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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The company was founded by Amanda Smith, a homemaker from

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...

. 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 organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

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'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' 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—eac ...

by 1930, including two bakeries in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

: one in

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

, 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 gove ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. 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 area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, and

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. 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 Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time, ...

copy) In 1976, the

Kellogg Company Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

purchased Mrs. Smith's Pies for $56 million. Kellogg's sold its bakery division to The J.M. Smucker Co. in 1994 for $84 million.(23 November 1995)
Smucker, Profits Off, Is Selling Its Mrs. Smith's Frozen Pie Line
''

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'' (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 8,500 employees. It originated in the United States as a family-owned business and in 2019 became a subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang of South Korea. Sc ...

. 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 / ᏍᏗᎳᏪᎵ is a city located in the sovereign territory of the Cherokee Nation. It is also the county seat of Adair County, Oklahoma. The population was 3,700 as of the 2020 U.S. census, a decline of 6.7 percent from the 3,949 ...

.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