Mrs. Smith's Pies (a.k.a. Mrs. Smith's Bakeries) is one of the largest frozen pie brands in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

The company was founded by Amanda Smith, a homemaker from

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

. Her son Robert P. started selling slices of Amanda's own deep-dish, fruit-filled pies door-to-door, and at the local

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

lunch counter. Later he added a mobile route and a small store. The demand for her pies led to the formation of the company "Mrs. Smith's Delicious Home Made Pies, Inc." in 1925.Van Atta, Burr (22 May 1986)
Robert Smith, Mrs. Smith's Pie Co. Founder
''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' There were four Mrs. Smith's Pies bakeries serving the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

by 1930, including 2 bakeries in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

: one in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, and one in the

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. There were also two Mid-Atlantic bakeries located in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

and

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

. The company began producing frozen pies in 1952, five years after Amanda Smith died.Downey, Sally A. (15 November 2010)
Robert C. Smith, 85, chairman of pie firm
''

'' Amanda's grandson Robert C. Smith (d. 2010) held various executive positions at the company before being named president in 1972. The company went public in May 1972.Sikora, Martin J. (25 February 1976)
Frozen Pies and Corn Flakes: Mrs. Smtih, Kellogg Co. Are Merging
''Evening Independent'' ( Knight Newspapers copy) In 1976, the

Kellogg Company The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toas ...

purchased Mrs. Smith's Pies for $56 million. Kellogg's sold its bakery division to

The J.M. Smucker Co. The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major bus ...

in 1994 for $84 million.(23 November 1995)
Smucker, Profits Off, Is Selling Its Mrs. Smith's Frozen Pie Line
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (Bloomberg Business News copy) In May 1996, after a deal to sell the unit to

ConAgra Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

fell through, Smucker sold it to

Flowers Foods Flowers Foods, headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, is a producer and marketer of packed bakery food. The company operates 47 bakeries producing bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries, and tortillas. Flowers Foods' products are sold regi ...

.(2 May 1996)
Thomasville's Flowers to buy Mrs. Smith's pies
''Albany Herald'' (Associated Press copy) In 2003, the brand was purchased by the

Schwan Food Company Schwan's Company, formerly known as The Schwan Food Company, is a food company with approximately 7,500 employees. Having originated in the United States as a family-owned business, since 2019 the company has been a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang o ...

. The Mrs. Smith's Pies plant in

served as a landmark and significant employer for the better part of the twentieth century. Today, the plant is used to manufacture Mrs. Smith's pie tins. However the main pie plant was razed to make way for a residential development. Following the closure of the Pottstown pie facility in 1998, production of Mrs. Smith's pies was relocated to

Stilwell, Oklahoma Stilwell is a city and county seat of Adair County, Oklahoma, Adair County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,700 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, a decline of 6.7 percent from the 3,949 population recorded in ...

.The (Oklahoma City) Journal Record. "Mrs. Smith's transfers work to Stilwell facility", 1 May 1998. Article archived a
CBS Interactive Business Network
(retrieved 20 November 2010).

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Food manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Frozen food brands Brand name pies American companies established in 1925 Food and drink companies established in 1925 1925 establishments in Pennsylvania