The year was 1985, and in response to the competition from Kellogg’s pop-tart, Pillsbury invented the Toaster Strudel. Launched with the advertising slogan “something better just popped up” — as an affront to the pop-tart — the toaster strudel was marketed as a fun, convenient and sweet part of breakfast.
The original flavours were strawberry, blueberry and apple, each strudel allocated with an individual icing packet. My favourite was the strawberry strudel, and while the pastry was conveniently baking in the toaster oven, I’d warm up the icing packet in my hand to apply a warm gooey glaze. Although I haven’t had one in years — and won’t for fear of ruining my memory of this flakey, handheld pastry treat — it was by far my favourite Pillsbury product. For me, the toaster strudel beat out the pizza pocket and crescent rolls by a landslide.
Although General Mills now owns Pillsbury, the brand continues, and the toaster strudel now comes with even more flavours of filling and icing. It all started 150 years ago with Charles Pillsbury in 1869 on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Between 1880 and 1930, Minneapolis was known as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World” thanks to the power generation from the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. The mills received the grain via train, and at peak production, a mill could grind enough flour to make 12 million loaves of bread in a day!
By the 1870s, this area of downtown Minneapolis was referred to as flour mill row, and there were more than 20 stone flour mills lined up along the canal. The more extensive mills, notably Pillsbury, Washburn and Crosby, transformed the milling industry, inventing equipment and techniques for faster production and better quality flour.
In 1877 the Washburn and Crosby mills merged and then merged again in 1928 with 28 other mills and formed the General Mills Company. The industry started to decline as the mills moved to those cities closer to Canada for better access to the source of wheat.
As the flour milling industry moved north, the old mills were abandoned.
So Dear Reader, I know you have made the linkage between my nostalgia related to toaster strudels and Pillsbury, but are you wondering, what does any of this have to do with Karl?
Well, the Minneapolis riverfront may not be the thriving flour industry it once was when Karl pedalled his way past the mills while inhaling the aroma of freshly baked bread, but you wouldn’t know it. Instead of demolishing those buildings constructed for the flour milling industry, Minneapolis transformed their use.
The Pillsbury Mill was sold, closed, and converted to artist lofts in 2016. The Washburn-Crosby Co. Mill closed in 1965 and was partially destroyed by fire in 1991. Ten years later, the City of Minneapolis cleaned up the site, stabilized the mill, maintained some original features such as the flour bins, and opened the Mill City Museum. The museum operates within the ruins of the original mill, which is now considered a national historic landmark. Today, the old mills have been converted into lofts, offices, museums, and restaurants but maintained their classic neon signs. Bridges that were constructed along the river to carry freight and passengers by rail have become pedestrian walkways. Minneapolis invested in preserving its heritage but modernized how local residents and tourists interface with the riverfront today — and this tourist loved it!
And now I bet you’re itching to head to the grocery store to buy some nostalgic Pillsbury products, if you do, let me know your favourite in the comments.