What is Clabber? or, how Clabber Girl got her name

With the introduction of baking powder in the late 1800s, manufacturers needed to educate consumers on the use of this new product. Prior to the invention of baking powder, bakers used various means to create leavening. Whipped eggs and yeast were both used for leavening, but cooks also would mix combinations of saleratus, pearlash, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sour milk. Milk was clabbered, or soured, for several days so it could be used for baking. Many kitchens even had a "clabber" pitcher they used for this purpose.

Our company began manufacturing baking powder in 1879 under several brand names. In 1899 we introduced Clabber Baking Powder, with the name indicating that it replaced clabbered milk. The original picture on the label depicted a young woman churning butter, since the buttermilk left over after the butter making process was also used in the clabber pitcher.

The Clabber brand became our most popular. We kept this name until 1923, when the "Girl" was added to the name. People had so closely associated the young woman on the label with the product that they had begun to refer to her as "the Clabber girl." The product's name change reflected popular practice and solidified the Clabber Girl's iconic status. Another factor that may have contributed to the name change was the introduction of pure food laws a decade earlier. Since the product contained no actual clabber or milk ingredients, it could be seen as misleading to consumers. By changing the name to "Clabber Girl", the company thus avoided any potential lawsuits (usually filed by competitors) over the brand name.

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