Maxwell House facts for kids
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| Owner | Kraft Heinz (North America) JDE Peet's (Rest of the world) |
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| Introduced | 1892 by Joel Owsley Cheek |
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| Tagline | good to the last drop |
Maxwell House is a famous American brand of coffee. It is made by Kraft Heinz in North America and by JDE Peet's in other parts of the world. The brand started in 1892 thanks to a wholesale grocer named Joel Owsley Cheek.
The coffee got its name from the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. This hotel was the first big customer for the coffee. For almost 100 years, until the late 1980s, Maxwell House was the top-selling coffee brand in the United States. Its well-known slogan is "Good to the last drop." This phrase is often part of the Maxwell House logo and is printed on its coffee labels.
Over the years, different companies have owned and produced Maxwell House coffee. It started with Cheek's own company, then was owned by General Foods, and later by Kraft Foods Inc..
Contents
History of Maxwell House Coffee
How Maxwell House Coffee Started
In 1884, Joel Owsley Cheek moved to Nashville. There, he met Roger Nolley Smith, a coffee expert from Britain. People said Smith could tell where coffee beans came from just by smelling them! For several years, Cheek and Smith worked together to create the perfect coffee blend.
In 1892, Cheek offered 20 pounds of his special coffee blend for free to the food buyer at the Maxwell House Hotel. After a few days, the hotel ran out of Cheek's coffee. They went back to using their old brand. But hotel guests and others who had tried Cheek's coffee complained. They liked his blend much better! Because of this, the hotel decided to buy only Cheek's coffee. After six months, the hotel even allowed Cheek to name his coffee after them. This is how "Maxwell House Coffee" got its name.
Cheek was very successful. He quit his job as a coffee broker and started a new company with his partner, Maxwell Colbourne. Their company was called the "Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company." They focused on coffee, and Maxwell House Coffee became their main product. Later, the company changed its name to the "Cheek-Neal Coffee Company." Over time, Maxwell House Coffee became a very respected brand, standing out from other coffees.
"Good to the Last Drop" Slogan
In 1915, the Cheek-Neal company started using the slogan "Good to the last drop" to advertise Maxwell House Coffee. For many years, the ads did not say that Theodore Roosevelt came up with the phrase.
In 1925, the company was sold to General Foods, which then owned the Maxwell House brand. By the 1930s, the company's ads claimed that former President Roosevelt had said the famous phrase. They said he took a sip of Maxwell House Coffee during a visit to Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage, in 1907. After trying the coffee, he supposedly declared it "good to the last drop."
Later, Maxwell House admitted that the slogan was actually written by Clifford Spiller, a former president of General Foods. It was not something Roosevelt said. However, the phrase "Good to the last drop" is still a registered trademark for the product and is on its logo today.
Historians have never found proof that Roosevelt actually said this phrase. Local news reports from his 1907 visit quoted him saying something different about the coffee: "This is the kind of stuff I like to drink, by George, when I hunt bears."
Growing the Product Line
During World War II in 1942, General Foods began supplying instant coffee to the U.S. armed forces. After the war, in 1945, this instant coffee, now called Maxwell House Instant Coffee, was sold in stores in the eastern U.S. It became available nationwide the next year.
Maxwell House also introduced other types of coffee. In 1981, they launched Maxwell House Master Blend, which was a higher-yield ground coffee. In 1989, they added Rich French Roast, Colombian Supreme (made from 100% Colombian coffee), and 1892, a slow-roasted blend. These new products helped Maxwell House compete in the growing coffee market.
In 1992, the company added cappuccino products to its line. These included Cappio Iced Cappuccino and Maxwell House Cappuccino in 1993. Today, the names of these products have been changed to fit the Maxwell House brand better.
After Kraft Foods Inc. split into two companies in 2012, the Maxwell House brand was divided. Now, Kraft Heinz owns the rights in North America, and JDE Peet's owns them in the rest of the world.
Decaffeinated Coffee
For many years, General Foods sold decaffeinated coffee under different brand names like Sanka. But they did not sell Maxwell House-labeled decaffeinated coffee until 1983. That year, they introduced ground Maxwell House Decaffeinated coffee in East Coast stores.
In 1985, Maxwell House Instant Decaffeinated Coffee also became available. Later, in 1992, Kraft General Foods introduced Maxwell House Lite, which is a blend with less caffeine.
Advertising Maxwell House
Early Advertising Campaigns
In the 1920s, Maxwell House coffee began to be advertised widely across the U.S. The brand became very well-known. A study in 1925 showed that Maxwell House was the most famous coffee brand among consumer goods.
Radio and TV Ads
Maxwell House sponsored many popular radio shows. One was Maxwell House Coffee Time, which ran from 1937 to 1949. It featured famous comedians like Fanny Brice and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Maxwell House also sponsored The Goldbergs on both radio and later on television.
Another show sponsored by Maxwell House was the radio version of Father Knows Best. Each episode started with the youngest daughter asking, "Mother, is Maxwell House really the best coffee in the whole world?" The mother would reply, "Well, your father says so, and Father Knows Best!"
Maxwell House was also a long-time sponsor of the early television series Mama. This show was about a Norwegian-American family and starred Peggy Wood. The family often gathered around the kitchen table for a cup of Maxwell House coffee. These parts were like early examples of product placement on TV.
In the 1970s, a famous actress named Margaret Hamilton appeared in Maxwell House commercials. She was known for playing the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. In the ads, she played a general store owner named Cora, who proudly said Maxwell House was the only coffee she sold.
Print Advertisements
Besides radio and TV, Maxwell House also used print ads, always with the slogan "good to the last drop." A special part of their advertising history is the publication of their Passover Haggadah. This book, used during the Jewish holiday of Passover, was first published by the Joseph Jacobs Advertising Agency in 1932.
This made Maxwell House a household name for many American Jewish families. It was part of a marketing plan to show that coffee beans were considered kosher for Passover. Maxwell House was the first coffee company to specifically market to Jewish people. The Maxwell House Haggadah was even used for the annual White House Passover Seder when President Barack Obama was in office.
Manufacturing Facilities
Maxwell House has had several major factories. One of its first was in Hoboken, New Jersey. This plant closed in the early 1990s. Its huge sign on the roof, showing the brand name and a dripping coffee cup, was a famous sight across the Hudson River in New York City. The plant was later torn down, and apartments were built there.
The company also built plants in Houston, Texas, and San Leandro, California. The Houston plant was sold in 2006 and closed in 2018. The San Leandro plant closed in 2016. Today, the only Maxwell House factory still operating is in Jacksonville, Florida.
See also
- Maxwell House Haggadah
