Milling & Baking News - February 22, 2022 - 7

TUES | 02 22 2022
Editorial
Glimpses of the future evident
in first issues published in 1922
T
he next issue of Milling & Baking
News, to be published March 8,
will mark the 100th birthday of
this publication and will include a special
feature chronicling its history. The
approach of that proud anniversary in
a fortnight offers an opportunity for
reflection about the happenings in the
milling and the broader world in 1922
and how it shaped the industry since.
Many of the stories published in the first
handful of issues of The Southwestern
Miller (as the publication was known
until 1972) demonstrate the unique
dynamics of the time, helping explain
what would draw three young brothers
- David Sosland, Sam Sosland and Sanders
Sosland - into the then crowded field
of milling journals.
The ostensible reason for the creation
of The Southwestern Miller was to level
the playing field for millers of the hard
winter states. Southwestern millers were
seeking to compete for sales to commercial
bread bakers with millers from the
spring wheat states, which had been
dominant until then. Reliant on a slowly
fading family flour business, millers in
the Southwest seemed disadvantaged versus
the well ensconced mills of the Northwest.
Still, signs were abruptly emerging
in March 1922 pointing to a promising
future for the hard winter states, to a
blurring of the lines separating the different
milling regions of the country and to
impending changes in grain-based foods.
This blurring surfaced in the very first
issue, in a story describing the problems
of a new mill - Liberty Milling Co. in
Kansas City. When the company was
unable to cover its debts to equipment
suppliers, ownership was transferred
to " Minneapolis interests " - Washburn
Crosby Co. (six years before it was
renamed General Mills, Inc.). The company's
first mill in the Southwest, it was
located on the site where General Mills'
largest US flour mill operates today.
Washburn Crosby's foray into the Southwest
was not an isolated event. A month
The ostensible reason for the creation of The
Southwestern Miller was to level the playing field
for millers of the hard winter states.
later, another prominent Minneapolis
miller A.C. Loring, president of The Pillsbury
Flour Mills Co., was in Kansas City,
negotiating purchase of the Atchison
Mills in nearby Atchison, Kan.
More telling than the investments in
the Southwest by the leading millers of
the Northwest was success hard winter
millers were enjoying selling flour into
Central states markets. Mills in states like
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania
were reportedly purchasing hard winter
flour from the Southwest and packing
it under their own brands. " These mills
have become the largest distributors of
Southwestern flour, " an article read. So
alarming was the success of the southwestern
mills in the region, the state
government of Ohio instituted a policy
that no flour would be purchased for its
various institutions unless it was milled
in the Buckeye State.
Hints of impending industry changes
may be found in the obituary of William
G. Crocker, who died April 17,1922, at
the age of 58. While often referred to
in histories as a " beloved director " of
Washburn Crosby, Mr. Crocker had
served since the 1890s as the head of the
company's millfeed department, a role
he maintained his entire career. He grew
ill in 1920, and a year before his death,
Washburn Crosby honored Mr. Crocker
by using his surname for responses to
consumer inquiries. The company chose
the name " Betty " as a " friendly sounding
name. " (Mr. Crocker's widow was named
Mary.)
Finally, a March story offered the view
of an observer in Rome that Russia would
not be able to resume its role as a large
wheat exporter for at least three years.
The estimate was wildly low. Russia at
the time was in the midst of a famine, and
the story portended food shortages in the
years ahead culminating in the Russian
Wheat Deal in the 1970s that would bring
fame to this publication's longtime editor
Morton I. Sosland, who broke the story.
One hundred years later, the vigor of the
grain-based foods industry has not ebbed.
Neither has our excitement to share developments
about what we are confident will
be a dynamic, even thrilling future. MBN
Josh Sosland, Editor
We're eager to get your feedback.
editor@sosland.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
PUBLISHING STAFF
Executive Editor, Markets
Neil N. Sosland
Editor
L. Joshua Sosland
Managing Editor
Eric J. Schroeder
Senior Editors, Markets
Jay S. Sjerven
Ron Sterk
Senior Editor
Jeff Gelski
Associate Editors, Markets
Matt Noltemeyer
Crystal Futrell
Digital Associate Editor
Gloria Cowdin
Markets,
Senior Graphic Designer,
Purchasing Seminar
Coordinator
Christina Sullivan
Publisher
G. Michael Gude
Associate Publishers
David DePaul
Bruce Webster
Matt O'Shea
National Account Executive
Russell Brody
National Account Executive
Tom Huppe
Sales Enablement Specialist
Whitney Hartman
bakingbusiness.com
Director of
Audience Development
Michael Barbee
Audience Development
Analyst
Dustin Pickman
Audience Development
Specialist
Hannah Carney
Audience Development
Coordinator
Lauren Juliana
Director of Digital Media
Jon Hall
Digital Advertising Manager
Carrie Fluegge
Advertising Manager
Nora Wages
Advertising Coordinator
Annie Fournier
Design Services Manager
Elisabeth Spillman
Production Specialist
Marj Potts
Senior Design Consultant
Becky White
Promotions Manager
Jim White
Promotions Media Designer
Abby Chronister
CORPORATE
Chairman and CEO
Charles S. Sosland
President
L. Joshua Sosland
Chief Financial and
Administrative Officer
Staci Greco
Chief Operating Officer
and Executive Editor
Meyer Sosland
Chief Marketing Officer
Jim Saladin
MILLING & BAKING NEWS 7
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Milling & Baking News - February 22, 2022

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