Pacific Coast Biscuit Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food manufacturing |
| Founded | May 1899 |
| Founder | Herman Wittenberg (noted businessman associated) |
| Defunct | 1930 |
| Fate | Acquired by National Biscuit Company |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon , United States |
Area served | Western United States |
| Products | Cookies, crackers, candy, macaroni |
The Pacific Coast Biscuit Company was a baking conglomerate based in Portland, Oregon that manufactured a variety of products including cookies, crackers, candy, and macaroni. Established in 1899, it was ultimately purchased by the National Biscuit Company in 1930. Distinctively, it was the sole American baking firm to register a trademark featuring a swastika.
History
During the late 1800s, numerous regional baking enterprises consolidated into large entities known as Cracker Trusts. The most prominent among these was the National Biscuit Company (later Nabisco), which was incorporated in New Jersey in 1898 and brought together 114 companies. Before the advent of modern securities regulations, firms often overstated their asset valuations; Nabisco’s capitalization stood at $55 million despite actual assets being below $25 million.
Created as a competitor to Nabisco, the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company was incorporated in New Jersey in May 1899. It unified seven companies that dominated biscuit and cracker sales west of the Rocky Mountains:
- Portland Cracker Co., Portland
- Oregon Cracker Co., Portland
- Seattle Cracker and Candy Co., Seattle
- Washington Cracker Co., Spokane
- American Biscuit Co., San Francisco
- Standard Biscuit Co., San Francisco
- Southern California Cracker Co., Los Angeles
Although their total assets were less than $1 million, the company’s capitalization reached $4 million, prompting critics to view it as an overcapitalized venture aimed at attracting investors.
Businessman Herman Wittenberg controlled three subsidiaries—Washington Cracker, Oregon Cracker, and Portland Cracker companies. He founded Portland Cracker in 1886 and expanded through acquisitions of competitors throughout Oregon and Washington. Wittenberg held the position of vice president at Pacific Coast until his passing in 1912.
Swastika trade mark
In 1907, Pacific Coast introduced a red swastika as its trademark for branding purposes. During that period, swastika symbols were relatively common in the Pacific region; for example, Sausalito, California’s inaugural cinema opened in 1914 under the name "Swastika Theatre". The packaging design of Pacific Coast closely resembled Nabisco’s style, with its swastika matching in color and placement to Nabisco’s in-er-seal logo but differing in form.
Nabisco lawsuit
In 1914, Nabisco filed suit against Pacific Coast alleging unfair competition and trademark violation. The federal court ruled in favor of Nabisco, issuing an injunction that prohibited Pacific Coast from marketing several product lines with packaging similar to Nabisco’s and ordered it to discontinue use of its red swastika trademark. As a result, Pacific Coast modified its packaging design and altered the swastika symbol.
In 1930, Nabisco acquired the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company, retaining its product lines but replacing the swastika emblem with Nabisco’s in-er-seal trademark.
See also
Further reading
- Coombs and Batchelor, We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life (ABC-CLIO, 2014)
- Swett, Selling under the Swastika: Advertising and Commercial Culture in Nazi Germany (Stanford University Press, 2013)
External links
- 1899 establishments in New Jersey
- 1930 disestablishments in Oregon
- American companies founded in 1899
- Food manufacturers in the United States
- Manufacturing firms based in Portland, Oregon
- Nabisco
- Snack food producers in the United States
- Food and beverage companies headquartered in Portland, Oregon
- Food and beverage companies founded in 1899
- American companies established in 1899
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment