Orville Redenbacher - Known
as the Popcorn King, Orville Redenbacher was born on
July 16, 1907 in Brazil, Indiana. A graduate of Purdue
University (1928) in the area of agronomy, he taught agriculture
for one year then took a job as an assistant county agriculture
agent in Terre Haute, Indiana. He earned a successful living
with farming and fertilizers (which made him rich). As a
sideline, Orville bred corn varieties (with his friend Charles Bowman)
which lead to a number of strains ideal for gourmet popcorn.
Orville started his first crop of hybrid popcorn seed in 1941.
In his later years, Orville became a pop culture icon as the
spokesperson for Orville Redenbacher Gourmet Popcorn. On his TV
commercials, he appeared as a wholesome, Midwest-American with a
Barney Fife smile who sold the public a popcorn that was
guaranteed to be fluffier, tasty and pop every kernel - mostly (each
kernel was slowly dried to an exact moisture level of 13.25
percent to get a 44:1 expansion ratio).
Recalling his
early days in the popcorn business, Redenbacher told
the Associated Press "We tried to sell the different processors
on the idea that people would pay more for a better quality
product, that this was a good marketing concept. They said we
were crazy, and we tried to prove them wrong."
Convinced that his popcorn was superior, Orville,
aka "Reddie", drove around the country selling his gourmet
popcorn product. He initially sold the popcorn under the name of
"Red Bow." In
1971, he introduced Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn.
Orville's popularity as a spokesperson began in 1971 when he was
asked to sign autographs at Marshall Fields, a downtown Chicago
department store who were one of the first retailers to carry
Redenbacher's popcorn. The media picked up on his folksy, "born
on a small corn farm in Indiana" banter and an advertising icon
was born. To market his product (and as proof they really met
the man) Orville distributed stickers or cards that read: "I met
Orville Redenbacher."
In a few years, Orville's
popcorn became a success and in 1976, he and his partner, Bowman
sold their operation to corporate giant Hunt-Wesson Inc. (owned by ConAgra since 1990).
Orville agreed
to stay on as the
product pitchman and continued to sport his trademark
dark-rimmed glasses, bow-tie, suspenders and his
parted-down-the-middle of his head white hair..
A New York
Times article by op-ed columnist
Gail Collins
once said of Redenbacher: "Like other immortals—Colonel Sanders,
Frank Perdue, Dr. Scholl—Redenbacher had a negative glamour that
inspired trust. He looked like a man who would spend 40 years
crossbreeding 30,000 popcorn hybrids in search of 'the perfect
kernel."
William E. Smith, executive director of The Popcorn Institute in
Chicago and a lifelong friend of Redenbacher stated "Many people
thought he was a media creation, but what people saw on
television, that was him. In all of our industry, he was one of
the great gentlemen and great personalities."
In 1975, Orville published
a cookbook
entitled:
The Popping Corn Book: Orville Redenbacher's Authorized and
Complete Popcorn Lovers Guide.
It featured
recipes like "Sister Mabel's
Caramel Corn", "Popcorn Pastels", and "Harvest Pumpkin Ball."
Orville followed up that book with Orville Redenbacher's
Popcorn Book (St. Martin's Press, 1984). In 1996, a look at the life of Orville Redenbacher was
published called
Popcorn King: How Orville Redenbacher and His Popcorn Charmed
America by Len Sherman (Summit Publishing Group).
Because Orville guaranteed that every one his kernels would pop,
there was the occasional letter in the mail that proved
otherwise. In 1984, Orville told the Los Angeles Times
"Every once in a while, someone will mail me a single popcorn
kernel that didn't pop. They'll tape it to a piece of paper and
mail it to me. So I'll get out a fresh kernel, tape it to a
piece of paper and mail it back to them." (Unpopped kernels
left among popped kernels are known as "Old Maids.")
Gary and Orville
In later commercials, Orville appeared with his grandson (Gary
Fish) who continued his grandfather's promises of quality. In
1987, Gary Fish actually changed his last name to Redenbacher as
an heir apparent in the marketing phenomena.
Unfortunately, on September 20, 1995
Orville
Redenbacher had a heart attack and drowned
while taking a bath in his whirlpool spa
at his condominium in Coronado, California. Redenbacher is survived by two
daughters, Gail Tuminello, of Valparaiso, and Billie Ann Atwood,
of San Jose, Calif.; 12 grandchildren; and 10
great-grandchildren. At Orville's request, his body was
cremated. Redenbacher's
second wife, Nina died in 1991. His first wife, Corinne, died in
1971.
Time
magazine called Redenbacher "the Luther Burbank of popcorn."
His popcorn
brand still remains among the top choices of popcorn lovers
everywhere.
In 2005, the development of Orville
Redenbacher's Organic Microwave Popcorn was announced. The new product will
bear the "USDA Organic" seal, verifying they were produced using
certified organic practices, such as no synthetic pesticides or
synthetic fertilizers.
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