What is Spry?

Have you noticed that sometimes Memere uses "Spry" in her recipes? If you were born well after the 1950's this may be a new product name to you. Here is a brief description about the history of "Spry."

Spry & Crisco were two competing brands of solid vegetable shortening. Spry was first marketed in 1936 to compete for the Crisco market. Spry quickly claimed about half of the Crisco market. It was heavily advertised in "Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories" which was a radio show much like today's soap operas. The radio show ended in 1956. There were also a series of cookbooks featuring "Aunt Jenny"; Spry was included in every recipe. These cookbooks can still be purchased on the secondary market. Unilever, the parent company for "Spry", discontinued its production in the second half of the 1950's.

Click on the photo above to go to GhostTravelerDotCom. Here the author offers a cheeky interpretation of many past food products & recipes.