Vintage Borden Signs
Depending on your age, you might remember Elsie the Cow, the mascot most used in Borden Dairy advertising. At one time Borden was the largest dairy products producer in the United States, based in Columbus Ohio. It was founded in 1857 by Gail Borden Jr. and it's main product sales came from condensed milk which was popular during the Civil War. In the early 1900's, Borden grew quickly, buying up small dairies, as well as cheese and ice cream factories.
What you might not know about Borden is that they also produced many other goods such as printing ink, PVC plastics and glue. In the 1990's Borden experienced significant losses and began selling off many of the companies that it had acquired over the years. Most of it's dairy food production was sold off to the Dairy Farmers of America, which at the time was called Mid-America Dairymen. Borden was acquired by another company, KKR and continued to be sold off division by division eventually ending up in the hands of a company called Hexion Specialty Chemicals which today still owns the Elsie the Cow trademark.
It's quite possible depending on where you live that you still see Borden Dairy products for sale in your local supermarket. That's because a privately owned company called Borden Milk Products L.P. has purchased a license from Hexion to use the Borden name and also the historic Elsie the Cow mascot.
Vintage Borden signs are sometimes hard to find but are available through antique dealers, estate sales or also on eBay.
 Old Borden's ELSIE COW Cardboard Diecut DAISY Sign  US $9.99
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 VINTAGE BORDEN ICE CREAM SIGN MENU HOLDER ELSIE THE COW US $5.00
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 Borden Elsie Farm Dairy Sign NOS Old Store Display NR US $69.00
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 Original Bordens Lighted Ice Cream Sign 2 Sided Nice US $325.00
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 VINTAGE BORDEN BORDEN'S ELSIE THE COW METAL DAIRY SIGN US $24.99
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 Bordens Elsie Cow Dairy Milk Sign Logo Paperweight 1 US $20.00
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 2 Sided Metal Lady Borden Ice Cream Sign US $349.00
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 ELSIE the cow Original ad board sign Dairy Milk Borden US $19.95
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July 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Just to clarify the history above….as you point out, Borden was sold off division by division until all that was left was the chemical division (resins, adhesives for wood products, automotive, aeronautical, etc). In the early 2000’s, this last remaining piece - Borden Chemicals, Inc. - was sold by KKR to the Apollo Management Group. Then Borden acquired Bakelite Chemical, a large European phenolic resin manufacturer, and at that point the name was changed to Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc.
For what its worth…..