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Today on Weird History Food, we're opening the can on the history of Campbell's soup
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In 1869, Joseph Campbell went into business with Abraham Anderson. They formed Anderson and Campbell
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The two quickly reached an impasse that was thicker than chunky soup
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Anderson wanted out, and Campbell bought up his portion of the company in 1876
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Now, on his own, Campbell sought out a rich business partner. That partner was Arthur Dorrance, and they changed the business's name to the Joseph Campbell Preserve
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of company. Campbell stepped down as president soon after. He was already well over 70 years old
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allowing Dorrance to step in and take over. Dorrance was pressured by his family to give a job to
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his 24-year-old nephew, Dr. John Thompson Dorrance. Dorrance set his boy genius nephew up with a job
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in the company's chemistry department. Within his very first year on the job, John Dorrance created
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the world's very first commercially viable condensed soup. As the 20th century rolled around
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Campbell's new soups were already an international hit. The company once again changed its name
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this time to the Joseph Campbell Company. By 1914, John Dorrance had risen to become the company's president
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John acquired the Franco-American Food Company, incorporating pastas and pasta sauces into the Campbell's lineup
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Then in 1922, John reincorporated and officially changed the name one last time
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making it the Campbell's Soup Company. Campbell continued to grow during the 20th century through a variety of successful advertising campaigns In a 1934 radio shoutout for Campbell All Noodle with Chicken Soup
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the actor accidentally referred to it as chicken noodle soup. They ultimately just altered the name of their product to match the actor's mistake
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They acquired V8 in 1948, Swanson and Sons in 1955, Pepperidge Farm in 1961, and Godiva chocolates in 1967
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In 1962, in what may be the company's most iconic, moment to date, pop artist Andy Warhol debuted his 32 Campbell's soup cans, paintings in Los Angeles
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They also introduced SpaghettiOs in 1965. Over the course of the 1980s, Campbell's went through a few
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high-profile factory shutdowns. While the company's headquarters remained in Camden, they shuttered
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most of their New Jersey plants, leaving 2,800 workers unemployed in the process. Around the turn
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of the century, consumers began paying closer attention to sodium intake. Campbell signed into the
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2010 National Salt Reduction Initiative, reducing the salt content of many of their products by as much as 45
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and also hurt the actual flavor of many of its products. Just one year later, the company reversed
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course and put the salt back into their products. Still, as the 21st century continued to drag on
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Campbell's sales dragged with it. By 2019, Campbell's had huge amounts of debt, and it seemed on the brink of collapse
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until they underwent a bit of resurgence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, it isn't certain whether Campbell's recent gains will sustain the company for another century
