Ohio inventions and firsts · Invention · 1911
Crisco shortening
P&G introduced Crisco in June 1911, the first shortening made entirely of vegetable oil (originally cottonseed), using hydrogenation.
At a glance
- Year
- 1911
- Company
- Procter & Gamble
- Place
- Cincinnati, Hamilton County ZIP 45202 · Cincinnati · Hamilton County
The story
Home cooks in 1900 used lard and butter, which spoiled and cost money. Procter and Gamble, a Cincinnati soap company, set out to sell a new kind of cooking fat made from vegetable oil.
In June 1911 P&G introduced Crisco, the first shortening made entirely from vegetable oil, originally cottonseed. The name was a shortened form of crystallized cottonseed oil, chosen after the company rejected names like Krispo and Cryst.
P&G marketed it hard. It gave away free cookbooks in which every recipe called for Crisco, which helped the brand get into American kitchens.
Ownership has changed. P&G owned Crisco from 1911 to 2002, then J.M. Smucker of Orrville, Ohio bought it, and in 2020 B&G Foods took over. Smucker brought out a trans-fat-free version in 2004, and by 2007 all Crisco products had less than one gram of trans fat per serving.
Timeline
- 1911-06: Procter and Gamble introduces Crisco. (Cincinnati, OH) source
- 2002: J.M. Smucker buys Crisco from P&G. (Orrville, OH) source
- 2004: A trans-fat-free version is introduced. source
- 2007: All Crisco products have less than one gram of trans fat per serving. source
- 2020-12: B&G Foods takes over the brand. source
What it changed
- First shortening made entirely of vegetable oil.
- A full set of free cookbooks pushed every recipe toward Crisco.
Why it matters
Changed American cooking.
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.
