Walter Baker & Company facts for kids

Walter Baker & Company, Ltd.

Baker chocolate factory pictured in 1907
Former type	Limited
Industry	Food
Fate	Merged into Kraft Foods in 1995
Successor	Kraft Foods
Founded	1780
Founder	James Baker
Defunct	1995; 30 years ago (1995)
Headquarters	Dorchester, Mass. , U.S.
Products	Chocolate
Brands	Baker's Chocolate
Owner	Forbes Syndicate (1896–1927) Postum Cereal (1927–1995)

The Baker Chocolate Company was a famous American company. It made chocolate and was located in Dorchester, Boston. This company was the very first to produce chocolate in the United States! After its founders passed away, the company was sold to a group called the Forbes Syndicate in 1896. Later, in 1927, it was sold again to Postum Cereal.

Today, the well-known Baker's Chocolate brand is owned by Kraft Heinz.

How the Company Started

The Baker Chocolate Company began when a physician named Dr. James Baker met John Hannon. They met near the Neponset River. John Hannon was from Ireland and didn't have much money. But he was a very skilled chocolatier, someone who makes chocolate. He had learned this special craft in England. At that time, making chocolate was mostly done in Europe.

With Dr. Baker's help, Hannon started a business. For 15 years, he made "Hannon's Best Chocolate." In 1779, Hannon traveled to the West Indies and never came back. His wife then sold the company to Dr. Baker in 1780. Dr. Baker renamed it the Baker Chocolate Company.

Growing the Chocolate Business

James and Walter Baker (above) gave their name to the company, while Henry Pierce (below) helped them expand the business

Dr. James Baker's son, Edmund, and his grandson, Colonel Walter, continued the family business successfully. They sold their chocolate with a special promise: if customers weren't completely happy, they would get their money back. Colonel Walter Baker had studied law at Harvard College. He made sure the "Baker's" name was legally protected. This helped the family business for many years to come.

After Colonel Walter Baker died, his brother-in-law, Sidney Williams, took over. But Sidney also passed away just two years later. Then, Henry Lillie Pierce, who was Walter Baker's step-nephew, took charge of the business for the next thirty years.

Henry Pierce Expands Baker's

Henry Lillie Pierce greatly expanded the company. He added more buildings to make chocolate and found new places to sell their products. He showed Baker's chocolate at big exhibitions around the world. He even won an award at the Vienna Exhibition in 1873. Pierce was an important person in Dorchester. He was also very active in politics. He was elected mayor of Boston twice. He also served in the U.S. Congress and in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

The Famous Chocolate Girl Logo

(Left): Das Schokoladenmädchen by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1743-45, inspired the logo of the company, "La Belle Chocolatière"; (right): Inside the Baker factory in 1907

The famous logo of the chocolate server, called "La Belle Chocolatière," was first used in 1883. This logo was inspired by a painting by the Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard. The painting is called Das Schokoladenmädchen (The Chocolate Girl). You can see the original painting in an art gallery in Dresden, Germany.

The story behind the "Chocolate Girl" painting is quite interesting. It was painted in the 1740s in Vienna, Austria. At that time, Jean-Etienne Liotard was painting portraits of the Austrian Empress, Kaiserin Maria Theresia. It is said that the model for the "Chocolate Girl" was a beautiful young lady at the court. Her beauty inspired Liotard to paint her.

The Baker & Company published a story about the logo in their "Choice Recipes" book in 1913. It described the model as Anna or Annerl Baltauf, the daughter of a knight. The story says that her beauty won the love of a prince named Dietrichstein, who later married her. This marriage caused a lot of talk in Austrian society because it was unusual for a prince to marry someone who was not from a noble family. Anna was likely around 20 years old when her portrait was painted in 1760. She lived until 1825.

New Owners and Expansion

In 1896, after Henry Pierce passed away, the company was sold to the Forbes Syndicate. This group greatly expanded the factory. Over the next thirty years, they added several new buildings. These included the Powder House, the Ware Mill, the Preston Mill, the Forbes Mill, and the Baker Administrative Building.

The Forbes Syndicate advertised Baker's chocolate in many popular magazines. Some of these included Youth Companion, Booklovers' Magazine, Red Book Magazine, and Liberty.

To build customer loyalty, the Forbes Syndicate came up with a clever idea. They gave out coupons with their products. Customers could collect these coupons and trade them in for special items. These items included bone china dishes, bookends, spoons, and serving trays. They also offered a very popular cookbook, which was published every year.

In 1927, the Postum Cereal Company bought Walter Baker & Company. Later, in 1965, they moved the chocolate production to Delaware. Finally, in 1995, Walter Baker & Company became part of Kraft Foods.

See also

• Baking chocolate