When Prissy & I got married in 1973, both of us were collectors, but in different ways. Prissy was raised aroung antiques & got the collecting bug from her parents. Both of them liked country furniture & primitives. Her Grandparents on her Mothers side also loved country. I was a different collector, I was drawn toward brewery advertising, signs & more. I was a salesman for Frito/Lay early on & called on alot of taverns, liquor stores & grocers, these all contributed to my collecting advertising. I also had a pool table in the house & these signs fit in beautifully with the pool table. I had a large collection of beer signage at this time. SO both of us were collectors, just in different categories. I guess looking back, I may have had one of the first “MAN CAVES”. All of this collecting changed after we were married. I had worked for Nabisco 5 years when we got married. Shortly after our honeymoon, Prissy & her dad went to the New Years flea market in Louisville, she brought me back our first piece of National Biscuit Company history. It was an ANOLA TIN, small in size but gigantic in what it would start, “OUR CHASE FOR NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY” history. Over the next 47 years, our collection took us to many places, we visited many Country Stores, some had been closed for years & we met some amazing people, each of whom played a part in making up our collection.Now, all these wonderful years later we have two amazing sons & a new Grandson & the largest private collection of National Biscuit Company history, known to exist. Thousands & thousands of pieces, from small pin/back buttons to a 1983 Nabisco delivery truck. Some categories represented are, Store Furniture, Toys, Signs, Trolley Cards, Truck & Wagon Posters, Window Signs, Breads, Tins, Bins, Barrels, Awards, Paper Ephemera, Books, Magazines, Cereal, Candy, Show Cases, Clothes(we have Adolph W. Greens long johns with his initials attached) Jewelry & more from National Biscuit Company’s History Circa 1898 to the mid 1980’s, all marked National Biscuit Company. Now we need to mention some SPECIAL PEOPLE who made all of this collection possible, either through donations or letting us purchase RARE & HISTORIC ARTIFACTS. I know I will miss some, it is called age, but I will try & name all I know, alot are now deceased, but some are still alive, all are “OUR FRIENDS”. Some of the below mentioned individuals worked for National Biscuit Company, BUT not all. Wayne W. & Sophie Guest, Jerry Guest, David & Jean Stivers (Retired Archivist N.B.C.) Harvey & Issie Royce, Dan & Jeanne Lewter, Jerry & Audrey Glenn, Doran B. Goode, John & Nancy Cronin, Wesley & Betty Schreiner, Ralph & Verta Speer, Robert & Sharon Phillips, Don & Marion Taylor, Donnie & JoAnn Bowers, Steve & Stephanie Sissler, Nelson Sissler, Dud & Lee Skeels, Jim & Jean Brodt, Bill Haygood, Scott & Leslie Malony & each of the club members in the “IN-ER SEAL COLLECTORS CLUB”, all have made possible the SAVING of the History of The National Biscuit Company. To all of the above mentioned individuals, THANK YOU. As we enter a new year & the company all of us know, as The National Biscuit Company, its amazing history will NEVER disappear, no matter how much the logo may change, it will forever be NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY/NABISCO. The “OVAL & CROSS” in the triangle, which represents “GOOD OVER EVIL” is alive & well in Louisville Ky. How we were picked to save the history , we can’t say BUT, we know who will make sure this history survives long after we are gone is Dale Brown who has collected for almost 38 years & loves collecting. We have taught him well, we knew we had to do so, because “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE”. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, Charlie, Prissy & Dale.
