Arthur Calbraith Dorrance became president of Campbell Soup Company in 1930, after the death of his older brother, John T. Dorrance. He took over an established food business: John had developed Campbell’s condensed-soup process in 1897, and the company’s soups had reached national distribution by 1911.
Arthur had already served as Campbell’s general manager and a board officer. During his presidency, the company moved into radio advertising, established operations in Canada and Britain, added new soup varieties, and exceeded $100 million in annual sales for the first time.
It was also a period of conflict in the factories. Campbell workers struck, gained union recognition, and continued organizing during the same years that the company expanded. Both sides of that history are essential to understanding the business Arthur led.
A Quick Look at the Life of Arthur Calbraith Dorrance
Biography Summary
Arthur Calbraith Dorrance (1893–1946) was an American food-manufacturing executive who served as Campbell Soup Company president from 1930 until his death. An MIT graduate and World War I veteran, he rose through company management before succeeding his brother. His presidency spanned international expansion, radio-era marketing, new products, changes in production, and major labor disputes.
Profile
Full Name: Arthur Calbraith Dorrance
Born: June 21, 1893
Died: 1946
Birthplace: Bristol, Pennsylvania, United States
Nationality: American
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science, 1914
Known For: President of Campbell Soup Company, 1930–1946
Other Roles: Campbell general manager, board director and vice president; president of Franco-American Food Company
A Dorrance Family Business Before Arthur Took Charge
Arthur was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1893, to John Dorrance Jr. and Eleanor Thompson Dorrance. His family’s business interests were not limited to soup. His paternal grandfather operated lumber and grain mills in Bristol, and his father continued those enterprises until they became uneconomic.
Meanwhile, the business later known as Campbell Soup Company had begun in Camden, New Jersey, in 1869, when Joseph Campbell and Abraham Anderson formed a canning enterprise. In 1894, an older Arthur Dorrance—the uncle of both John T. and Arthur Calbraith Dorrance—became its president. The future 1930 president had been born only the year before.
John T. Dorrance developed Campbell’s condensed-soup process in 1897 and went on to serve as president from 1914 to 1930. His younger brother would inherit the leadership of a recognized manufacturer, not create the company or invent its defining product.
MIT, Military Service, and Family Life
Arthur attended Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia before entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1914 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army from May 1917 through December 1918. A contemporary account published in 1932 reported that he received a major’s commission in the Reserve Corps on discharge.
While still in military service, he married Elsie Allan Ross on February 7, 1918. The same 1932 account named their two sons, Arthur Calbraith Dorrance Jr. and David Ross Dorrance.
From Campbell General Manager to President
Arthur’s path to Campbell’s presidency passed through senior management. He became the company’s general manager in 1923, while his brother John remained president. In 1929, Arthur joined the board as a director and vice president.
John’s death in 1930 brought the succession. Arthur was elected president and remained in the role until his own death in 1946. His appointment changed the company’s leadership while keeping it within the Dorrance family.
By 1932, a published profile identified Arthur as both Campbell’s president and general manager. It also named him president of the affiliated Franco-American Food Company, another responsibility within the broader business.
Campbell Expands into Canada and Britain
The first year of Arthur’s presidency coincided with a step beyond Campbell’s established American market. The company formed a Canadian subsidiary in 1930. Campbell’s Canadian history dates its entry to November 28 of that year and says a Toronto plant began operating about nine months later, in 1931.
A British subsidiary followed in the early 1930s. One historical company account places its establishment in 1933. Together, the Canadian and British operations extended Campbell’s geographic reach during Arthur’s presidency.
Radio Advertising and New Soup Varieties
Campbell’s next visible change came in how it reached consumers. In 1931, the company began radio advertising, taking its “M’m! M’m! Good!” slogan onto the air. Arthur is credited with starting the company’s radio advertising, although the campaigns themselves involved the wider advertising operation.
Campbell also sponsored entertainment programs, including the George Burns and Gracie Allen show and the Campbell Playhouse. Its advertising reached audiences through radio alongside the print campaigns that had long promoted Campbell products.
New products gave the company more to promote. In 1934, Campbell introduced Cream of Mushroom soup and a chicken-and-noodle soup that later became known as Chicken Noodle. Campbell’s retrospective identifies the original noodle soup as “Noodle with Chicken.”
The company has also told a story about a radio announcer reversing the words in the soup’s name, after which the revised version caught on. That is Campbell’s retrospective explanation, rather than an independently established account of an individual broadcast.
Manufacturing, Test Kitchens, and a Sales Milestone
Changes behind the label accompanied the new advertising and products. Campbell began making its own cans in 1936 and formed an agricultural research department in 1939. These were steps in the company’s production and research operations during Arthur’s presidency.
Campbell also established Test Kitchens staffed by trained home economists who developed recipes using condensed soups. The company dates their opening to 1941. Recipe development extended the role of canned soup beyond a ready-to-serve dish and into home cooking.
By 1942, Campbell’s annual sales had passed $100 million for the first time. The figure measured company sales, not profit or Dorrance’s personal wealth, and marked the scale the manufacturer had reached under his presidency.
