. for the united states marine corps nickname see devil dog . drake s cakes type subsidiary industry food bakery founded 1896 founder newman e. drake parent mckee foods slogan if it s drake s it s delicious website http www.drakescake.com drake s cakes is a brand of american baked goods . the company was founded by newman e. drake in 1896 in harlem as the n.e. drake baking company . 1 currently the brand is owned by mckee foods . the company makes snack cake products such as devil dogs funny bones coffee cakes ring dings and yodels . drake s is marketed primarily in the northeastern u.s. but in 2016 expanded to the mid atlantic and southeastern u.s. regions . the products are produced under the orthodox union kosher certification guidelines . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 national biscuit company 1.3 drake brothers company 1.4 early branding and advertising 1.5 drake bakeries inc. 1.6 1930 s and 40 s 1.7 1950 s and 60 s 1.8 1980 s and 90 s 1.9 2000 s 2 references 3 external links history edit early years edit drake s brand began as the n.e. drake baking company . the company was incorporated on november 14 1896 in new york city . 1 the first bakery was in harlem at 36 38 west 135th street . 2 3 by march 1898 retailer ads featured drake s pound cakes by brand name in various flavors . the ads stated that the products were baked fresh daily and sold for 17 cents per pound . 4 in 1900 retailer ads feature drake s layer cakes with chocolate or vanilla icing at 18 cents . one drake s ad touted that the price is half of what it would cost to make at home . 5 by 1901 retailer ads referred to drake s celebrated pound cakes and included drake s macaroons . 6 the business was founded by newman e. drake . 1 his youngest brother judson was working with him at the founding . 7 his other brother charles may have been with him from the start but can be confirmed to be with him in the later business in brooklyn . judson left the business in 1898 for the national biscuit company where he had a long and well regarded career in bakery management . 7 charles was a vice president for the brooklyn business but sold his interest and retired in 1907 . 8 9 at some point all four of newman s sons worked in the business . 8 10 newman drake came into this entrepreneurial venture with experience in large scale commercial baking . in 1888 newman joined vanderveer & holmes biscuit company 11 and by 1894 had become a salesman traveling internationally 12 for this cracker business . 13 in 1893 1894 while traveling in england on business 12 newman observed commercially baked fine cakes sold in grocery stores and was inspired to bring the idea to america . 14 national biscuit company edit in the 1890 s the cracker industry consolidated in a multitiered fashion . in 1898 the three major players consolidated into one large enterprise the national biscuit company later known as nabisco . 15 as early as 1899 but definitively by november 1900 the national biscuit company had purchased the drake bakery and referred to the bakery as the n.e. drake baking co. branch . 16 retailer ads show that the n.e. drake s famous loaf cakes continued to sell under that brand name at least to december 30 1902 . 17 the drake baking company was dissolved in 1903 18 however national biscuit company continued to produce cakes and macaroons at the same harlem bakery at least into 1908 but the products were under brand names other than drake for example regina golden glory and imperial . 19 it is not known how newman drake was able to hold onto the drake brand for later drake baking enterprises but national biscuit company moved onto other brand names . drake brothers company edit on december 4 1902 drake reestablished his business as drake brothers company with his brother charles and his brother in law frank s. vreeland 20 and by at least may 10 1903 drake was operating a bakery at 1006 wallabout market in brooklyn new york . 21 newman is president his brother charles is vice president and sons john harold and walter are bakers . 22 by 1904 newman s third son arthur is working in the business as a salesman . 8 an article covering a brooklyn food show in april 1904 indicated that drake continued to produce pound cakes macaroons and other cakes at the brooklyn bakery . the firm was noted as having been the first to have produced cakes in large quantities for grocery stores which must reference the origins of the harlem bakery . the new bakery was servicing over 1 000 stores in brooklyn and extended over a large portion of surrounding country . 23 in 1904 drake brothers began sales recognition dinners that became grand affairs with speakers guests and monetary awards recognizing sales performance . 24 25 a photograph of the fourteenth annual dinner in 1917 captures the grandeur of the event held at silsbe and son oyster bar and chop house in manhattan established 1863 26 with attendees in suits custom menus on the tables tuxedoed wait staff and lavish d cor . 27 in 1905 drake opened a bakery in boston s roxbury neighborhood 28 at 83 85 savin street 29 with j. harold drake newman s son as manager . 25 the wallabout market bakery expanded in 1909 with the addition into 1704 1705 wallabout market and the addition of a 16 foot oven . 30 also in 1909 drake s commissioned drake s cake walk sheet music for a rag or ragtime music for piano . 31 in 1910 newman vanderveer drake newman e. drake s youngest son joined the firm in wallabout market . 