Igleheart Brothers, Inc. By Pat Sides

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This view of the Igleheart Brothers plant is dated August 1951, soon after the massive grain storage elevators in the center of the photo were built. The business evolved from a modest flour mill the Igleheart family opened in downtown at Fifth and Locust streets in 1856.

In 1904, the mill relocated to 1600 First Avenue, where it manufactured the successful Swans Down brand of cake flour. Igleheart Brothers merged with General foods in 1926, a partnership that produced the first instant cake mix by the mid-1950s.

The new grain storage elevators significantly enlarged the company’s storage capacity, making Evansville one of the nation’s major grain receiving centers. The large plant is now gone, but the elevators still stand. 

1 COMMENT

  1. Hi, Pat,

    I enjoyed reading your brief synopsis of the Igleheart Brothers, Inc.

    Several years ago my wife, Linda (Bosse Class of ’69) and I (Bosse class of ’70) stopped in at Willard Library to do some research, and I recognized you from our high school days, although you did not remember me at that time. I encouraged you to come to a reunion sometime. I don’t know whether that will spark any recollection of that brief visit for you, but there it is anyway. 🙂

    I am writing to you now because I have been going through some old Evansville artifacts and mementoes of years gone by and found that I have two Igleheart Brothers, Inc. pins, given to someone (I don’t know who) for their time of service at the company after 5 years and 10 years respectively. Their signature swan graces the center of each of these small award pins. I would like to be able to pass these along to anyone who might be interested in having them for posterity, but I assume the business is now long defunct. Do YOU know of anyone who might like to have them – perhaps yourself, Willard Library, or the museum? I am interested in giving these away, not selling them, to anyone who might like to have them.

    Sincerely,
    David Poland

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