D.F. Stauffer Produced First U.S. Animal Crackers in 1871, Predating Barnum’s
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 17
D.F. Stauffer Produced First U.S. Animal Crackers in 1871, Predating Barnum’s
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 17
D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Company began making animal crackers in York, Pennsylvania, in 1871, making it the first known U.S. producer before Nabisco’s Barnum’s version arrived decades later.
Animal crackers originated in England in the mid-1800s and were imported to the United States before baker David F. Stauffer started local production as demand for the snack grew.
Stauffer initially sold the crackers from barrels by weight and reportedly delivered them around town by wheelbarrow before expanding to horse-drawn wagons and rail shipments.
Stauffers, now a subsidiary of Meiji America, still makes animal crackers in York, while Barnum’s circus-train box later turned the snack into one of America’s most recognizable grocery staples.
How did a copycat snack in a circus box become more famous than the American original?
After 150 years, why did America's original animal cracker just get a complete modern rebrand?