walkLEX: Uneeda Biscuit

Uneeda Biscuit Ghost Sign, Lexington, Ky.

Walking down Short Street, you can see two different buildings bearing old ghost signs of a bygone era. Ghost signs were popular marketing tools in the late 1800s through the mid-1900s (conveniently, when our society both walked and was sans-suburbia). You can find them in most urban areas, and they are great reminders of the past because of both the marketing technique and the product itself.

The Uneeda Biscuit was first produced and sold in 1898 - it was the first mass-produced cracker in the United States. Prior to Adolphus Green's creation for the National Biscuit Company, mothers would send sons with soap bags to get a fill of crackers at the local bakery. Unsurprisingly, many of the crackers came home broken. The company created a seal design for wax paper and the rest is history. Ultimately, National Biscuit Company became Nabisco in 1971. The Uneeda Biscuit was discontinued in 1999.