Schwebel's Bread history

In 1914, Dora and Joseph entered the world of retail sales by expanding their customer base to "mom and pop" stores.

In 1923, the Schwebels invested $25,000 and built a small bakery -- complete with a store front -- for retail business.

Tragedy struck in 1928, however, when Joseph Schwebel died suddenly, leaving Dora with six children and the family's business to run by herself.

In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, Dora Schwebel created "Happy the Clown," a character whose face was placed on the company's bread wrappers as a symbol of hope for the future.

The company was growing despite the hard times, and in 1936 a new $100,000 bakery was built that doubled production capacity and improved efficiency.

When grandson Joe joined the company in 1960, there were a lot more Mom and Pop stores to which the bakery delivered, he said, noting that the huge stores of today didn’t exist. "But the commitment to quality, that’s always been a constant.

In 1964 Dora Schwebel died at age 76, and her son Irving was named president of the firm.

In 1974 Schwebel's entered the Cleveland market, and two years later the firm purchased the Vienna Baking Company in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and began selling bread in Pittsburgh.

The year 1977 saw the Youngstown plant expanded and fully automated, allowing it to produce more than 100 loaves of bread per minute.

He had worked for a number of years as restaurant and institutional sales manager for the firm and as vice-president of sales since 1981.

In 1984 Irving Schwebel's eldest son Joseph was named president of the company.

In 1987 Schwebel's acquired Millbrook Bread of Cleveland from Interstate Brands Corp. and also expanded to western New York by opening a distribution center in Buffalo.

Members of the Schwebel family had often given generously to others, and in 1988 they formed the Schwebel Family Foundation to oversee their philanthropic efforts.

The year 1996 also saw Schwebel's switch advertising agencies to Pittsburgh-based MARC. The company was spending an estimated $2 million per year on advertising at this time.

In 1997 Schwebel's acquired several sales routes from Flowers Industries, Inc. of West Virginia.

In 2002 Schwebel's partnered with children's cable television network Nickelodeon for a three-month promotional campaign.

A 2003 study found that 30 percent of laboratory participants failed to detect the E. coli strain even though they were explicitly instructed to test for it.

By November of 2004 the number of American adults on low-carbohydrate diets was fading, dropping to 3.6 percent from 9.1 percent in February, according to research firm NPD Group.

In June 2009, Nestlé voluntarily recalled refrigerated cookie dough after notification from FDA and CDC on their investigation into reported E. coli O157:H7 illnesses that may have been related to raw cookie dough.

On January 11, 2010, Nestlé informed FDA that two samples of the dough manufactured in Danville had tested pos-itive for E. coli, but no finished product was shipped from the factory.

In 2014 the company closed its Cuyahoga Falls plant where this story is mapped.