1. Margaret Loreta Rudkin was an American businesswoman who founded Pepperidge Farm and was the first female member of the board at the Campbell Soup Company.
20 Facts About Margaret Rudkin
1. 2.
Margaret Rudkin studied finance and graduated valedictorian from her high school.
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Margaret Rudkin quit her job at the beginning of the Great Depression and moved to a farm in Fairfield, Connecticut, despite having no experience on a farm.
4.
Margaret Rudkin grew up baking with her grandmother, who taught her the basics of cakes and biscuits.
5.
Margaret Rudkin stated, "Natural foods and natural sugars and the wheat germ contained in old-fashioned whole wheat bread might help this child who needed special food".
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Margaret Rudkin proudly showed the doctor her creation; he wrote a letter endorsing it and began to recommend the bread to his patients.
7.
Margaret Rudkin visited other doctors, who in turn recommended her bread to their patients.
8.
Margaret Rudkin then made deals with grocers in the area; it is rumored she convinced one grocer by allowing him a taste.
9.
Margaret Rudkin expanded quickly: a year prior, Reader's Digest published an article on Pepperidge Farm, introducing it to readers across the United States and Canada and leading to increased sales.
10.
Margaret Rudkin was one of the first successful examples to focus on healthy, natural food.
11.
Margaret Rudkin paved the way for women in the workforce and believed women should be hired as they had demonstrated abilities in household management.
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Margaret Rudkin would go on to hire many women, married or unmarried, offering them flexible working conditions.
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Margaret Rudkin stated that she believed there was no job a man could do that a woman could not.
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Margaret Rudkin's husband joined the company in 1949 and it became a family business.
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Margaret Rudkin then gained the title of first woman on the board of Campbell.
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Margaret Rudkin is still considered to be a leader in many industries and her legacy lives on through Pepperidge Farm.
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Margaret Rudkin continues to thrive and is a household name in the United States.
18.
In 1929, Margaret Rudkin moved to a property named Pepperidge Farm in Fairfield, Connecticut.
19.
On June 1,1967, Margaret Rudkin died of breast cancer at Yale-New Haven hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.
20.
Margaret Rudkin is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.