Boiardi's Boy-Ar-Dee History

In 1924, Boiardi opened up ll Giardino d’italia restaurant at East 9th street and Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. The idea for Chef Boyardee came about when restaurant customers began asking Boiardi for his spaghetti sauce. Four years later, in 1928, he opened a factory and moved production to Milton, Pennsylvania, where enough tomatoes and mushrooms could be grown. He decided to name his product “Boy-Ar-Dee” to help Americans pronounce his name correctly. The U.S. military commissioned them during World War ll for the production of army rations, requiring the factory to run 24/7.

After the war, instead of reducing production, the company was sold to American Home Products in 1946 so that everyone working there would be able to keep