America's largest manufacturer and distributor of a wide variety of salts, Morton was founded in Chicago in 1848 by Chicago businessman Richard Alonzo. This new company sold Ondonaga Salt as Richmond & Co. After his partner acquired more of the company, the name changed to Joy Morton & Co. in 1889. The name changed once again to the Morton Salt Company, when it began manufacturing the salt it sold, in 1910.
A year later, Morton was the first manufacturer to add magnesium carbonite (an anti-caking agent) to create a free-flowing salt. This revolutionary development was due to the fact that salt absorbs humidity, making table salt difficult to pour in damp conditions.
While early advertisements included lengthy descriptions of the advantages of free-flowing salt, the now famous slogan, "When it rains, it pours", didn't appear until 1914. New York advertising agency N.W. Ayers modified the old proverb and then paired
it with a young girl holding an umbrella- her container of salt freely flowing behind her.
Nearly every decade since, this salt-spilling girl has been updated with the latest styles, and the color yellow was added to the familiar blue and white round container in 1941. The last update occurred in 1968, so the current image of this always nameless girl, with her yellow dress, shoes, and umbrella handle, has been an icon for several generations.
To celebrate her 100th birthday in 2015, the Umbrella Girl was re-drawn to simplify her details and better fit an updated "Morton Salt" word mark. While the slight change made headlines a few years back, most of us barely noticed- though we sure would be shocked if she left her umbrella at home and carried her salt so it wouldn't spill.
More shocking would be to buy a container of salt for 10 cents-
