MSS 818 Donaldson Baking Company Records

              MSS 81E
Donaldson Baking Company
Records, Columbus, Ohio
9 c u b i c f e e t
P r e l iminary i n v e n r o r y
Coll e c t i o n S y n o p s i s
P r o v e n a n c e : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y a c q u i r e d t h e Donaldson
Baking Company R e c o r d s , Columbus, Ohio, as a g i f t of t h e Richard
Donaldson Family through Mrs. B e t t y Donaldson in March 1923.
Robert W. Viol p r o c e s s e d t h e c o l l e c t i o n in J a n u a r y 1984.
P r o p e r t y r i g h t s : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y o!~ izs t h e g r o p e r t y
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t i o n .
C o p y r i g h t s : Mrs. Donaldson has d e d i c a t e d such c o p y r i g h t s a s she
p o s s e s s e s i n t h i s c o l l e c t i o n t o t h e p u b l i c . C o n s i d e r a t i o n of a l l
o t h e r c o p y r i g h t s i s t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of t h e a u t h o r and p u b l i s h e r .
Access: This c o l l e c t i o n i s open under t h e r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s
of t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y .
C i t a t i o n : R e s e a r c h e r s a r e r e q u e s t e d t o c i x e c o l l e c t i o n name,
c o l l e c t i o n number, and t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y in a l l f o o r n o t e
and b i b l i o g r a p h i c r e f e r e n c e s .
H i s t o r i c a l and o r g a n i z a t i o n s k e t c h e s : I n 1929 S t e r l i n g Donaldson
p u r c h a s e d t h e H o p p s t e t t e r Bakery Company from Harold J . H o p p s t e t t e r
of Canton, Ohio, and o r g a n i z e d t h e S t e r l i n g Baking Company. The
bakery s o l d b r e a d , c a k e s , p a s t e r i e s , and c o n f e c t i o n s both w h o l e s a l e
and r e t a i l . The s t o c k h o l d e r s e l e c t e d a board of d i r e c t o r s number-ing
from t h r e e t o seven members a t t h e annual m e e t i n g held each
A p r i l . Board members h e l d o f f i c e f o r one y e a r and e l e c t e d t h e
p r e s i d e n t , v i c e p r e s i d e n t , s e c r e t a r y , and t r e a s u r e r of t h e company.
In 1933 S t e r l i n g Donaldson p u r c h a s e d t h e Dunkle S o n ' s Bakery Com-pany,
Columbus, Ohio, f o r $ 6 0 , 0 0 9 . During World War I1 S t e r l i n g
Donaldson p l a y e d a key r o l e in b o t h i n d u s t r y and government a s s i g n -
m e n t s , and r e p r e s e n t e d home s e r v i c e b a k e r s i n t h e American B a k e r ' s
A s s o c i a t i o n . The Clark Bakery, Columbus, Ohio, was purchased from
t h e Clark f a m i l y in 1949 and combined w i t h t h e Dunkle bakery t o
become t h e Donaldson Baking Company.
The S t e r l i n g Baking Company o f C a n t o n , Ohio, and t h e Donaldson
Baking Company, owned by t h e same f a m i l y , merged as t h e Donaldson
Baking Company in 1950. The company, a l e a d i n g home s e r v i c e bakery
i n t h e m i d w e s t , s u p p l i e d c u s t o m e r s on 295 h o u s e - t o - h o u s e r o u t e s
w i t h r e g u l a r d i r e c t d e l i v e r y of bakery p r o d u c t s .
R i c h a r d D o n a l d s o n , s o n of S t e r l i n g Donaldson, became p r e s i d e n t of
t h e company i n 1960 and t h e e l d e r Donaldson became chairman of
t h e board of d i r e c t o r s . In 1963 Big Bear B a k e r i e s , I n c . , a sub-s
i d i a r y of B i g Bear S t o r e s Company, Columbus, O h i o , p u r c h a s e d t h e
Donaldson Baking Company. The b a k e r y ' s L o u i s v i l l e , Kentucky,
p l a n t c e a s e d p r o d u c t i o n and s a l e s in 1965 a n d was l i q u i d a t e d on
. :, ,
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