The famous Campbell’s soup is surrounded by curiosities that you probably don’t even know, beyond the obsession with the artist Andy Warhol; the Campbell’s company invented the condensed soup and it was not always sold in a white can with red
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Before it canned, Campbell’s launched its first soup bottle in 1985.
Before it canned, Campbell’s launched its first soup bottle in 1985.
Campbell’s soup cans have a long history. We’ll tell you some fun facts about the popular American canned soups that have been on grocery store shelves for more than 120 years, created by a company called Anderson & Campbell, founded by Joseph Campbell in 1869 in New Jersey and that in 1922 would become Campbell Soup Company.
- The first soup ready to eat
The first jar of ready-to-eat soup was Beefsteak Tomato, launched in 1895. As a curious fact, Joseph Campbell was not at the company he founded (he sold vegetables) to see the launch of the first soup bottle; he had already been succeeded as president and had retired a year earlier.
- Campbell’s soup cans were not always red and white.
The iconic red and white cans were not always that color. Initially, the labels were navy blue and orange and featured New Jersey Beefsteak tomatoes.
Campbell notes that its first red and white soup can label debuted in 1898, after a company executive attends the annual Cornell-Penn soccer game and is impressed by Cornell’s new red and white uniforms.
- Campbell invented condensed soup
Campbell’s was the company that invented condensed soup. In 1897, Dr. John T. Dorrance, nephew of the then president of the company, invented soup condensation, and with this invention came canned soups that were more affordable, preserved longer and were more convenient.
- The medallion on the soup label
The medallion on the can’s label is the bronze medal the company won for product excellence at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition.
- Andy Warhol was obsessed with Campbell’s soup.
Andy Warhol is one of the icons of pop art who in 1962 produced “Campbell’s Soup Cans,” 32 screen-printed paintings, each depicting the brand’s condensed soup flavors available at the time.
Mental Floss publishes that Warhol used to eat these soups at the same lunch every day, for 20 years, the same thing over and over again. “He had internalized soups both literally and metaphorically. Warhol’s admiration for how the uniformity of each flavor was consistent from can to can inspired him to turn to photographic screen printing after the creation of Campbell’s Soup Cans.”
