Hillbilly Bread’s Still Alive and A-kickin'

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Are you ready for another bread-y blog post?

Like Tiger Bread (discussed here yesterday), Hillbilly Bread was/is produced by various regional bakeries around the United States. Each bakery is allowed to add its own company imprint to the label.

Thus Hillbilly Bread might be produced by Nickles Bakery in one region and a completely different bakery in another part of the country. The basic label, however, remains identical, thus preserving the brand’s strong equity.

Locally, my mom bought Hillbilly Bread every once in a while at the Nickles Bakery outlet store on W. 21st Street.

(Hillbilly Bread was one of my first blog topics back in April 2009 here.)

Hillbilly Bread seemed to first appear in the early 1960s. A short blurb in the Honolulu Star Bulletin on Feb. 2, 1964 noted, “Another new bread product has been introduced to Hawaii.

“It is Hillbilly bread made from an old bread mix which contains such nourishing and high protein ingredients as old fashioned oatmeal, fresh milled bran, toasted soya grits, hearty crushed wheat, husky corn flour, molasses and honey. The combination of these ingredients give Hillbillly bread a country type flavor and texture not found in regular white or brown bread.

“Hillbilly bread is made locally by Holsum (Hawaii) Baking, Inc."

Here’s an early newspaper ad. It ran in the April 16, 1964 edition of the Eureka Humboldt Standard. Note that the hillbilly character leaning on the sign is holding a rifle.

Here’s an ad from two years later. It’s much more sophisticated than the other ad. This one ran in the News Herald on October 4, 1966.

Here's a 1968 print ad (below) that ran in the pages of the Denver newspaper.

Finally, by 1982 the hillbilly character is no longer holding a rifle. It’s become a fishing pole, as seen in this ad that ran in the Wausau Daily Herald in early March 1982.

Lorain’s Nickles Bakery outlet store – where I bought Hillbilly Bread – closed back in 2010 (which I sadly wrote about here). But a quick look on the internet shows that Hillbilly Bread is still around in 2018, sold in some Walmarts and other national chains.

So Long, Nickles!

Another piece of old-time Lorain has apparently bit the dust. The Nickles Bakery Thrift Store at 3215 W. 21st Street has closed. I drove by there a week ago and noticed the sign. (In the photo above, the sky looks appropriately bleak.)

I'm a little bit surprised that the store is closed. With economic times as bad as they are, stores like these were a big help. As I noted back here, you could buy an awful lot of baked goods in there for just a few bucks.

The store dates from the mid-1970's, and used to be a weekly stop for our family on Saturday mornings back then. In addition to the bread (including my favorite – Hillbilly Bread) my Mom used to buy huge white boxes of cream sticks.

My other favorite from the store was Corn Toasties. The Nickles company had stopped making them a year or two ago. But then, unexpectedly, they showed up in the store a few weeks ago. I was so excited I almost bought all they had that day. (I generously left a couple packages on the shelf for other Toastie fans.)

It was back in February that the Wonder Bread - Hostess Bakery outlet store on Colorado Avenue closed (click here for the story), so that leaves Lorain with just the Schwebel's Bakery Outlet Thrift Store out at 5075 Pearl Avenue.

Here's a link to the Nickles Bakery website. It's got a store locator just in case you're having trouble finding your Nickles Donut Fair Glazed Twirls (my buddy Chuck's favorite) or Banana Flips.

Good tastin' - nourishin' too! That's Hillbilly Bread!

There are several things that I like to buy at Nickles Bakery. They include Texas Toast, New England Split Top Weiner Buns, Donut Fair Donuts (sorry, Bob) and –  Hillbilly Bread!

   (If you click here, you can visit the Nickles Bakery corporate website and see all the goodies they make right here in Ohio.) 

   I'm disappointed that Nickles no longer makes Corn Toasties. Corn Toasties were little round cornbread cakes for your toaster that came stacked in plastic trays. I used to load up my freezer with them like a World War II - era food hoarder.

   At least Nickles still makes Hillbilly Bread. It's just a nice, soft wheat bread, but I love the package design. The hillbilly character is great, and hasn't changed over the years.

   Just like Nickles Bakery. 

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Click here to read my 2019 post about Hillbilly Bread.