You know those delicious Milano cookies that are so addictive you consume entire containers in one sitting? Have you ever kept the package long enough to glance at the Pepperidge Farm logo? Well, funny story:
When we found our new house, I took a drive around and came across an old grist mill down the road in Sudbury, Massachusetts called the Wayside Inn Grist Mill. It’s a beautiful stone building with a red iron wheel, set back off the road on the Wayside Inn’s property.
So out of curiosity, my boyfriend and I looked up the history of the mill. It turns out this mill was commissioned by Henry Ford in 1924 and produced corn, wheat and rye until his death in 1947 when it ceased operations. In 1952, Pepperidge Farm took over and the mill was used to produce all the whole wheat flour for their products. The Grist Mill shipped all their product to the Pepperidge Farm plants – 48 tons of flour a month for 15 years.
Not only that, but when Pepperidge Farms developed their company logo, they decided to use this mill as the basis for the design. There are a few subtle differences, like the chimney and the position of the wheel – but it’s clearly this mill! I took it upon myself to head back out and take some pictures to compare the logo with the real thing. It also gave me a reason to inhale a bunch of cookies. Rob chose the Nantucket cookies for our photoshoot... and opened the package the second I said I was done taking pictures.
Bonus trivia knowledge: King Arthur Flour Company produced their product here from 1967-1969.
Let us know what you think!