Ward baking company advertisement in 1911, New York City

The Continental Baking Company was one of the first bakeries to introduce fortified bread. It was the maker of the Twinkie and

Wonder Bread Wonder Bread is a brand of sliced bread which originated in the United States in 1921 and was one of the first to be sold pre-sliced nationwide in 1930. The brand is currently owned by Flowers Foods in the United States. History The Taggart B ...

. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers it became part of the former

Hostess Brands Hostess Brands is an American-based bakery company formed in 2013. It owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the Hostess and Dolly Madison brand names and its Canadian subsidiary, Voortman Cookies Limited, pr ...

company.

History

In 1849, James Ward and his son, Hugh Ward, who came from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ireland, opened a small bakery on Broome Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 1884, Hugh Ward and his son Robert Boyd Ward moved to

Allegheny city Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

(now,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

) and opened a new bakery there. The Ward Bread Company was organized by Robert B. Ward in New York, Brooklyn and Newark in 1900. Around 1910, The Ward's Bakeries built two big factories in

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, NY(143rd St. and Southern Boulevard) and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, NY (Vanderbilt Ave and Pacific Street), which "marks a triumphant return to New York". By November 1911, the company starts to sell their famous "Ward's Tip-top Bread" for 5 & 10 cents loaves. In 1921, grandson William Ward took over the company and in 1925 renamed it the Continental Baking Company. Continental Baking acquired the Wagner Baking Company in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and other 3 companies at the end of 1924. In 1925 it bought Taggart Baking Company, the maker of

, and became the largest commercial bakery in the United States. Twinkie snack cakes were invented in 1930 in

Schiller Park, Illinois Schiller Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,793 at the 2010 census. Geography Schiller Park is located at . According to the 2010 census, Schiller Park has a total area of , all land. Demographics ...

, by James Alexander Dewar, a baker at Continental Baking Company. Continental was based in New York from 1923 to 1984. It also had its executive offices in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

. M. Lee Marshall, descendant of John Marshall, was President, later, Chairman, from 1934-1944, and director of distribution in the

War Food Administration The War Food Administration was a Federal government of the United States, United States government agency that existed from 1943 to 1945. The War Food Administration was responsible for the production and distribution of food to meet war and essen ...

in 1944. Continental was purchased by ITT in 1968, then sold to

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fr ...

in 1984. It was purchased by

Interstate Bakeries Corporation Old HB, Inc., known as Hostess Brands from 2009 to 2013 and established in 1930 as Interstate Bakeries Corporation, was a wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States. Before its 2012 closure and liquidation, it owned ...

in 1995. The combined company was rebranded Hostess Brands in 2009. Hostess-Twinkies

Hostess Brands (the former Interstate Bakeries Corporation) closed in 2012. During the liquidation process, it again changed its name, to Old HB. An entirely new and separate entity, New HB Acquisition LLC, was established in 2013, 50% owned by HB Holdings, LLC, a venture set up by Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company. New HB Acquisition acquired the brand names and some plants and other assets from Old HB, then renamed itself as

References

External links

* * {{C, Hostess Brands brands * Hostess Brands (old) * Hostess Brands (new) Bakeries of the United States Snack food manufacturers of the United States Hostess Brands Ralston Purina Defunct companies based in New York City American companies established in 1849 Food and drink companies established in 1849 Companies disestablished in 1995 1849 establishments in New York (state) 1995 disestablishments in New York (state) ITT Inc.