Historical Events  Brands
Hellmanns Mayonaise

Current: Hellmann's Mayonnaise

MMDE: Helman's Mayonnaise

"Two l's two n's"

Founded in 1905 when Richard Hellmann emigrated from Vetschau, Germany to New York City and opened a delicatessen where he sold his home made mayonnaise, most households recognise this famous brand. It's for this reason the owners rarely change it once established - especially a change in spelling to the main name.

However, there is a Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect concerning this - how exactly was the famous mayonnaise brand spelled?

Some remember it differently to the way it's spelt today, but in different ways. Today we see "Hellmann's", but some remember various permutations such as "Helmann's", "Hellman's" or "Helman's". 

Best foods

Hellmans and Best Foods are the same product marketed under different names to different areas of the world. The color scheme and styling is identical apart from these names, and share the slogan "bring iout the best". They have both been owned by Unlilever since 2000.

After building a factory on 1913, HellMann branded it as Hellmann's Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise. Sales increased further when the product was sold in smaller, consumer friendly jars rather then the larger "wholesale" ones designed for hotels and restaurants. The shape and size of this new jar is largely the one seen on shelves today, except back then the seal was a rubber ring since they were intended to be reusable.

The New York Tribune rated the mayonnaise the best in 1920, which again helped to increase sales.

Pronunciation

The confusion over the spelling is likely because normally the word is spoken only, so seeing it at a glance on a jar doesn't require close scrutiny to help identify it. Our brains just don't need to consider how many "n"'s or "l"'s are in the name of that white jar of mayonnaise, so probably wouldn't need to store it without some reason.