YOU know the name. It’s hardly Forgotten. But you may not know a few things about Heinz, which produces many more than 57 varieties of food. Today I’m continuing my survey of ads found aboard a crowded Nostalgia Train featuring near-century-old cars the MTA rolls out periodically, most often in June, September and December.
Heinz was founded in western Pennsylvania by Henry J. Heinz, a son of German immigrants, who began packaging food products as early as 1869. His first company failed, but when he partnered with brother John Heinz and a cousin, Frederick Heinz, he became wildly successful. One of his original products was tomato ketchup, which is nearly synonymous with Heinz; another early success was sweet pickles, and a pickle was included with the Heinz logotype for many years. Almost from the beginning, Heinz produced more than 57 varieties, but Henry Heinz chose the number because “5” was his lucky number and “7” was his wife’s, and also because seven is considered a lucky number in the western hemisphere. Heinz has always used a keystone shape in its logotype, a nod to Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.
Today Heinz’s flagship product is tomato ketchup in the USA, though in Britain its best seller may be Heinz Baked Beans. Roger Daltrey of The Who sat in a tub full of the stuff for the cover of “The Who Sell Out,” (he caught pneumonia, the beans were cold) while The Who recorded a song called “Heinz Baked Beans” on its previous album, “A Quick One/Happy Jack.” Another best seller in England is Heinz salad cream, or salad dressing as it’s called in the States.
Heinz continues to make ketchup, baked beans, salad dressing as well as barbecue sauce, canned pasta, mac and cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, and though Campbell’s is the best selling soup in the USA, Heinz makes dozens of those. Pickles no longer compose a large part of the business, though.
You can find a former Heinz factory, still with the fading Heinz logo, on a factory building on Bergen Street in Prospect Heights.
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4/20/23
4 comments
That rascal Ann Margret also cavorted with the beans in “Tommy”
another fine product by The Who
I was enthralled by the Levi rye bread wall ad on the 53rd. street BMT station, but darn I never had a camera. Thanks for the memory.
I can still remember when some of my family didn’t want to get any Heinz products back in 2004, because they feared that they would be giving to John Kerry, who’s wife happened to be the daughter of the Heinz owner at the time even though there was no proof of that.
I lived on Prospect Place, near both Bergen Street and the Park Place stop. At the time, there was a “Dean Street” stop (now removed); all that time, I never knew about the Heinz outfit located adjacent to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.