Is Betty Crocker A Fictional Person?

Betty Crocker is about as synonymous with the United States as baseball and apple pie. (Perhaps she's even more synonymous with the country given that .) Introduced in 1921, she is most famous for being the name and face behind " " or as many people call it, "Big Red.

" (This cookbook is still being printed today.) Crocker also hosted a popular radio show, was on television, answered countless letters from fans, and launched a successful line of baking mixes, including . She is a widely recognized figure not only in the U.



S., but in countries around the world. In 1945, Crocker was even named the second best-known woman in America by "Fortune.

" She was only beaten by Eleanor Roosevelt. But, unlike Roosevelt, Crocker is not, and never was, a real person. Throughout the years, Crocker's face has been designed and redesigned by a number of artists, and her famous signature was selected from numerous options submitted by various women.

Even her name was carefully chosen; the powers that be selected "Betty" for its approachability. And her famous recipes? These too were created by other people, a committee, in this instance. (Although some of her books are signed by her, you might notice that the fine print reveals that the recipes didn't come from a single person but from several recipe developers.

) Still, generations of fans have trusted Crocker and welcomed her into their kitchens, and many more will continue to do so as the years roll by. Who created Betty Crocker? In 1921, Washburn Crosby Co. (which owned Gold Medal Flour at the time) received many cooking questions.

Wanting to adhere to traditional gender roles at the time, Washburn Crosby's advertising department (which was made up of mostly men) created a female persona who could answer readers' domestic questions and build a sense of personal connection with them. They found her a name, a voice, a signature, and over time, a face. Betty Crocker won her fame not because of a cookbook, but for a pamphlet "she wrote" during World War II.

The pamphlet, which was titled "Your Share," included tips and advice on how to stretch rationed food. (Rest assured, she had nothing to do with .) It was released alongside a radio show called "Our Nation's Rations" which Crocker hosted as part of the war effort.

It is most likely that Agnes White Tizard, a home economist employed by Washburn Crosby Co., voiced Crocker for this show; she had been the voice of Crocker from as early as 1924. As the TV phenomenon began and grew in America during the 1950s and '60s, Crocker appeared on several programs.

During this time, she was portrayed by actress Adelaide Hawley Cumming. Cumming also took over radio duties from Tizard at this time. In 1950, the big red cookbook many know so well was released, and more than 70 years later, it is still a hit.

Despite there being no currently active Crocker-hosted TV shows or radio programs, her enduring popularity proves that culinary legends come in many forms, even fictitious ones. Recommended.