Elsie the Cow was one of the ten most popular trademarks of the twentieth century. She lived and is buried in Plainsboro. On the occasion of Elsie’s 80th birthday, Bill Hart, author of Plainsboro, will describe how Elsie came to be “born” at the 1939-1940 New York City World’s Fair and how she evolved out of one of many Borden advertising caricatures of the 1930s into the Spokescow of the Borden Dairy Company. The event is free and open to all. After the lecture, participants are invited to visit Elsie’s exhibit at the Historic Wicoff House Museum on the Plainsboro Township municipal complex grounds.
When not at the World’s Fair, Elsie lived at the Walker Gordon Dairy in Plainsboro, from where she traveled to make her appearances. After her untimely demise in 1941, Elsie was buried on the Walker Gordon farm and her replacement continued living there. Mr. Hart will tell how the new Elsie traveled around the country with two local farm teenagers and earned $10,000,000 in War Bonds. Learn about Elsie’s marriage to Elmer the Bull, the birth of Baby Beulah, and Elsie’s appearance in an MGM film. This will be a fun talk for people of all ages.
