February 04, 2004
You need a biscuit
Geo. W. Taylor, Grocer and Feed Dealer!!
The National Soda Cracker
Uneeda Biscuit
Sold only in packages
5¢
National Biscuit Company
North 25th and East Broad Street
The sign is a palimpsest. I can see the letters of a previous sign faintly bleeding through, but I can't make out any words. The building currently houses a modeling agency.
The "sold only in packages" bit on the sign has always cracked me up, because I'd never seen crackers sold in anything but packages. Packages as opposed to what? Buckets? Well, yes, as became clear to me while I did the minimal research necessary to write this. Crackers used to be sold as a bulk item from barrels, hence the term "cracker barrel", and Uneeda Biscuits were the first crackers sold in boxes, which were advertised as being more sanitary.
While no longer 5¢ (I paid US$2.49 for a 99 gram box), Uneeda biscuits still have "sanitary packaging". There's a heavy plastic sleeve you need scissors to get into and a little plastic tray to hold the crackers and keep them from breaking. As advertised, the crackers are nice and flakey. I'm going to have to vacuum the room where I ate some. They are the best soup crackers I've ever had. They soak up the soup really quick, but still keep their cracker flavor. If you like your crackers to stay crispy in soup, these would not appeal to you, but I don't, so I think they're great.
The package copy notes that the crackers have "unsalted tops". The bottoms aren't salted either which, if you're eating them plain, makes for a bland snack. The package also features an illustration of the Uneeda Biscuit Boy (there's a picture at the Uneeda Biscuit link above), who looks much like one of my lab partners. I have to ask, why the oversized raincoat? Is he out looking for his girlfriend, the Morton Salt girl, so he can get some salt for those crackers?
331 words | February 4, 2004 09:17 PM | Ghost signs