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While it might be true that man does not live on bread alone, one feisty woman in the early 1900s discovered she could feed her family quite nicely on pies. |
Amanda Smith became the "queen" of pies just after the turn of the last century. She began America's number one commercial pie maker, Mrs. Smith's Bakeries, right at her own kitchen table.
As the nation was getting ready to dance into the Roaring 20s, times in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a small farming community northwest of Philadelphia, were rough. People struggled and worked hard to make ends meet.
Amanda was a homemaker and mother who was renowned in the community for her wonderful deep-dish fruit pies with rich, golden flaky crusts. When her son began working at the local YMCA, the pieces of pie he packed in his lunch captured everyone's attention. So, he started selling pie slices at the "Y" lunch counter.
Quickly recognizing a chance to help the family's budget, mom and son went to work. They ripped out the rumble seat of the young man's Studebaker to accommodate whole pies, which he sold first door-to-door and then to restaurants and grocery stores. A legend was born.
Mrs. Smith's Bakeries holds true to a 100-year-old tradition of Dutch pie baking that Amanda began in her kitchen a century ago. Today, millions of delighted customers now enjoy the flavor and special goodness of Mrs. Smith's pies and cobblers throughout the United States.
"We take great pride in the fact that our customers have made us the country's best seller of frozen pies," said Jim O'Sullivan, Mrs. Smith's Bakeries, vice president of marketing. "Consumers associate our name and products with quality and homemade taste. We take our responsibility very seriously to continue to provide the highest quality ingredients for desserts that taste as good as or even better than homemade."
Mrs. Smith's was once again honored at the American Pie Championship in Celebration, Florida, Winners include:
- Deep Dish Blueberry Crumb Pie
- Key Lime Pie
