Ritz Crackers

Yellow and white text on a blue background with an outer white then red edge.

Ritz crackers were debuted by Nabisco in 1934, only two years before this button was made. The recipe for Ritz crackers were perfected over the course of a century, beginning with the biscuit recipe of retired sea captain John Bent in 1801. The National Biscuit Company was founded in 1898 when multiple bakeries across the U.S. joined forces, including John's descendants at Bent's Cookie Factory. In contrast to the common pale, square crackers of the day, these crackers were gold and round with serrated edges. 

Ritz crackers were mass-produced for the first time in 1934 in Nabisco's North Philadelphia bakery, sold initially only in Philadelphia and Baltimore before their distribution was expanded to the entire country by 1935. The crackers were marketed as "a taste of affordable luxury," which was an appealing concept in the midst of the Great Depression. The name "Ritz" was chosen to cultivate that image. They were an incredible success, with five million crackers baked during the first year and becoming the world's top-selling cracker within three years.