Swirls Bakery

It was the turn of the 20th century. Horse-drawn carriages made their way down unpaved streets. A young sign painter, brush in hand, worked diligently on the bread advertisement he was painting on the wall of the building. As he worked, he thought to himself that he could certainly find better things to say about bread than the words he was painting. And, very soon, the young sign painter did just that. The young man was W.E. Long. In 1900, he founded the Company that bears his name to this day -- The W.E. Long Company. Long was young, enthusiastic and firmly believed in the future of the baking industry. In the beginning, Long peddled his advertising program town to town. He was successful at presenting ideas for billboards to bakers. While traveling in New York State in 1908, W.E. Long saw the brand name "Holsum." He inquired about the availability of the brand name and soon obtained the exclusive right to the name "Holsum" for the W.E. Long Company. By 1909, the young painter had established his company as being a specialty house in bakery advertising. Now, the young man turned to a different aspect of the bakery business. Until this time, bread was sold without benefit of wrapper. While President Theodore Roosevelt was hunting big game in Africa, Long presented his clients with an idea. Why not be the first to sell wrapped bread? And so, in 1909, Holsum Bread was not only: "Fresh and Sweet - Good to Eat"...but, it was hand-wrapped and tied with a string. Thus a new kind of bread was born, far surpassing any other bread on the grocers' shelves. It was not any surprise to learn that the bread wrapped in a red and white package quickly became popular with housewives