32 in may 1913 drake brothers announced that they would build a new five story bakery built of brick and concrete on clinton avenue in brooklyn on a lot 80 by 125 feet . 33 the ovens were on the top floor to allow the heat to escape mixing was on the fourth floor packing was on the third floor offices on the second floor 34 and shipping and receiving on the ground level as seen in photographs of the facility . 35 the facility had a laundry to clean the white uniforms . there was a roof top garden that served as a break area . 33 early branding and advertising edit drake brothers was recognized in a leading advertising magazine of the day for branding and advertising efforts . with much of the product sold by the pound the products were vulnerable to substitution by retailers . drake implemented pan liners that were perforated with the drake s brand name so that the product could be identified by the end consumer . drake s advertised this feature . drake also made wide use of the trademark on trucks advertising and everything that leaves our bakery . 36 a white brand three ton truck in the small fleet at the drake s boston bakery was featured in a trucking publication in 1914 for having operated for 14 months without the loss of a day . 37 in 1920 and again in 1927 drake s added garages to store their fleet of vehicles just down the street from the bakery at 35 37 clinton avenue and 41 43 clinton avenue . 38 drake bakeries inc. edit on july 29 1924 a new corporation was formed as drake bakeries incorporated . 39 ralph ward became president of the company . ralph ward was the grandson of the founder of ward baking company a major bakery enterprise founded in 1849 that went on to be continental baking and introduce the hostess brand develop competitive products like twinkies 40 and eventually after transitioning to interstate bakeries corporation own the drake s brand in 1998 74 years later 41 after having made an unsuccessful attempt to gain the drake s brand in 1986 . 42 the preferred shares of drake bakeries incorporated were owned by bessemer investment company 43 the investment arm of the bessemer trust which was founded in 1907 by henry phipps from proceeds from the sale of carnegie steel which phipps founded with andrew carnegie . 44 newman e. drake and other drake family members ralph ward and other ward family investments b. b. vanderveer and others were among the closely held group of common stockholders of drake bakeries . 43 in 1925 drake bakeries advertised with full page ads a new freshness policy where they would remove products from store shelves after 48 hours . the ad also featured recipes for three drake s products highlighting to readers the wholesome ingredients used and how much easier it would be to buy the same product you would make at home from drake . the ad also introduced the products in cartons termed the fresh cake package . 45 in 1925 drake s began a series of collectable cards including two featuring babe ruth . these cards had brand information on the back . 46 drake s baseball cards continued for decades . 47 also in 1925 work began on a new three story bakery in irvington new jersey near newark . 48 one of the top sellers for drake s still today devil dogs was filed for trademark protection in 1926 and shown as first sold in commerce on june 15 1926 . the owner of the trademark was s. gumpert co. inc. of brooklyn . 49 yankee doodles a chocolate cupcake with creme filling and no icing was first sold in interstate commerce in 1928 by the yankee cake company of providence rhode island . 50 the firm built a bakery around that time at 24 althea street in providence . in 1936 drake s is running ads for yankee doodles under the drake s brand . 51 around 1937 drake bakeries was sharing the building with yankee cake company and later became sole occupant . 52 the old formula book of drake bakeries from the late 1930 s to early 1940 s references the providence bakery . 53 the yankee cake company was stated as a wholly owned subsidiary of drake bakeries in a 1941 article . 28 on august 28 1928 drake bakeries was purchased by acquisition of common stock by central distributors inc. central distributors was formed march 9 1928 by ralph ward his cousin william ward and benjamin titman as a holding company for food companies . drake common shareholders received shares in central distributors inc. newman e. drake and ralph ward were signatories of documents related to the purchase . 43 less than a year later on august 8 1929 the borden company purchased central distributors inc. for borden stock gaining control of drake bakeries inc. as it was a company held within central distributors inc. ralph ward became a vice president within the borden company in october 1931 while continuing to serve as president of drake bakeries inc. without interruption . 43 in 1929 drake begins advertising that the products are wrapped in cellophane noting that shoppers could see what they were buying and that it was a flavor sealed package . 54 1930 s and 40 s edit newman e. drake the founder of the business died march 18 1930 at 69 years old . 55 in december 1930 drake s coffee cakes still one of the top selling products came on the scene in newspaper advertisements that mentioned a radio broadcast that offered to share the recipe . 56 the advertisement is another example of drake s forward stance promoting product quality . the ad is assumed to be the introduction of coffee cakes