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To: epicure who wrote (9199)	11/19/2006 12:48:03 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 51702

I saw a site for that, but access was refused. Now, I'm wondering about Uncle Ben. Fun Fact: The picture of “Uncle Ben” is actually a waiter (matre’d) that Mars supposedly paid $50 for a portrait. The Uncle Ben Brand of Rice was named after an actual African American rice farmer named Ben. Years later, Gordon L. Harwell launched a company offering to the public the same high-quality, nutritious rice he'd supplied to the armed forces in WWII through his company, Converted Rice, Inc. He chose the name "UNCLE BEN'S" to symbolize the high quality of his rice products. To this day, we preserve the standard that was set so many years ago by the Texas rice grower named Uncle Ben.” “In 1941 Mars sighted a notice in a trade journal that a small rice-processing plant just south of Houston, Texas, had discovered a parboiling method of making rice which yielded a more nutritious product that cooked faster and was fluffier than traditional rice. Mars bought the mill in 1942 and selected a nearby farm that grew a sweet long-grain variety. The farmer's first name was Ben and thus the brand name, Uncle Ben's Rice. Heeding the suggestion of adman Leo Burnett to use a strong, simple image in the product's advertising, Mars asked a black waiter with a friendly face to pose for a portrait. He paid the man $50 for the portrait and reserved all rights to himself. Uncle Ben's went on the market in January 1944.” “An avid reader of trade journals, Mars Sr. in his heyday had come across a process being promoted by a Texas entrepreneur, Gordon Harwell, which steeped and steamed rice in the hull. This "converted" rice was more nutritious and cooked faster than other white rice sold at the time. Mars offered to help Harwell finance a new plant. In a Chicago restaurant Mars conceived the idea of naming the brand after a prominent black rice farmer. For $50, the legend goes, he convinced the restaurant's matre d' to pose for a portrait on the box.”