SAO biscuits are a savoury cracker biscuit that was launched in Australia in 1904 by Arnott's, the term SAO being

trade mark 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 oth ...

ed in 1904.National Archives of Australia: Patent Office; A11708, Applications for Registration of Trade Marks, 1904, 3987, Application for Trade Mark titled SAO in respect of biscuits - by William Arnott Limited. The origin of the name "SAO" is unknown. A widely held belief is that the name is an acronym for "Salvation Army Officer", and was named for Arthur, one of the Arnott brothers, who was indeed an officer in the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army Australia somewhat cautiously mentions this on its website, calling it "Arguably Fact" and saying "...it is understood they named it in honour of their brother Arthur Arnott, a Salvation Army Officer. In the 1993 book ''The Story of Arnott's Famous Biscuits'', Ross Arnott states that ''Sao'' was the name of a sailing boat which his grandfather (Arnott's founder William Arnott) saw on Lake Macquarie, of which he said "That would make a good name for a biscuit." SAO advertisement, 1905

SAOs are often eaten as a light snack, topped with butter/margarine and

Vegemite Vegemite ( ) is a thick, dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1922. A spread for sandwiches, ...

, or other ingredients. They were also a common base for home-made

vanilla slice A vanilla slice, also known as a custard square, is a type of pastry. It consists of a thick custard, which is traditionally flavoured with vanilla or chocolate, and which is sandwiched between flaky puff pastry or filo pastry and iced with eithe ...

in Australian homes.

References

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External links

1951 video of manufacture of biscuits, including SAOs (2 min 24 sec video with audio)
Australian snack foods Australian brands Brand name crackers 1904 establishments in Australia