Swingline is a staple in stapler brands).  That familiar girl in the yellow dress, holding an umbrella and obliviously pouring salt all over the place, has found her place in cupboards and pantries all around the world.


Morton Salt started out as a Chicago sales agency in 1848, called Richmond & Company, Agents for Onondaga Salt.  The discovery of gold in California in 1849 created a huge demand for salt as fortune-seekers made the long journey west.  In 1889 Joy Morton (whose father served as secretary of agriculture under Grover Cleveland and invented Arbor Day) acquired a major interest in the company and renamed it Joy Morton & Company.  In 1910, the firm was finally renamed the Morton Salt Company.

Morton Salt began adding magnesium carbonate as an anti-caking agent to its salt in 1911.  The Morton Salt Umbrella Girl was born in 1914, along with the slogan, "When it rains it pours."

...Get it?  BECAUSE WHEN IT RAINS AND IT'S HUMID OUT THE SALT STILL POURS!

This blew my mind.  Anyway, 1924 brought iodized salt, and then here is a progression of the Morton Salt Umbrella Girl over the decades:

Isn't she adorable? She reminds me of the Coppertone girl, but I feel less awkward.

23 comments:

  1. 1914: Adorable
    1921: Retarded
    1933: Adorable
    1941: High
    1956: Higher
    1968: trying to be grown up?!

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  2. That salt is really good I love morton salt

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  3. can't say i've ever bought that salt...but she does remind me of the coppertone girl lol

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  4. Interesting to see how the logo has changed over the years. That umbrella used to be huge!

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    1. ....... or the girl used to be small.

      Mind = Blown

      :O

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  5. The last design is beautiful. It's always nice to see those 60' vintage drawings in brands or products.

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  6. I never knew salt could be so interesting!

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  7. Very interesting. (:

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  8. haha alot can come from salt I guess, you really bring salt forth I must confess.

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  9. wow that is some interesting information. I am surprised by how old the salt company was.

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  10. I always use morton salt not many other brands to choose from that are good. But isn't salt just salt?

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  11. Hey there, L. here. From [I Am Unimaginative]. One, I love the last picture. The Morton Salt girl's gone through some metamorphoses! Second, answer to your question on my blog - a shit ton does not weigh the same as a regular ton, it weighs as much as a shit ton. Answer? I think so!

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  12. Thats pretty interesting, don't think I would have ever put that together, "when it rains it pours".

    by the way I just started that blog about runescape, got my first post up. Give it a look-see if you would. (=

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  13. We always had Morton Salt growing up

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  14. Do you ever put sea salt on potatoes that's always really good :)

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  15. I always thought that girl in the rain made no sense whatsoever, like so much of the advertising today.

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  16. she grew so little in 50 years, is she japanese and doens't look like her real age? so many questions.

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  17. That is a really clever slogan right there, I really like it.

    And I agree, much better mascot than the Coppertone girl.

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  18. In the UK it is saxa salt and it also is still recognizable by a big red SAXA logo. There was even saxa train carriages for moving it around the country.

    Interesting how these days we do not connect "when it rains it pours" to mean anything at all. but back in the day salt that was not clumping together was rare, we are so spoilt, we don't realize how good we have it !

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  19. I definitely have 1968 tattooed on my back...

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to prove that you're worth your salt.