13. The Gilded Age saw the birth of several well-known consumer products
At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia visitors were treated to a new condiment from Pittsburgh, a catsup named Heinz 57. They were able to wash it down with another new product, a beverage made from sassafras root prepared by Hires, and sold as Hires Root Beer. It was during the Gilded Age that John Pemberton began selling Coca-Cola as a patent medicine. In 1879 Cincinnati’s Proctor and Gamble marketed a new soap, which they named Ivory, and which was highly touted by the company for its purity. Kellogg’s patented a process for the manufacturing of Corn Flakes in 1896 and began manufacturing and selling Kellogg’s Corn Flakes that same year.
During the Gilded Age the famed red and white Campbell’s Soup can design was created for its growing line of condensed soups, the colors were inspired by those of Cornell University’s football uniforms. Another product marketed with a red and white label, Budweiser Beer, was introduced in 1876, and served at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Milton S. Hershey developed his process for making milk chocolate near the end of the Gilded Age, after first achieving considerable success as a manufacturer of caramels. Professional baseball was born in the Gilded Age, and the game exploded in popularity as barnstorming teams began to be replaced with locally based permanent teams playing in organized leagues.