The establishment of Snow King took place in 1905 under the leadership of Mr. Parlin. However, a significant turning point occurred in 1918 when Mrs. Louise Parlin) Lillard’s husband William passed away. This prompted her father to ask her to return home and take on the role of managing the Snow King Baking Powder Co. At that time, her son had already come of age, potentially allowing for his independence while she assumed control of the firm. Remarkably, she served as its president for sixteen years until General Foods acquired it, a testament to her remarkable achievements as a woman in a time when many of her neighbors, including herself, had to leave school after the eighth grade.
The Snow King business was at 4330 Durham, Cincinnati. Mrs. Lillard lived at 2508 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati as it was jauntily advertised in 1928 newspaper snippets. Today that address is an apartment building, as it was then. I was surprised the owner of a large concern rented an apartment. I checked, she didn’t own the building. She lived in flat J, moved to flat B and settled in flat C. Further up Auburn Ave today is a neighborhood of beautiful old homes with unfortunate traffic.
Something that caught my attention recently is the exclusive target audience of Snow King booklets – Southern women. It’s possible that, being a smaller company, they concentrated their efforts on Southern distribution, highlighting their presence in millions of kitchens across the region. What’s more, these booklets showcased recipes sourced from Southern states like Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Interestingly, one of their advertisements proclaimed their status as one of the leading baking powder companies worldwide.
We tried to date this Snow King cooking booklet, Famous Baking Recipes. Here are the hints: Egg Corn Bread “won first prize at the Amite County Fair in October, 1921, so we know the date is late 1921 or after. Baking Powder Rolls, 1924…. Lemon Icing, 1928 …. Icing, 1929 — the Central Carolina Fair is in the beginning of September… so there’s a good chance we’re looking at a book from the 1930s.
