Porter-Scarpelli Macaroni

Guy R. Porter, John Scarpelli and James B. Kerr formed the Portland Macaroni Company in 1916 and leased a 10,000 square foot (3,050 square meter) building at Columbia Boulevard and Fenwick Street in Kenton, Oregon, which was formerly used by the United States Cashier Company1 2 3 . In 1917, the company operated as Porter-Scarpelli Macaroni Company and they equipped their newly developed factory with the latest machines.4 The team included a pastaio with 16 years of experience in the industry, having formerly worked at pasta factories in St. Louis, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska.5 Sales grew rapidly, from $40,000 USD in 1917 to about $100,000 USD by the end of 1918, which was more product than the plant could produce.6 In 1919, additional dryers were added and by 1920, they advertised a factory output of 1,600,000 pounds (725,000 kilograms) for the year.7 8 Because of the availability of good products made locally and restrictions on importing from Europe during World War I,

Portland wholesalers switched to domestic sources of pasta, which helped fuel the growth.9 Just after the war, Porter-Scarpelli exported spaghetti to Italy.10 By 1936, the company employed over 60 people.11

An early brand of the company was Porters P (pure paste products), which was advertised as, “Made by

“Porter’s Macaroni” advertisement, Oregon Daily Journal, June 29, 1917

1. ”Macaroni Company Files”, The Oregon Statesman, Salem, Oregon, 66th year, number 190 (November 3, 1916), page 5.

2. “Macaroni Factory with Capacity for Five Tons of Flour”, Oregon Daily Journal, Portland, Oregon, volume XV, number 323 (March 24, 1917), page 8.

3. ”Local Macaroni Factory Turns Out Superior Product”, Oregon Daily Journal, volume XVII, number 171 (November 30, 1918), page 9.

4. ”Macaroni Factory with Capacity for Five Tons of Flour”.

5. Ibid.

6. ”Local Macaroni Factory Turns Out Superior Product”.

7. ”Macaroni Factory Grows”, Oregon Daily Journal, volume XVI, number 48 (March 2, 1919), page 10.

Italian experts born to the business. Manufactured and packed under most sanitary conditions” in what they called the, “Sunshine Factory”.12 Indeed, it was a smoke free building since startup.13 In the early 1930s, the company introduced Fril-lets, the “Noodle that won’t slide off the fork”, which was packaged in cellophane bags.14 In 1961, through a series of acquisitions, Golden Grain Macaroni Company purchased a 49% stake in Porter-Scarpelli.15 In 1972, Golden Grain sold Porter-Scarpelli to the

8. “Porter's P” advertisement, Oregon Sunday Journal, Portland, Oregon, volume XIX, number 14 (July 3, 1921), section 6, page 6.

9. “Local Macaroni Factory Turns Out Superior Product".

10. “Portland Firm Ships ‘Leis’ To Honolulu”, Portland Commerce, Portland Chamber of Commerce, Portland, Oregon, volume 7, number 22 (May 12, 1923), page 5.

11. ”Inside the Factory”, La Grande Evening Observer, La Grande, Oregon, volume 34, number 243 (July 2, 1936), page 4.

12. “Porter’s” advertisement, Oregon Daily Journal, volume XVIII, number 5 (March 14, 1919), page 15.

13. “Macaroni Factory with Capacity for Five Tons of Flour”.

14. ”Inside the Factory”.

Scarpelli family based on a proposed anti-trust order from the United States Federal Trade Commission saying they had a monopoly in the region.16 17 At the time, the company made 11,000,000 pounds (5,000,000 kilograms) per year, up from 6,250,000 pounds (2,835,000 kilograms) in 1967.18 However, shortly afterwards, Porter-Scarpelli products were no longer on the market.

Leonard J. DeFrancisci National Pasta Association History Committee Pasta Institute of Technology

15. “The DeDomenico Family: Growth of the Golden Grain Company Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, an oral history conducted 1987-1989, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (1994), pages 107, 311, 356-357 and 364. Available online at https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roh o/ucb/text/dedomenico_family__w.pdf

16. Ibid., pages 28, 288 and 358-359.

17. “In the Matter of Golden Grain Macaroni Company, Et Al.”, Federal Trade Commission Decisions, Findings, Opinions, and Orders, January 1 to June 30, 1971, volume 78, published by the commission, compiled by the Rules and Publications Section of the Office of the Secretary, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (1973), pages 179 and 184-186.

18. Ibid., page 141.

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