Valparaiso Magazine - Spring 2023

VALPO VIEWFINDER
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A Passion
for the
How two Purdue
grads’ quest for
the perfect kernel
produced a renowned
consumer brand and
one of NWI’s premier
construction and
agricultural
systems firms.
Most remember the
popcorn factory on
Route 30 as being
“Orville’s” without
knowing it was
primarily home to
Chester Inc., born from Redenbacher’s
initial investment in Northwest Indiana.
Before Redenbacher’s image found
its way onto popcorn bags and park
benches, it was Chesty, the ear of corn,
that represented the original George
F. Chester and Son hybrid seed farm.
A farmer by trade, Mr. Chester sold
fertilizers, insecticides, and accompanying
accessories from 1937 to 1951, before he
sold his company to Charles Bowman and
Orville Redenbacher.
Redenbacher, an agronomy graduate of
Purdue with a well-documented penchant
for developing the perfect popcorn, and
Bowman, who had also graduated from
Purdue, met through farming connections.
Both had some experience already in the
industry and continued to sell farming
chemicals and equipment under the
newly named Chester’s Hybrids. But
developing the perfect strain of popcorn
seed was their passion. They tried tens of
thousands of hybrid strains before hiring
plant geneticist Carl Hartman in 1959.
Over a decade from when they began, the
trio were finally satisfied with the strain
they had developed and launched the
Redbow popcorn brand in 1965. Their
first big customer was Chicago’s very own
Marshall Field’s.
An advertising company would soon
advise them to change their name
to something more recognizable.
Redenbacher tells the story in a later
television interview:
“I didn't know too much about marketing,
so my partner, Charlie Bowman, said
‘Go to Chicago and hire a firm to help us
develop a trade name.’ They didn't know
too much about popcorn. I didn't know
too much about marketing. So, when
I went back a week later to get their ideas
and see what kind of a brand name they
had, and what kind of package they
had, and they came up with the name
Orville Redenbacher – which was the same
identical name my mother
thought up
eighty-three
years ago.
And then they
charged me
$13,000
for the idea.”
Pop
By Kelleen Cullison and Chris Hough
And so, in 1970, Redbow was rebranded
to Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet
Popping Corn, catapulting Orville
Redenbacher to household-name fame.
The brand dominated a third of the unpopped
popcorn market – popcorn that
was produced in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Redenbacher and Bowman sold the
popcorn company to Hunt-Wesson Foods
in 1976, though Redenbacher continued
promoting the brand. It was after this
initial sale that Valparaiso launched its first
Popcorn Festival in 1979.
Valparaiso Vidette Messenger, Valparaiso, Indiana, US
May 05, 1947, Page 17
https://newspaperarchive.com/advertisement-clipping-may-05-1947-3704450/
Mid-century ad
clippings from
Valparaiso Vidette
Messenger
34 SPRING 2023 |
Valparaiso Vidette Messenger, Valparaiso, Indiana, US
January 09, 1963, Page 14
//newspaperarchive.com/advertisement-clipping-jan-09-1963-3735072/