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Old 05-19-2011, 10:09 AM
 
2 posts, read 9,562 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi there,
I am part of a UK marketing team working on the Old El Paso brand. We are really interested in finding out more about the heritage of the brand and the original factory in El Paso. I came across this forum and wanted to ask - does anyone have any facts or pictures about the Mountain Pass Canning company, which I understand was Old El Paso’s first base of operations. If anyone had any contacts for people who used to work there (I know it was a long time ago!) that would be particularly useful. I would really appreciate any leads or information anyone may have.
Many thanks!
Christine
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Old 05-19-2011, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Sacramento Mtns of NM
4,280 posts, read 9,104,573 times
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The best source I can think of is this one:

Librarian / Research Trish Long tlong@elpasotimes.com
(915) 546-6179

The El Paso Times is the daily newspaper going w-a-y back in El Paso, and Trish Long has a weekly "from the archives" column where she re-publishes reader requests for historic information in the Saturday edition.

I know a little about the OLD EL PASO chile factory where they dried and packaged in the early days of the company. It was located in what is known as "the upper valley" north of El Paso in the irrigated farming area along the Rio Grande, between the communities of Canutillo, TX and Anthony, NM. Many, if not most, of the workers were Mexican migrants. They dried the chile peppers on the roof of the packing plant - a low-lying one-story sprawling building with corrugated metal roofing, if memory serves. I recall that they moved to a much larger packing plant in Las Cruces, NM - where they were when they were bought out maybe 20 or more years ago. GENERAL MILLS now owns the brand name.
WIKIPEDIA has this information on the transition from Mountain Pass to General Mills.

Quote:
Old El Paso products are marketed across the globe. The brand is owned by General Mills. Pillsbury acquired it in 1995, when its then-parent company Grand Metropolitan bought Pet, Inc., which had itself taken over the brand in 1968 from the Mountain Pass Canning Company.[1]
Also found this 2002 article on the closing of the plant:

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/04/08/focus1.html

An aside:
Another local (El Paso) brand name that gained national / international fame was ASHLEY'S. They packaged similar products to Old El Paso and had a packing plant with an outside restaurant that was located on the east side of El Paso, near the El Paso airport. I don't believe there is any connection to the present-day company with the same name headquartered in Massachusetts.


Last edited by joqua; 05-19-2011 at 07:02 PM..
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Old 05-20-2011, 07:51 AM
 
2 posts, read 9,562 times
Reputation: 10
Many thanks for this, all really helpful. I will get in touch with Trish Long and see if she can help further. Thanks for taking the time to reply,
Christine
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Old 05-20-2011, 10:31 AM
 
507 posts, read 2,054,708 times
Reputation: 534
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christine Coltman View Post
Many thanks for this, all really helpful. I will get in touch with Trish Long and see if she can help further. Thanks for taking the time to reply,
Christine


Yes, talk to her, she's the archivist at EP Times. Whatever you do, do not talk to Leon Metz - he ... well ... is not very bright.
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Old 10-21-2019, 02:17 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,203 times
Reputation: 16
Mountain Pass Canning Company was owned by my great great grandparents. They sold the business in the early 1900's.

I don't know much about the cannery but I know my great grandmother Lousia Jacquez Juarez is the one that sold the business. My mother is still alive and speaks of her grandmother and the cannery to this day.
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Old 05-30-2020, 09:26 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,856 times
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Does anyone know the address of where the factory was please? I saw it as a child in the early 1990’s and I would like to see what the area is like now.
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Old 06-12-2020, 11:44 PM
 
346 posts, read 642,001 times
Reputation: 610
Quote:
Originally Posted by br7or13 View Post
Yes, talk to her, she's the archivist at EP Times. Whatever you do, do not talk to Leon Metz - he ... well ... is not very bright.
Well he has been afflicted with Alzheimer's for some time. His books do have a lot of basic facts and figures - if not academic history.
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