None Such Mince Meat
8 12 2007The other day I received a catalog from Smucker’s and given that I love jam and jelly, I figured I’d flip through it. In the middle of the catalog is None Such Mince Meat now manufactured by Borden. This brought a bunch of things flooding into the front of my mind. First was an article written by Post-Standard’s Dick Case a couple of weeks ago on the lighting of the water tower for Christmas at Franklin Square in Syracuse. He mentioned that several items were manufactured at Franklin Square, one of which was mince meat. I was wondering which building was used by the Merrell-Soule Co. And then I remembered the photo in the OHA research center of the None Such Mince Meat parade float in front of the Merrell-Soule Co. building at Franklin Square.
None Such Mince Meat parade float with Miss None Such,
from OHA Research Center Collection
This five-story 1904 factory remains at 600 N. Franklin St. and was built at a railroad siding on what had been old solar drying beds for salt. It is now the home to Dupli printing.
Merrell-Soule Co. manufacturing building at Franklin Square, Syracuse,
from The Post-Standard Newspaper Archives
In the 1920’s, it was the headquarters of Merrell-Soule Co. with 26 plants in the US and Canada and 900 employees, half of them in Syracuse. Merrell-Soule’s signature product was None Such Mince Meat for pies perfected by G. Lewis Merrell and Oscar Soule at their small canning factory on West Fayette St. starting in 1868. When Merrell-Soule was sold to Borden Co. in 1928 it was one of the largest manufacturers of powdered milk, mince meat and powdered lemon extract in the world. Borden made None Such in Franklin Square until 1981 when production moved to Pennsylvania. The company’s research center at 600 North Franklin left in 1997.
circa 1937 None Such Mincemeat Ad
None Such Mince Meat is a mix of apples, raisins, currants, citrus peel, sugar, vinegar, cider, salt, starch, beef and spices, and sometimes brandy and rum. “Mynce pies” were mentioned in 15th-century manuscripts. People used to make their own mince meat at home until Merrell-Soule, who started out canning vegetables, discovered a way to make low-moisture, marketable mince meat from dry ingredients. It is said they started with a recipe from a family member named “Grandmother Seward.” None Such Mince Meat succeeded because it was easy to use and because of a “secret” blend of spices that accounted for half of its 27 ingredients. The company made both a dry and a wet version.
circa 1920 None Such Mincemeat Ad
Merrell-Soule had canning factories in Fayetteville and Chittenango and sold millions of the 10-cent packets of None Such Mince Meat every year. The cardboard boxes carried a drawing of a local woman, “Miss None Such,” proudly holding a mince pie. Miss None Such did the job for mince meat that Betty Crocker and the Jolly Green Giant did for their products.
Sources:
Onondaga Historical Association
The Post-Standard Newspaper Archives
Click here to see a cookie recipe using None Such Mince Meat.
Pam, while I enjoyed learning about the history None Such Mince Meat and mincemeat pies, I admit that I don’t ever remember tasting a mincemeat pie, nor do I ever plan to… I’ll have a lemon pie first.
Mary - I’m glad you liked the history. I do too! I tasted a piece of mince pie once and it was yucky, but I don’t like raisins, currants, or citrus peels anyway. There was always a mince pie at Thanksgiving and other times of year because my Dad liked it. However, the prize cookies I remember liking. I wouldn’t eat them now, but when I was a kid they were good!
What a fun and interesting post Pam. I have always wondered exactly what “mincemeat” was, and now I know. Like Mary, I think I’d prefer less meat in my pie…lol. :c)
Jayne - Thank you! You and Mary would probably like Mince Meat, but I’m with you, I prefer to eat another type of pie first!
Well, I like it! Not with meat though. Thanks for reminding me that I usually make one at Christmas. I use a green tomato mincemeat recipe and subsitute a pear for the tomato. Works fine, and both my husband and I like it.
Glad to hear the beginnings of None Such. Do you know that little ten cent box is four or five dollars now!
I love mincemeat pie and we always had it at home at Christmas. The family I married into seems to have a genetic aversion to raisins, so I haven’t had this pie for years. It is so rich, I cannot eat a pie by myself. There are lots of meatless mincemeats around too.
Sandy - That’s good! And your recipe sounds good, if I were to like mincemeat in any form. I can’t believe how expensive it is now!
Ruth - That’s too bad you haven’t had mincemeat in a while! I don’t care for the meatless mincemeat either, because I don’t like raisins either.
Hmm, does sound interesting!
Thanks for sharing Pam!
I made a mincemeat pie at Christmas this year and took half of it to my in-laws who are both 92 years old. The other half went to my husband’s aunt who is 102 years old. Well, the old folks just raved on and on about how wonderful it was (I used the jar of NoneSuch and Pillsbury pie crusts - how easy was that!)
Long story short: I live in Austin, Texas and have tried every store in town to buy some more mincemeat, but to no avail. It’s definitely a seasonal thing down here. I am originally from Nova Scotia and maybe the British tastes are still prevalent in that part of Canada, thus I like it too.
I am trying to order some of the condensed (box) kind on-line - I think Borden has a website.