Pillsbury Mills, Incorporated, CBS Photo, Grand National Bake-Off at the Waldorf Astoria, New York, 1950. Left to right: Art Linkletter, contestant, Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson), Philip Pillsbury.
In 1949, the Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis celebrated its eightieth anniversary. To promote Pillsbury’s Best Family Flour, it created the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest, later named the Bake-Off, to discover the country’s best amateur bakers and recipes. The winning recipes were placed in Pillsbury flour bags as an incentive for consumers to purchase one of Pillsbury’s premier products.