Holsum Bread advertisement from the mid-1960's. Click to enlarge.
In what ways does your family stretch your dollars? When I was growing up, one way that we economized was by shopping the thrift store of the Holsum Bakers in East Chattanooga. Our freezer was always stocked with Holsum white bread, dinner rolls, and other bakery items that were on sale.
One time when we were at the Holsum thrift store, there was a customer who appeared to be pretending that it was her first visit. Wanting to avoid being seen as a commoner who shopped there regularly, she asked my father, "Is this bread any good?" He replied, somewhat like Andy Griffith might do, "Oh yes, ma'am. It's G-O-O-O-D bread!"
According to Holsum’s Web site – www.holsum.com – the name “Holsum” was licensed by W.E. Long. In the early 1900’s, Mr. Long envisioned a national brand of bread that would be promoted through advertising. He also pioneered the packaging of bread in a wrapper for freshness.
In the Chattanooga market, Holsum Bread dates at least as far back as 1942. The bakery which produced Holsum was an even older enterprise known as the Cameron and Barr Bakery. J.B. Cameron and William Barr were founders in the early 1890’s. The two men had once been coal miners in Scotland, and took similar jobs in Pennsylvania after moving to this country. Their work took them to Sheffield, Alabama and then to Chattanooga, where they entered the food business. At first, their enterprise was a meat market with a small bakery, but the rising popularity of the bakery soon made it flower.
The Cameron and Barr Bakery was a thriving business at 270 East Main Street through the early 1900’s. In 1924, with relatives of the founders now in charge, the bakery began constructing a new brick and concrete facility on Cowart Street. Using two large rack ovens, up to 500 loaves an hour could be baked.
An out-of-town buyer arose for Cameron and Barr in 1944, and the two families decided to sell. Curtis J. Patterson, a resident of Kansas City and a leader in the bread industry, headed the new ownership. By 1946, the business was referred to locally as the Holsum Bread Company. In 1956, the company broke ground for a $1,125,000 bread plant at Dodson and Crutchfield avenues in East Chattanooga.
Both the Holsum and Colonial bakeries have since closed in Chattanooga. To my knowledge, other than some fine bread specialty stores and in-store bakeries, there is no major brand of bread that is baked locally. If there is, please let me know at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.
The Cowart Street building where the aroma of fresh Holsum Bread once wafted through the air now houses the Bread Factory Lofts. Please see a 2003 article by the late Irby Park on the conversion of this building at http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_31923.asp.
The East Chattanooga bread plant of Holsum has been partitioned into offices for several businesses.
If you have Holsum memories, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net.
The Cameron and Barr Bakery, where Holsum Bread was once baked, is now the Bread Factory Lofts. Click to enlarge.