McCormick Seasonings
McCormick Extracts
Just a teaspoon of sugar helps the medicine go down ~ ~ Sometimes it is just a pinch of this or a dash of that which makes all the difference. My world-famous griddlecakes? A single drop of almond extract per batter batch. A pot of hot chocolate? A drop of vanilla.
That is nearly the limit and extent of my extracts knowledge. There was a third box of Schilling extract up in the cabinet corner, saved from great-grandmothers’ kitchen. Never opened, never used. The box dated 1976, our Bicentennial.
Of no use? Hardly. When a friend developed a bit of seasonal lip infection, she reminded me of the extract and asked to use it. What for? Sippin’? There’s plenty of snake-bite juice in the cupboard.
I learn extract of peppermint is preferred by many professionals to resolve topical skin issues, especially near and in the mouth! Even better, it is not a homeopathic cure, but real world medicine. A quick web search reveals an exhausting list of ailments and issues helped by mint oils. I find mint tea the perfect digestif after gastronomic overindulgence. Especially following a triple helping of my galaxy-famous gluten-and-egg-free griddlecakes!
A. Schilling & Company was an American foodstuffs company founded in San Francisco, California, in 1881 by August Schilling and George F. Volkmann, a pair 27 year-old Bremen, Germany emigres. It dealt in coffee, tea, baking powder, extracts, and spices and was acquired by McCormick & Company in 1946 and merged into its business as its Western Division. McCormick continued to use the Schilling name until the 1990s, with the last product containers marked as Schilling produced in 2002. – wiki
Barbasol
Unconsciously I became brand-loyal. Reaching for the same spice or salt, shoes and tires, buying habits formed decades ago influence every day. Particularly loyal to my shaving cream, I’ve found anything else, at twice the price, does not compare with Barbasol.
Who has not heard of Barbasol ? In the 1930s, after the Raytheon Tube put a radio in everyman’s home, America would be familiar with Singin’ Sam the Barbasol Man. “Barbasol, Barbasol … No brush, no lather, no rub-in … Wet your razor, then begin.” Actors, sports figures, even NASCAR has advertised for Barbasol.
Shaving is not rocket science. Lather up, scrape face, rinse, done. But in 1919, the process was forever changed by MIT Professor Frank Shields. In Indianapolis, Indiana, Frank started a company to sell the cream he invented. A scientist who understood the big picture, because I still buy only Barbasol. For the price? Sure. Mostly for the quality, though.
McCormick & Company
THE UBIQUITOUS RED-LID containers. Consistent of size, a design shared by no other company. From humble beginnings selling extracts door to door in 1889, Willoughby M. 
McCormick’s efforts became a global presence with 8,000 employees. McCormick even acquired their own plastic bottles producer.
For as long as I can remember, McCormick seasonings have been around the 
kitchen. Sure, there are cheaper seasonings. But there is always a difference. A sacrifice in freshness. A discernible lack of pop.
Never has the investment of a couple of dollars, the difference between the cheap stuff and the good stuff, been such a value. If you want friends to crave your chili and savor your slaw, turn to the leader. McCormick.
American Toolbox 