American Biscuit Company Stereoscope
United States, 1903-1909
We had to do some research to clear up a couple mysteries on this beautiful, miniature blue & gold tin viewer. First, there are claims it’s from 1890 and other claims it’s from the early 1900s. Second, there seem to be 2 histories associated with American Biscuit Company, one originating in Chicago and one originating in San Francisco. As for the date of the viewer, the US patent 720849 is prominently printed on the front of the viewer. That patent was applied for in 1902 by Arthur Schwarz, founder of Neue Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG) and the patent was granted in 1903. That clears up the first mystery: the viewer is from the early 1900s, most likely between 1903-1909. As for the origin story for American Biscuit Company - there were TWO businesses with that name, operating at the same time. The first was operating in San Francisco at 855 Battery Street since as early as 1858. The other was a conglomerate of 40 bakeries that was started much later in 1890 by Adolphus Green and called the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company. The latter one, the conglomerate from Chicago, is the one famously known to have evolved into Nabisco through mergers. The other American Biscuit Company in San Francisco wound up as part of another conglomerate, the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company — that conglomerate also eventually became part of Nabisco, but without the American Biscuit Company. Confused? Here’s a brief timeline of events:
circa 1858 - American Biscuit Company sets up at 855 Battery in San Francisco (not sure if it existed elsewhere before then)
1878 - American Biscuit Company absorbs another California biscuit company called American Cracker
1887 - American Biscuit Company files articles of incorporation in San Francisco
1890 - Separately, over in Chicago, Adolphus Green creates American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company, a big conglomerate of 40 mid-western bakeries, and establishes its headquarters in Chicago
1898 - Back in San Francisco, the American Biscuit Company’s building on Battery St burned down leaving 250 employees without jobs
1898 - Over in Chicago, the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company merged with 2 other bakery conglomerates: New York Biscuit Company (consisting of 8 bakeries that were united in 1889 by William Moore) and the United States Baking Company (formed in 1890 by Conrad Stolzenbach) to create an uber-conglom: the National Biscuit Company, consisting of 114 eastern and mid-western baking companies.
1899 - Not to be outdone, there was an attempt to bring the bakeries on the west coast together as the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, to compete with the National Biscuit Company. It worked to some extent, but, due to lack of interest, the California companies didn’t end up joining at that time. A bit of fascinating baking history: Pacific Coast had a red swatiska as their trademark (before the symbol inherited all its baggage) and would later be sued over their packaging design by the National Biscuit Company … and lose.
1905 - The American Biscuit Company bakery finally joined the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company conglomerate. But, as you’ll see shortly, that relationship didn’t last thanks to some competitive disagreements.
1906 - While owned by the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company, American Biscuit Company’s San Francisco plant at Battery & Broadway was destroyed by fire (not by the preceding earthquake which the insurance company asked them to prove!) However, they built back bigger and better on the west side of Battery Street the following year.
1909 - Pacific Coast Biscuit Company retires its interest in California and sells American Biscuit Company to the Dunn Cracker Company trust. The Dunn Cracker trust was run by a man who’d been in the California biscuit business a long time and had once been part of American Biscuit.
1930 - The National Biscuit Company conglomerate buys the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company conglomerate.
1971 - National Biscuit Company changes its corporate name to Nabisco (it had a product called Nabisco much earlier, though).
I have no idea what eventually happened to the American Biscuit Company of San Francisco advertised on this viewer after they were sold to the Dunn Cracker Company trust in 1909. Maybe it eventually became part of the Nabisco family of companies through some other later merger at a later date.
