Bring out the Hellmann’s

Mayonnaise was created in Europe and made locally in many places. The brand that has almost become synonymous with mayo in America—Hellmann’s—originated more than a century ago in a New York City delicatessen by an immigrant couple named, you guessed it, Hellmann.

Richard and Margaret Hellmann owned a deli on Columbus Avenue near 84th Street. Every day they whipped up small batches of mayo to accompany their sandwiches. Hellmann kept tinkering with the recipe to make it more stable so he could bottle and sell it in larger quantities. By 1914, he had put the mayo in reusable glass jars wide enough to accommodate a spoon.

Marketing slogans have kept the Hellmann’s name front and center in the minds of mayo shoppers. A colorful bow on the label led Hellmann to trademark his product as “Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise.” A 1987 jingle reinforced brand recognition: “Bring out the Hellmann’s, and bring out the best.” How appropriate, because Best Foods was the owner of Hellmann’s mayo for almost 70 years, from 1932 to 2000, when the company was bought by Unilever.