Founding
The company was founded by Gail Borden Jr., in 1857 in Connecticut as "Gail Borden Jr., and Company." Its primary product was condensed milk. Struggling financially, the company was saved when Jeremiah Milbank, a partner in the wholesale food distributor I. & R. Milbank & Co. and the son-in-law of banker Joseph Lake, agreed to invest and acquired 50 percent of the stock. The company changed its name in 1858 to the New York Condensed Milk Company. The company prospered during the Civil War by selling condensed milk to Union armies.
Borden began selling processed milk to consumers in 1875 and pioneered the use of glass milk bottles in 1885.[1] Borden began selling evaporated milk in 1892, and expanded into Canada in 1895.
Growth
The company changed its name to "Borden's Condensed Milk Company" in 1899. It suffered a legal setback in 1912, when a federal appellate court held that the Borden Ice Cream Co. (a competitor whose ownership included one "Charles Borden") could sell ice cream under the Borden name because Borden's Condensed Milk sold only milk, not ice cream,[2] but the limit on its products was short-lived. It became the Borden Company in 1919 and expanded rapidly, buying numerous dairies, ice cream manufacturers, cheese producers, and mincemeat processors. Taking advantage of its many herds of cattle, the company became involved in rendering and the manufacture of adhesives. In World War II, Borden pioneered the American manufacture of non-dairy creamer, instant coffee and powdered foods.
In 1929, Borden was reorganized as a holding company for four separate entities: Borden's Food Products Company, Inc., Borden's Dairy Products Company, Inc., Borden's Ice Cream and Milk Company, Inc., and Borden's Cheese & Produce Company, Inc. However, in 1936 its operations were reunified, and these subsidiaries became divisions.[3]
Borden's fictitious spokesperson, Jane Ellison, was introduced in 1929. The recipe for "Magic Lemon Cream Pie", the ancestor of the Key lime pie, is attributed to her, found in a Borden promotional brochure from 1931.
Borden and other dairy companies were investigated in 1938 for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, but the charges were dropped after Borden signed a consent decree in 1940.[1]
Borden milk products in Canada began with condensed milk in Quebec and East Coast with headquarters in Montreal.[4] Borden's Canadian operational head office moved to Toronto in 1931 when it acquired City Dairy. The old City Dairy Stables on Spadina Crescent was renamed Borden Stables and now part of the University of Toronto. Borden's Canadian operations slowly disappeared, with Quebec operations being sold to Agropur in 1976 and Ontario operations to Silverwood Dairy in 1980.[5][6]
In the 1950s, Borden moved into the printing ink, fertilizer, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics business. By 1961, it was making 7 percent of all raw PVC in the United States.[1] By 1968, Borden's international chemical and petroleum divisions had grown so large that Borden created the Borden Inc. International division to manage them. The company owned the Danish company Cocio from 1976 to 1999.
In 1987, Borden spun off some of its chemicals business in a public offering. Borden retained a small financial investment in the new company, known legally as Borden Chemicals & Plastics Operating Limited Partnership (BCPOLP).
Borden Food
The food products division was spun off as Borden Food Corporation when Borden, Inc. became a holding company in 1929. The holding company reversed itself 13 years later when it reacquired its child company.[1]
In the 1950s, the parent company went on a buying spree, swallowing up companies such as Wyler's, which made bouillon and powdered soft drinks; ReaLemon, a manufacturer of synthetic and reconstituted lemon juice; Cracker Jack (sold to Frito-Lay in 1997); Campfire brand marshmallows; Wise Foods, a maker of potato chips and other snack foods; and Bama, makers of jellies and jams.[1]
Although Borden retrenched in the inflationary 1970s, it embarked on a second wave of mergers and acquisitions in the 1980s. It purchased Coco López in 1978 and Guys Snack Foods in 1979.[7]
