A jug made by Winchester’s White House Foods is said to have survived the sinking of the Titanic.
National Fruit apple processing, circa 1935.
Photo courtesy of Handley Regional Library
In 1908, apple cider vinegar was a staple in every pantry, including the White House kitchen in Washington, D.C. National Fruit Product Company owner Frank Armstrong was so proud of his horse-drawn wagon deliveries to then-President Theodore Roosevelt that he labeled and marketed his “pure, full-strength” vinegar under the White House Foods brand.
Titanic glass jug.
Photos courtesy of White House Foods
Vinegar bottle, circa 1924.
Today, White House Foods is the largest privately owned apple processor in the nation. The rambling factory, which occupies more than a million square feet of plant space along the railroad tracks on Fairmont Avenue, has been part of the Winchester landscape for so long that it’s easy to take for granted. Take a closer look, because there are stories behind those old chimneys and brick walls.
White House was a pioneer in brand marketing. In the early 1900s, most cider vinegar was sold from wooden barrels. Despite the first Federal Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, many producers still peddled diluted, unsanitary, or fake cider vinegars (made of water-soaked apple waste), and the barrels provided consumers no way to tell the difference. Armstrong wanted buyers to see the purity of his company’s product. He was among the first in the country to aggressively market a product using glass packaging and clever labels to impress discerning homemakers. Today, those bottles, including fancy cruets and vases in curious shapes, are prized collectibles.
One of those White House vinegar jugs may have survived the 1912 sinking of the passenger liner Titanic. White House Foods has in its attic a 1980 newspaper article claiming that in 1944, 16-year-old Sal Grosso was searching for treasure on Montauk Point Beach, Long Island, New York, when he found a gallon glass jug embossed with the White House logo. Buried deep in sand, the bottle held a note that read: “SOS. 12:35 a.m. Wireless room dead. Titanic sinking fast. All is lost.” Believed to have been penned by William Morley, who was listed among those who went down with the ship, the note received media attention when Grosso turned it over to authorities in Florida in the 1980s.
Sorting fruit, circa 1960.
Photos courtesy of Handley Regional Library
Horse-drawn wagons, circa 1910.
Peering further into White House’s history reveals that during World War II, German prisoners of war kept the company in operation. POWs were camped in Winchester and labored in the White House plant and other businesses until local soldiers returned home. During that time, abolitionist John Brown’s prison cell bars were installed in White House’s cannery to prevent the POWs from escaping. After capture in 1859, Brown had awaited trial in the Jefferson County jail in West Virginia. The jail was later demolished, but according to White House Foods’ owners, the cell bars were sent to Winchester during World War II and installed at the plant.
Apple Pickers by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses.
Also gracing the walls of White House Foods is an original Grandma Moses painting, hung in the executive board room. Anna Mary Robertson Moses painted Apple Pickers in June 1954 in remembrance of childhood years in Virginia. National Fruit management felt such affinity for the painting, which shows a farming family collecting red apples, that they purchased it in 1966.
Old-time industry relics remain in every corner of the plant. Mindful of the company’s historic structures, current White House Foods owner David Gum repurposed the original scale house where wagons and trucks used to line up to weigh loads. The unattended shop, called the “Let’s Be Honest Store,” is run on the honor system, where customers use scales to buy trial and existing apple products based on weight.
Gum joined National Fruit at age 20, with just one community college accounting class on his resume. He advanced through every department, eventually becoming owner, president, and CEO at age 45, when he bought the company from the retiring Armstrong family. Gum admits it’s an unlikely success story, but it’s the reason National Fruit supports Great Expectations, an organization that connects foster children with higher education via the community college system.
“One of the greatest rewards as a business owner is when you can share your success with your community,” says Gum. “My father died when I was 10, and I remember how much the churches, the Salvation Army, and my dad’s employer, Crown Cork & Seal, helped me and my family during hard years. Those memories are what drive me to give back to my community.”
Company history held close to his heart, Gum keeps his eyes on the future while delivering products to every state in the country, as well as overseas. New initiatives include producing products with “mother” (natural acetic bacteria that provide weight loss, digestive, and overall health benefits), and collaborating with the West Virginia National Guard to refurbish coal mining properties for new orchards.
Winchester soil holds a tangle of orchard roots running more than a century deep. Visitors can follow those roots to the White House plant and experience first-hand a rare glimpse of a thriving old-time American factory in a modern world.
This article originally appeared in our June 2019 issue.