A BRONZE SIGN from the history of NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY dating from about 1913 which was stored in Vernon, California is saved by Steve & Stephanie Sisson son & daughter-in-law of the owner Nelson Sisson, Steve’s Dad who retired from Nabisco in 1986 after 36 years service, he was Warehouse Foreman in L.A. & Vernon, California. . We found out about this beautiful bronze sign about a year ago. Steve emailed us after finding our blog and wanted to talk to us about this beauty. Steve’s Dad was fortunate enough to obtain the sign when it was taken down from the L.A. Bakery in 1986. The sign which measures about four feet long and is about 16″ high is extremely heavy, weighing about 75 pounds. Made of bronze it is virtually indestructable, just like alot of other signs which National Biscuit Company had made and placed on their buildings nationwide. The early NBC either had their signs made of porcelain, brass or bronze, if it is early enough they were made of wood covered with glass to make them reflective, all were used outside. As far as we can tell Steve’s sign dates the early teens, so it has an amazing history. Steve wanted to discuss his options for making sure this piece of N.B.C. Country Store History survived. We talked about how the sign should go to a Nabisco collector, hopefully an employee who would appreciate its history. After careful consideration Steve chose Louisville fot its final location. We were thrilled to obtain this amazing sign, because we know its history. SO from California to Louisville this beauty was shipped, but shipped by Greyhound bus, remember the slogon, “TAKE THE BUS AND LEAVE THE DRIVING TO US”. Greyhound ships nationwide ther bus is also a transport vehicle for packages. Under the seating area of their bus is a virtual caveron of space for luggage & freight. We have collected the history of National Biscuit Company for about 47 years, I retired with Nabisco in 1992, our collection contains about every category of Nabisco known. Steve & Stephanie decided to have us save this beautiful sign, so shipping it over 2000 miles could have been an expensive prospect, but not with Greyhound Bus. Their fleet of busses travel nationwide to every city in all 50 states. The only requirment is, the piece can’t weigh over 100 pounds or be over six feet long. So, after contacting Greyhound in California giving them the size of the sign & weight, they gave us a quote. The sign was taken to the Greyhound shipping location in Vernon, California on Friday the 11th of December & was deivered to Louisville on Wednesday December 16th 2020. We are so gratefull to Steve & Stephanie for letting us protect its history. Charlie & Prissy Brown.
We need to start to talk about National Biscuit Company, this Holiday Season December 2020, by saying, National Biscuit Company’s Christmas Toy history, was a result of another Biscuit Company, American Biscuit Company(1870’s) which merged into N.B.C. in 1898. They (American Biscuit Company) had the first toy, it was a box shaped like an ark, made of wood, paper with overlay showing Noah’s Ark Noah & all the animals looking out the windows of the ark, which was filled with cookies, shaped like the animals, which had a removable lid, absolutely is beautiful & Circa 1880’s. This beautiful & RARE container was a first of Christmas toys to come. Christmas was & still is a Special Season at the National Biscuit Company. One could say when National Biscuit Company released Barnums Animal Crackers in 1902, the box when empty, was used as a Christmas ornament to be placed on the children’s christmas tree, thus the string. Their first trademark figure “The Uneeda Biscuit Boy”, who by the way was a real person Gordon Stille a five year old little boy in 1901, he was chosen to pose for a photographer who froze him in time. The first doll was of the “KID”, holding a box of the first boxed cracker “UNEEDA BISCUIT”. Their second toy was also a doll, he was a clown figure , he was called the “Master ZuZu Clown”, he was dressed in a yellow clown suit with red stars attached. Both of these dolls were made by Ideal Doll & Toy Manufacturing Company, Brooklyn N.Y. Both were put out in two sizes 11″ & 15″, they cost $1.00 for the large doll & .50cents for the smaller doll. A real find( we have never seen another) was a 24″ Uneeda Kid” doll, we think put out as a counter display, he is dressed just like the other two boys.Another beautiful “KID” put out at the same time is a “WALKER With movable eyes, extremely Rare, one known to exist, is in ourb collection. He looks like a porcelain doll, but is composistion. Bingo, now we have six toys for Christmas. In the 1920’s National Biscuit Company released two more jewels for kids for Christmas, a Horse & Wagon pull toy & a Truck with two trailers made of wood, both with National Biscuit Company’s name on both the wagon & truck, both containing miniature National Biscuit Company packages, made of wood with paper overlay. Not done yet, in 1954 Nabisco released another beauty a “RIDER” made by Rich Toys resembling one of our delivery trucks, made of steel, yellow in color marked with National Biscuit Company on both sides, with RITZ Crackers on the back door. . Shown here are some of those company toys. All of these are still found & all the ones shown are in our collection. All the above now collected by “BIG KIDS”, to relive their past in antique toys. Merry Christmas from National Biscuit Company! Charlie & Prissy.
Inner-Seal Collector's Club 