Borden made a hobby of inventing things. Among his creations was the prairie schooner, an awkward, sail-powered wagon. Another Borden device, the lazy Susan, can now be found in households everywhere. He also concocted the unsavory, yet serviceable, "meat biscuit," a lightweight, nonperishable food suited to travelers. Although the meat biscuit was a commercial failure, it was hailed as a scientific breakthrough and in 1851 Borden was invited to London to receive the Great Council Medal from Queen Victoria.
During his passage back from London, Borden saw several children on board ship die after drinking contaminated milk. Because no one yet understood how to keep milk fresh, spoiled and even poisonous milk was not uncommon. Borden knew that the Shakers used vacuum pans to preserve fruit, and he began experimenting with a similar apparatus in search of a way to preserve milk. After much tinkering, he discovered he could prevent milk from souring by evaporating it over a slow heat in the vacuum. Believing that it resisted spoilage because its water content had been removed, he called his revolutionary product "condensed milk." As Louis Pasteur later demonstrated, however, it was the heat Borden used in his evaporation process that kept the milk from spoiling because it killed the bacteria in fresh milk.
Despite the apparent usefulness of condensed milk,
the U.S. Patent office rejected Borden's patent application three times.
It was finally accepted on Aug. 19, 1856, after Robert McFarlane, the editor of Scientific American,
and John H. Currie, head of a research laboratory,
convinced the commissioner of patents of the value of condensed milk.
Soon afterward, Borden started a small processing operation near a dairy farm in Wolcottville, Connecticut,
and opened a sales office in New York City. Consumers, however, took little notice of canned milk, and, after only a few months in business, sluggish sales forced Borden to return to Texas in need of more capital. Undaunted, he resumed production in 1857 in Burrville, Connecticut, under the name Gail Borden, Jr., and Company.
The second enterprise also struggled financially until Borden met Jeremiah Milbank, a wholesale grocer, banker, and railroad financier. With Milbank's funding they formed a partnership in 1858 known as the New York Condensed Milk Company. Another stroke of fortune came when Borden decided to advertise in an issue of Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, which coincidentally contained an article condemning the unsanitary conditions at city dairies and the practice by many unscrupulous dairymen of adding chalk and eggs to enhance their "swill milk," as it was called. Soon after the magazine appeared, the New York Condensed Milk Company was delivering condensed milk throughout lower Manhattan and in Jersey City, New Jersey.
In 1861 the U.S. government ordered 500 lbs of condensed milk for troops fighting in the Civil War.
As the conflict grew, government orders increased, until Borden had to license other manufacturers to keep up with demand.
After the war, the New York Condensed Milk Company had a ready-made customer base in both Union and Confederate veterans. To distinguish this product from its new competitors, Borden adopted the American bald eagle as his trademark.
Incorporated in 1899
Gail Borden, Jr., died in 1874, leaving management of the thriving company to his sons, John Gail and Henry Lee, who presided from 1874 to 1884 and 1884 to 1902, respectively.
In 1875 the company diversified by offering delivery of fluid milk in New York and New Jersey.
Ten years later, it pioneered the use of glass bottles for milk distribution. In 1892 Borden's fluid-milk business was expanded to Chicago and the company began to manufacture evaporated milk.
Seven years later, Henry Lee Borden opened the first foreign branch, in Ontario, Canada, bringing to 18 the number of towns in which the company had facilities. In 1899, as fresh and condensed milk sales generated profits of $2 million, the company was incorporated as the Borden Condensed Milk Company.
2013年3月3日 星期日
Borden Condensed Milk
Borden made a hobby of inventing things. Among his creations was the prairie schooner, an awkward, sail-powered wagon. Another Borden device, the lazy Susan, can now be found in households everywhere. He also concocted the unsavory, yet serviceable, "meat biscuit," a lightweight, nonperishable food suited to travelers. Although the meat biscuit was a commercial failure, it was hailed as a scientific breakthrough and in 1851 Borden was invited to London to receive the Great Council Medal from Queen Victoria.
During his passage back from London, Borden saw several children on board ship die after drinking contaminated milk. Because no one yet understood how to keep milk fresh, spoiled and even poisonous milk was not uncommon. Borden knew that the Shakers used vacuum pans to preserve fruit, and he began experimenting with a similar apparatus in search of a way to preserve milk. After much tinkering, he discovered he could prevent milk from souring by evaporating it over a slow heat in the vacuum. Believing that it resisted spoilage because its water content had been removed, he called his revolutionary product "condensed milk." As Louis Pasteur later demonstrated, however, it was the heat Borden used in his evaporation process that kept the milk from spoiling because it killed the bacteria in fresh milk.
Despite the apparent usefulness of condensed milk,
the U.S. Patent office rejected Borden's patent application three times.
It was finally accepted on Aug. 19, 1856, after Robert McFarlane, the editor of Scientific American,
and John H. Currie, head of a research laboratory,
convinced the commissioner of patents of the value of condensed milk.
Soon afterward, Borden started a small processing operation near a dairy farm in Wolcottville, Connecticut,
and opened a sales office in New York City. Consumers, however, took little notice of canned milk, and, after only a few months in business, sluggish sales forced Borden to return to Texas in need of more capital. Undaunted, he resumed production in 1857 in Burrville, Connecticut, under the name Gail Borden, Jr., and Company.
The second enterprise also struggled financially until Borden met Jeremiah Milbank, a wholesale grocer, banker, and railroad financier. With Milbank's funding they formed a partnership in 1858 known as the New York Condensed Milk Company. Another stroke of fortune came when Borden decided to advertise in an issue of Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, which coincidentally contained an article condemning the unsanitary conditions at city dairies and the practice by many unscrupulous dairymen of adding chalk and eggs to enhance their "swill milk," as it was called. Soon after the magazine appeared, the New York Condensed Milk Company was delivering condensed milk throughout lower Manhattan and in Jersey City, New Jersey.
In 1861 the U.S. government ordered 500 lbs of condensed milk for troops fighting in the Civil War.
As the conflict grew, government orders increased, until Borden had to license other manufacturers to keep up with demand.
After the war, the New York Condensed Milk Company had a ready-made customer base in both Union and Confederate veterans. To distinguish this product from its new competitors, Borden adopted the American bald eagle as his trademark.
Incorporated in 1899
Gail Borden, Jr., died in 1874, leaving management of the thriving company to his sons, John Gail and Henry Lee, who presided from 1874 to 1884 and 1884 to 1902, respectively.
In 1875 the company diversified by offering delivery of fluid milk in New York and New Jersey.
Ten years later, it pioneered the use of glass bottles for milk distribution. In 1892 Borden's fluid-milk business was expanded to Chicago and the company began to manufacture evaporated milk.
Seven years later, Henry Lee Borden opened the first foreign branch, in Ontario, Canada, bringing to 18 the number of towns in which the company had facilities. In 1899, as fresh and condensed milk sales generated profits of $2 million, the company was incorporated as the Borden Condensed Milk Company.
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