Adelaide Hawley Cumming (born Dieta Adelaide Fish; March 6, 1905 – December 21, 1998) was an American

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer, radio host, television star and living trademark "

Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the ''Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, G ...

", and in later years, a teacher.

Early life and education

Dieta Adelaide Fish was born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

and grew up in Willet, New York. She studied piano and voice on a scholarship at

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of ...

and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Music in 1926. She taught as assistant professor of voice at the Alabama College, State College for Women School of Music in

Montevallo, Alabama Montevallo is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. A college town, it is the home of the University of Montevallo, a public liberal arts university with approximately 3,000 students. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city o ...

for two and a half years. Her career as an entertainer began when she collaborated with two of her friends to form a vaudeville trio named "Red, Black and Gold", in which their hair was artificially colored to match the sobriquet. Widespread exposure came in the form of the ''Adelaide Hawley Program'' which she hosted From 1937 to 1950, first on

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first tw ...

, subsequently on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

. A daily news and talk radio show, it was broadcast nationwide, attracting an estimated 3 million listeners. She also hosted the TV show '' Fashions on Parade'' on DuMont from 1948 to 1949, and on ABC in 1949.

Betty Crocker and General Mills

From 1949 to 1964, she played "

", as a living

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...

for

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

. Although she "had little experience of any kind with cooking," her experience in broadcasting was a key in her replacing the previous woman who portrayed Crocker. Billed as ''America's First Lady of Food.'', she became the most recognizable woman in

America 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 territori ...

, second only to

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

. With Cumming in the title role, the 30-minute ''Betty Crocker Show'' appeared on CBS from 1950 to 1952. She then took the role for ABC in two shows, '' Betty Crocker Star Matinee'' and '' Bride and Groom''. As Crocker she appeared in the

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...

and

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ...

comedy series, which would segue into commercial with phrases such as "I don't know how to bake a cake, Gracie, but here is Betty Crocker to show us how." General Mills, looking for updated branding, dropped Cumming in 1964.

Later life

After being dropped by General Mills, Cumming resumed her educational career, entering

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and acquiring a doctoral degree in speech education in 1967. Cumming was married twice. Her initial marriage was to Mark Hawley, an announcer best remembered as the voice of

Pathé Newsreel Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...

s. The Hawleys were charter members of the American Federation of Radio Artists, now the

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording a ...

. Her second marriage was to Naval Air Cmdr. Laurence Gordon Cumming, with whom she relocated to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

. There she taught English as a second language, and she maintained this role until December 18, 1998, giving her final class three days before her death. She died on December 21, 1998, at Harrison Hospital,

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

, aged 93.

References

External links

*
Notice of death of Adelaide Hawley Cumming
''New York Times''; accessed January 4, 2015.
Papers, 1922-1967.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. * Video file: Women in the news. Vol. 1, no. 34, hosted by Adelaide Hawley, at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

National Screening Roo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumming, Adelaide Hawley 1905 births 1998 deaths American radio personalities University of Montevallo faculty American television actresses Eastman School of Music alumni General Mills people Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni Vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses People from Cincinnatus, New York 20th-century American educators Educators from New York (state) 20th-century American women educators American women academics