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TO RECOGNIZE DUKE'S MAYONNAISE AT THE CELEBRATION OF ITS ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY, TO CONGRATULATE THE C.F. SAUER COMPANY ON THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE DUKE'S BRAND, AND TO DECLARE THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017, AS "DUKE'S DAY IN SOUTH CAROLINA."
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to learn that Duke's Mayonnaise, a brand of the C.F. Sauer Company, is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary in 2017; and
Whereas, Duke's Mayonnaise began in the aspirations of Eugenia Thomas, born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1881 as the youngest of ten children. Her father, a tailor, owned his own shop and no doubt contributed to Eugenia's knack for business in her early years. In 1900, nineteen-year-old Eugenia married Harry Duke, and their daughter Martha was born a year later. Nearly a decade later, the family relocated to Greenville for Harry's new job at Southern Power Company; and
Whereas, during the early 1900s, Greenville thrived as a central point of the Southern textile industry. The city's booming economy laid the foundation for Eugenia Duke's future business to take off. When the United States joined the Allies in 1917, an influx of soldiers arrived in Greenville to train at Camp Sevier, a National Guard training camp that operated from 1917 until early in 1919. It was at Camp Sevier that the Duke's Mayonnaise legacy came to birth. Noting the hardworking, hungry soldiers-in-training, Eugenia Duke began selling sandwiches slathered with her homemade mayonnaise, starting in 1917. Popular favorites like chicken salad, pimento cheese, and egg salad cost a dime each, and Eugenia made a profit of two cents per sandwich, about forty cents in today's dollars. Years after they'd left the camp, soldiers wrote to Eugenia, begging for her sandwich recipes and jars of her delectable spread; and
Whereas, as neighbor told neighbor about Eugenia's tasty products, her business grew and kept on growing. In 1923, Eugenia's top salesman noticed that Eugenia's classic, simple sandwiches were delicious but that it was her tangy spread that was truly distinctive and kept people wanting more. Though her sandwich enterprise was still flourishing, this salesman urged Eugenia to shift her efforts to the mayonnaise that made her sandwiches so flavorful. As a result, Eugenia began selling her mayonnaise as a separate product, and Duke's Mayonnaise took off. Eugenia sold her sandwich business to focus her attention solely on the spread. The sandwich operation, Duke Sandwich Company, still operates in Greenville today; and
Whereas, in 1929, Eugenia was struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for her famous mayonnaise. She sold her business, and the C.F. Sauer Company was happy to take over and continue spreading Duke's across the United States, after which Eugenia served as C.F. Sauer's mayonnaise spokeswoman; and
Whereas, today, Duke's Mayonnaise is manufactured at C.F. Sauer's Mauldin plant, located in Greenville County. Eugenia Duke would be proud; and
Whereas, Duke's will celebrate its one hundredth anniversary with a new jar label, recipe contest, fan-designed special-edition t-shirt contest, and festivities in Greenville, the town of its creation; and
Whereas, appreciative of its contributions to the prosperity of the Palmetto State, the House of Representatives is delighted to celebrate C.F. Sauer Company's Duke's Mayonnaise on a century of delighting the palates of its many fans. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize Duke's Mayonnaise at the celebration of its one hundredth anniversary, congratulate the C.F. Sauer Company on the continued success of the Duke's brand, and declare Thursday, April 27, 2017, as "Duke's Day in South Carolina."
Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution be presented to the C.F. Sauer Company.
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