During World War II, Campbell produced military rations and organized employee war-bond drives. Arthur’s own documented Army service had taken place during the previous world war.
Strikes and Union Recognition in Campbell’s Factories
Campbell’s growth did not remove the difficulties faced by its factory workers. In Camden, employees worked long hours for low pay in surroundings that could be hot, noisy, and dangerous. Workers struck in 1934 and secured union recognition in 1940.
Labor relations remained active during the war years. A 1944 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics bulletin examined union agreements covering Campbell plants in Camden, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois. Workers from both locations also took part in a strike in 1946.
The disputes were a continuing part of Campbell’s industrial history under Arthur’s presidency. They belong beside the radio campaigns and rising sales in any account of the company’s development during those years.
Family Trusteeship and Responsibilities Beyond Campbell
Arthur also held a role in managing his late brother’s estate. A 1939 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision identified him as a co-executor and co-trustee under John’s will, alongside other family and institutional trustees. The case concerned state taxation of trust property and where that property was legally situated.
His institutional service included membership in the MIT Corporation from 1935 to 1940. A contemporary 1932 profile also listed affiliations with Girard Trust Company and several railroads. They show that his formal responsibilities extended beyond Campbell, though they do not establish day-to-day management of those organizations.
Arthur Dorrance’s Death and His Place in Campbell History
Arthur Calbraith Dorrance died in 1946, ending a Campbell presidency that had begun after his brother’s death sixteen years earlier. James McGowen Jr. succeeded him.
His contribution was distinct from John’s invention of condensed soup and from the nineteenth-century presidency of another Arthur Dorrance. The younger Arthur led Campbell as it broadened its markets, advertising, products, and production methods. The strikes and union recognition of those years remain an inseparable part of the company’s history under his leadership.
Timeline
These milestones highlight Arthur Calbraith Dorrance’s life and key developments at Campbell during his presidency.
June 21, 1893
Arthur Calbraith Dorrance is born in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
1914
He graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree.
1917–1918
He serves in the U.S. Army during World War I.
February 7, 1918
He marries Elsie Allan Ross.
1923
Arthur becomes Campbell Soup Company’s general manager.
1929
He becomes a Campbell board director and vice president.
1930–1931
Arthur succeeds John T. Dorrance as president in 1930. Campbell forms a Canadian subsidiary, and a Toronto plant begins operating in 1931.
1931
Campbell begins radio advertising with its “M’m! M’m! Good!” slogan.
Early 1930s
Campbell establishes a British subsidiary.
1934
Campbell introduces Cream of Mushroom and the soup that becomes Chicken Noodle. Camden workers strike.
1935–1940
Arthur serves on the MIT Corporation.
1936
Campbell begins making its own cans.
1939
Campbell forms an agricultural research department. A Pennsylvania court opinion documents Arthur’s co-trusteeship under John’s will.
1940–1941
Campbell workers obtain union recognition in 1940. The company dates the opening of its Test Kitchens to 1941.
1942
Campbell’s annual sales exceed $100 million for the first time.
1944
A federal labor bulletin examines agreements at Campbell’s Camden and Chicago plants.
1946
Camden and Chicago workers strike. Arthur dies, and James McGowen Jr. succeeds him as Campbell president.
FAQs
Question: Did Arthur Calbraith Dorrance invent condensed soup?
Answer: No. His older brother, John T. Dorrance, developed Campbell’s condensed-soup process in 1897. Arthur became the company’s president in 1930, after John’s death.
Question: Why do Campbell histories mention an Arthur Dorrance as president in 1894?
Answer: That was another Arthur Dorrance, an older relative who was John T. Dorrance’s uncle. Arthur Calbraith Dorrance was born in 1893 and served as president from 1930 to 1946.
Question: How did Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup get its name?
Answer: Campbell says the soup introduced in 1934 was originally called “Noodle with Chicken” and later became “Chicken Noodle.” The company attributes the new wording to a radio announcer’s mix-up, but that particular broadcast incident is not independently established.
Question: Did Campbell workers gain union recognition during Arthur Dorrance’s presidency?
Answer: Yes. Workers in Camden struck in 1934 and gained union recognition in 1940. Workers at Camden and Chicago took part in a further strike in 1946. These events occurred during Dorrance’s presidency, but his personal role in the negotiations is not established.
Sources
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Charles Price, “A Captain of American Industry,” The Record (May 1932)
- Harvard Business School: Arthur C. Dorrance, Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century
- The Campbell’s Company: Campbell’s History, How Campbell’s Helped Shape American Food
- Encyclopedia.com: Campbell Soup Company: Historical Business Profile
- Campbell Company of Canada: Our Story
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History: The Campbell Soup Advertising Collection, Finding Aid
- Rutgers University, Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia: Daniel Sidorick, Campbell Soup Company
- Supermarket News: A Condensed History of Campbell Soup
- Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Dorrance’s Estate (1939)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Former MIT Corporation Members
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Union Agreements in the Canned Fruit and Vegetable Industry, Bulletin No. 794 (1944)