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Click to enlarge pages from TABASCO®: An Illustrated History

A blast from the past

Top photo: McIlhenny Company workers relax near a TABASCO® delivery van, circa 1945. Pictured are Wallace LeBlanc, Freddie Migues, Harold LeBlanc, Francis Rodrigue, John Dartez, Rex LeBlanc, and Sim Landry.

Middle photo: Workers chop okra by hand for a short-lived sister organization called the McIlhenny Canning and Manufacturing Company, circa 1905. Some of these women may have been local Cajuns; others may have been Eastern European immigrants.

Bottom photo: TABASCO® factory workers wrap fliers around bottles of sauce before placing them in cartons and boxes, circa 1950. Shown are Lillie Markey, Loudella Gautreaux Migues, and Viola Broussard Landry.
TABASCO®: An Illustrated History

After more than a decade of digging up stories, sifting through photos, uncovering relics, and telling fact from fiction, we’re proud to have put together TABASCO®: An Illustrated History.

This quintessential coffee table book gives an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look into the TABASCO® legacy, contains never before seen images and covers uncharted territory in our history.

A Bold and Spirited Past

The book traces the origins of the McIlhenny family, makers of Original TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce – and features the pivotal family members who crafted the history of the company and the sauce. You’ll learn about the wildly adventurous lives of various relatives, TABASCO® trademark disputes, the company’s forays into other food businesses that didn’t pan out, how the success of TABASCO® Sauce made it a part of pop culture, as well as the unusual places TABASCO® Sauce has traveled – from Mt. Everest to Skylab. Find out which U.S. presidents couldn’t live without TABASCO®, and uncover McIlhenny family traditional south Louisiana recipes like Crawfish Bisque and Chicken Fricassee – shared for the first time. You’ll even see the original handwritten recipe for TABASCO® Sauce by Edmund McIlhenny from circa 1868.

Watch How TABASCO® Sauce is Made

Celebrating It All

“From our humble beginnings through today, TABASCO®: An Illustrated History captures the colorful spirit and unique history of TABASCO® Sauce,” said Paul McIlhenny, president and CEO of McIlhenny Company. “It provides history buffs, TABASCO® fans, food enthusiasts, and people in love with Cajun country with an illustrated history that celebrates it all, and then some.”

Written and compiled by Dr. Shane K. Bernard, historian and curator for McIlhenny Company, TABASCO®: An Illustrated History is the only title currently sanctioned by McIlhenny Company.

Find TABASCO®: An Illustrated History at bookstores nationwide or buy it online at the TABASCO Country Store® for $49.95 (242 pages).
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