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Zwiebacks and Uneeda Biscuits

Uneeda Biscuit was introduced in 1898 and was the first product to bear the name of the National Biscuit Company, later known as Nabisco Foods. In the early 1890s there were hundreds of hometown bakers putting out generic crackers in barrels with plain cookies in square shipping boxes. Mothers would say, "George, here' s a paper bag. Go down to the store and fill this with crackers." Uneeda was one of the first mass marketed products outside of its region, due to the "sanitary packaging" it promoted as being a step above the cracker barrel in terms of health and convenience. National Biscuit Co. launched the first prepackaged biscuit, Uneeda, with the slogan "Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit."

The word "zwieback" is German in origin and means "twice baked". I belong to an internet mailing list devoted to German/Brooklyn ancestry. I posted this webpage in August 2008. One of the responses I got was from Kathleen who gave me the following description of Zwiebacks:

I was 'raised' on Zweiback (still eat them in the morning with butter) and they are more like a 4 inch rounded rectangle of dry toast, maybe a half inch thick (similar to biscotti, but no flavoring) and the name/concept of the dry toast probably originated in Germany. Moms usually give them to their babies when the baby is teething. Nabisco makes them and they come in a yellow box with a photo of a baby on the box. I would think that every country would have had their own version of Zweiback (i.e., Holland Rusk in round form) because they didn't spoil and when money was low, you could give your kids a 'meal' of Zweiback in milk with a sprinkling of sugar.

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LEIER/NOWASKY FAMILY HISTORY