On May 14, 1853 Gail Borden applied for a patent for condensed milk. Now that makes sense, since the name everyone associates with condensed milk is Borden! But I must admit that I had no idea that the inventor of condensed milk was Gail Borden. Not only was Mr Borden an inventor but he was also a surveyor, cattleman, customs agent, newspaper editor, real estate salesman, and civic official!! As a surveyor Borden co-plotted the cities of Houston and Galveston in 1836. As a newspaper man along with his brother John he was a founder of the Telegraph and Texas Register which first appeared on October 10, 1835, days after the Texas Revolution began Their twenty-first issue was published on March 24.[This contained the first list of names of Texans who died at the Battle of the Alamo
In the 1840s he became a politician, also……..
During these years, he began to experiment with disease cures and mechanics. His wife Penelope died of yellow fever on September 5, 1844. It caused frequent epidemics and had a high rate of fatalities during the 19th century. Borden began experimenting with finding a cure to the disease via refrigeration. He also developed an unsuccessful prototype for a terraqueous machine. This was asail-powered wagon designed to travel over land and sea, which he completed in 1848.[14]
By 1849, Borden was concentrating on developing a condensed beef-broth and flour mixture, which could be stored at room temperature. As American migration increased across the Great Plains, Borden had thought to develop an alternative food supply that could be readily transported. He marketed his product as a beef biscuit pemmican.
In this period, he met and married his second wife A.F. Stearns.
Borden immediately got to work marketing his new beef biscuit; in 1850, it was endorsed by the U.S. Army. He sold the product to Dr. Elisha Kane for use on his Arctic expeditions in the 1850s, theSecond Grinnell Expedition. The meat biscuit was unique as it would not spoil, so could be easily transported across land or sea. In 1851, Borden travelled to England to attend the Great Council Exhibition in London, where his beef biscuit won a gold medal. He was elected as an honorary member of the London Society of Arts Full Biography
After sales of his meat biscuit floundered, he turned his attention to condensed milk and in 1856, after three years of refining his model, Borden received the patent for his process of condensing milk by vacuum. At that time, he abandoned the meat biscuit, to focus on his new product. After three unsuccessful attempts to establish his business, Borden met financier Jeremiah Milbank, from New York, on a train. Milbank was impressed by Borden’s enthusiasm for and confidence in condensed milk, and the two became 50/50 partners in the founding of the New York Condensed Milk Company. In 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War creating a demand by the Union Army for his condensed milk the sales of Borden’s grew and son he was opening plants throughout New York and Illinois..
Borden died in Colorado in 1874 and in 1899, the New York Condensed Milk Company changed its name to Borden in his honor and like they say “the rest is history!”‘
I just had to add this advertisement for Borden’s Milk. I found it along with a great article titled The Condensed Milk Man at The Old Foodie
