verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message pepperidge farm incorporated type subsidiary of campbell soup company industry food processing founded 1937 headquarters norwalk connecticut u.s. key people kenneth gosnell senior vice president of finance products cookies crackers breads desserts goldfish crackers parent campbell soup company website www.pepperidgefarm.com pepperidge farm is an american commercial bakery founded in 1937 by margaret rudkin who named the brand after her family s property in fairfield connecticut which in turn was named for the pepperidge tree nyssa sylvatica . a subsidiary of the campbell soup company it is based in norwalk connecticut . pepperidge farm products include milano and nantucket cookies goldfish crackers and varieties of bread . it distributes tim tams in the us manufactured by arnott s biscuits another campbell s subsidiary in australia and pirouettes made in indonesia . contents 1 history 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit margaret rudkin began baking bread in 1937 for her youngest son mark who had asthma and was allergic to most commercially processed foods . she home baked bread that her allergic son could eat . 1 her son s doctor recommended it to his other patients and encouraged her to bake more bread . she approached frederick marschall owner of marschall s grocery stores based in stamford connecticut to see if he would be willing to sell her pepperidge farm bread . after tasting a piece he took all the loaves she had brought with her and placed an order for more . margaret s husband henry a wall street broker began taking loaves of bread with him to new york to be sold in specialty stores . she soon moved the growing business out of her kitchen and into her garage then into a factory in 1940 . rationing during world war ii forced her to cut back production due to ingredient shortage . in 1947 margaret opened a modern commercial bakery in norwalk connecticut . on a trip to europe in the 1950s rudkin discovered fancy chocolate cookies that she believed would be popular in the united states . she bought the rights to produce and sell them and the distinctive cookies line was born . under her management pepperidge farm continued to expand into other products including frozen pastry items and later the goldfish snack cracker from switzerland . in 1961 she sold the business to the campbell soup company and became the first woman to serve on the board . she drew on her knowledge and experience to write the margaret rudkin pepperidge farm cookbook in 1963 2 which was the first cookbook ever to make the new york times best seller list . there was a long running series of commercials promoting pepperidge farm that ran on television for three decades starring radio actor parker fennelly as the spokesman playing the role of the often nostalgic philosopher starting in the late 1950s and lasting through the late 1980s . fennelly died in 1988 at the age of 96 . several of the commercials he starred in played into the 1990s . the pepperidge farm logo is based on the grist mill in sudbury massachusetts . see also edit list of bakeries list of brand name breads references edit monagan c.a. 2006 . ct icons 50 symbols of the nutmeg state . globe pequot press . p. 48 . isbn 9780762735488 . retrieved 30 august 2015 . rudkin margaret 1963 . the margaret rudkin pepperidge farm cookbook . new york atheneum . oclc 990147 . reprint new york galahad books 1992 . isbn 9780883658000 . oclc 27690339 . external links edit official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pepperidge farm & oldid 726364697 categories bakeries of the united statesbrand name breadsbrand name crackerscampbell soup company brandscompanies based in norwalk connecticutmanufacturing companies established in 1937fairfield connecticutsnack food manufacturers of the united statesfrozen food brandshidden categories articles needing additional references from may 2014all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 21 june 2016 at 18 20 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view