J. Edwin Ganong

Who was J. Edwin Ganong?

James Edwin Ganong was a Canadian businessman. Known as Edwin, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts where his Canadian parents had relatives. The son of James H. Ganong and Susan E. Brittain, he is the brother of Susie, Kit, Arthur, and William.

His family returned to their native New Brunswick when Edwin was still a young boy. Living in the border town of St. Stephen, in 1873 his father and uncle Gilbert Ganong founded Ganong Bros., a grocery and bakery business that became a very successful manufacturer of chocolate confectionery. In 1878 the brothers established the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company but in 1884 they elected to dissolve their partnership and Edwin's father became the sole owner of the soap factory.

Edwin Ganong would join his father in his successful soap-making business. Following his father's untimely death in 1888, the twenty-two year-old Edwin found himself in charge and quickly proved himself an astute businessman and marketer. His company was best known for its Surprise Soap that became a national brand which was produced until 1946. Advertising helped sell the company's products but Edwin seized other opportunities such as the 1894 publishing of The Surprise Cook Book, a recipe collection formally registered as The Premium Cook Book by the then widely popular American writer Marion Harland.