The butterball story: a lot of people are eating a butterball turkey today, but they have NO IDEA why its called butterball, or where the name came from. The truth is, the name came from my grandpa Leo Peters, who first used it for his butter parries, which are sold with hotcakes at McDonalds restaurants around the country. The butter is also sold, in more fanciful form than the Mcdonalds version, in fancy restaurants around Michigan as well.
My late grandfather started out working for Armour in Chicago. My mom, Linda, was born there in Evanston at which point my grandather was developing a butter patent that would make butter more asthetically appealing (at the time, the color of butter was a drab grey). It was a fairly simple invention, called the "butter packet" at the time. It was a mixture which you added to your butter to give it some color, simple as that. Story goes he brought it to the execs @ armour but they weren't impressed, so he decided to "go it alone." He started doing "butter packetts" in the garage of their Evanston apartment, with the help of his first few daughters (Martha, Linda, & Diana).
The business became a success & he moved across the Lake to Grand Rapids where he sttarted a Butterball factory named Butterball Farms which is still there on Buchanan Ave & now run by his son (from the 2nd marriage), Mark (my half-uncle).
My grandpa also dabbled in meat, trying to make red meat juicier & a few other things & somewhere along the way Armour approached him for the rights to use butterball with their turkey. So he sold them the rights to the name, but retained partial rights to keep using it with his butter. And that's the story ! Way to go grandpa !
