Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 37)

Imaginative marketing has made Tabasco a global tabletop phenomenon. Edmund made no reference to Tabasco sauce, but reminisced instead only about his heyday as a banker. His widow and children valued the entire Tabasco operation, including its factory and trademark, at a mere $14,250, only a fraction of Edmund’s antebellum worth. Edmund’s heirs recognized the potential of the business, however, and soon expanded the Island’s pepper fields from about five to 65 acres; by 1911 pepper fields covered about 450 acres. Edmund’s eldest sons, John Avery McIlhenny and Edward Avery McIlhenny, successively presided over the operation and adopted modern business methods, such as legally incorporating the company, issuing shares of stock to family members, building a larger factory, increasing worldwide exports, and creating brand awareness through advertising. In 1894, for example, John McIlhenny commissioned a Vaudeville-type musical called The Burlesque Opera of Tabasco that toured the country to promote the condiment. By the turn of the 20th century, consumers both in America and abroad widely regarded Tabasco sauce as the pre-eminent red-pepper seasoning. McIlhenny Company remains a private corporation owned solely by Edmund’s descendants, and it continues to manufacture Tabasco sauce exclusively on Avery Island. The company employs hundreds of workers, markets Tabasco sauce in 21 languages and dialects, and exports the product to over 160 countries and territories. It can produce over 700,000 bottles of sauce daily — twice the number Edmund made during his entire 22-year career as a pepper sauce manufacturer. This global culinary icon began over 135 tears ago with one Louisianian, Edmund McIlhenny, and his homespun recipe for a fiery condiment called “Tabasco.” LCV Shane K. Bernard, Ph.D., holds degrees in history from Texas A&M University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He serves as historian and curator to the McIlhenny Company Archives, Avery Island, Louisiana, and is author of The Cajuns: Americanization of a People and Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues. Fall 2005/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 37

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

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