Enjoy Old Time Radio Catalog’s mp3 of a 1945 episode of “Betty Crocker Cooking Show of the Air” The voices behind Betty Crocker were Marjorie Child Husted, then Agnes White Tizard, and on television, Adelaide Hawley. Washburn Crosby milling company in Minneapolis was no stranger to dramatic promotions — they previously hired the famous Maria Parloa to author one of their promotional cookbooks. Four years after the Betty Crocker radio show began in 1924, Washburn Crosby joined General Mills.
Betty Crocker links
- Old Time Radio Catalog Betty Crocker Radio Shows
- Betty Crocker The History of Betty Crocker Kitchens
Janette Kelley as Betty Crocker
We know Marjorie Child Husted, then Agnes White Tizard were the radio voices of Betty Crocker, and to add to the mix, Florence Lindeberg created Betty Crocker’s signature. Yet who was the Betty Crocker spokesperson within Washburn-Crosby’s (General Mills) Test Kitchen and Home Services department? When letters began arriving after a successful Gold Medal Flour promotion, the men in the office answering the letters didn’t feel right signing their names; so “Betty Crocker” was invented with a distinct signature penned in-house by Florence Lindeberg in 1921. When people wrote requesting Betty Crocker’s photo, they responded that she didn’t like having her picture taken. When people visited to meet Betty, the surprised staff just said she was “out.”
The company hired home economic graduates to work in the test kitchen and consumer relations, maintaining and developing Betty’s persona. In 1931, Janette Kelley (1897-1958) was hired. Besides a degree in Home Economics from Montana State College, Kelley’s resume included demonstrating-lecturing for the United States Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) and Postum co.’s [General Foods] Swansdown Flour. The above 1930 photo is from her last year representing Swansdown. In 1936 the first portrait of Betty Crocker was painted by cover illustrator, Neysa McMein, who combined attributes from employees in the department to create a blend. I see a little bit of Janette Kelley in the first Betty Crocker portrait. While you’re reading a new angle of Betty Crocker beginnings and learning more about Marjorie Child Husted, scroll to see the first Betty portrait.
The General Mills Home Department’s staff expanded to test Gold Medal and promote the flour via lectures. Janette Kelley became the top Betty, becoming Director of the Test Kitchen, hosting Betty Crocker Cooking Schools, and writing a bread-making book for Gold Medal Flour. By 1946 until retiring in 1958 Kelley was Director of the Home Service Department, supervising a staff of 50. It was at this time that Kelley created and oversaw the famous “Big Red” Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book.
As with Frances Lee Barton of Pillsbury—invented after Betty Crocker’s radio success—the radio voices, and authors and Director of Consumer Services were at least two different “Betty Crockers.”
