Ramsey County Historical Society issued the following announcement.
In 1921, a group of Minnesota dairy farmers determined to improve the quality of their butter and milk, set on solving market pricing inequities, and focused on ways to better market and transport their products, formed the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association in St. Paul. Three years later, a company contest invited consumers to create a new brand name for the organization’s sweet cream butter. The prize? Five hundred dollars in gold! Nealy 100,000 creative entries poured in. Two Minnesotans, Ida Foss of Hopkins, Minnesota, and George Swift of Minneapolis separately submitted the winning name —Land O’Lakes—which printed on butter packaging and ultimately became the new name of the company—Land O’Lakes. An additional $300.00 was awarded to the runners-up, who suggested the names Maid O’ the West and Tommy Tucker.
Image courtesy of Land O’Lakes, Inc., Ramsey County History magazine.
Original source can be found here.
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