National Biscuit Company

Defunct

Address

75 Ninth Avenue

GPS

40.74248154173, -74.005824174771

BOOK

The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer. As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon. The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist, and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into deep heat with a desolate cry.

The Great Gatsby

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Biscuit factory founded in Massachusetts as Pearson & Sons Bakery in 1792. In 1889, William Moore acquired the firm and six other bakeries to start the business in New York. In 1898 it merged with Adolphus Green, owner of American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company, to form the National Biscuit Company. The merger created a company with 114 bakeries in the United States and headquarters in New York. Although the New York plant closed in 1956, the company continued to grow—renamed Nabisco—and today it is one of the sector’s most important firms, with a presence in 44 countries. Its products include the famous Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies.

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