History
Charles Gulden was born on September 23, 1843, in New York City. By the age of 15, he was employed as an engraver. Two years later, he went to work for his uncle, who owned the Union Mustard Mills. After serving with a reserve regiment at Gettysburg during the Civil War, he returned briefly to his uncle's shop.
Gulden opened his own mustard company in 1862. He chose Elizabeth Street in New York for his shop, near South Street Seaport, where he could easily obtain the mustard seeds and spices necessary to mix with vintage vinegars.
By 1883, Gulden's product line included 30 mustard varieties and other products, including olives, capers, cottonseed oil, catsup, and Warwickshire sauce. That year, he moved down the street into a six-story building.
Drawing from his earlier experience as an engraver, Charles Gulden once asked his brother: "Do you think it would help if we were to attach a spoon to each bottle of No. 6, no extra charge?" Soon, the Guldens were attaching fine, imported spoons to each bottle.
Gulden's mustard won awards in 1869 and 1883. It also earned awards at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, the Paris Exposition in 1900, the Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926, and the Napa Valley Mustard Festival in 2005. However, the Gulden's mustard sold today is not the same formula as the mustard that won the awards in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
As recently as the 1960s, when the company was headquartered in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, the ingredients listed on the label were: "Mustard seed, vinegar, spices, and salt." Turmeric was not listed, as it is today. The addition of turmeric made the product milder, somewhat more like yellow mustard. The company has since removed the medallions representing the 1893 and 1900 awards from its label, since the mustard that is produced today is not the same mustard that won those awards and it would be fraudulent to suggest otherwise.
Gulden's was sold to American Home Foods (a division of American Home Products), which was spun off and renamed International Home Foods in 1996. In 2000, ConAgra purchased International Home Foods.
Gulden's mustard is now made in Milton, Pennsylvania.
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