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NORDIC WARE
From the March 2007 Re-Echo
Nordic Ware is one of St. Louis Park’s oldest and most successful businesses. Of special interest to the City is the company’s proximity to the last viable roadside park on Highway 100. Nordic Ware voluntarily maintains the site in the summer, and is on the committee to preserve the park. The importance of Nordic Ware to our community cannot be understated.
The company now known as Nordic Ware was founded by brothers
Dave and Mark Dahlquist and friend Donald Nygren in 1946.
Their first business was called “Plastics for Industry,” and
was headquartered in Mark’s basement in Minneapolis. They
quickly outgrew this and then another space, and bought a 40
ft. lot in St. Louis Park. Apparently a man had inherited
several lots along Highway 7 but failed to pay the taxes, so
a former mayor of St. Louis Park (which one?) bought the
lots, and the company bought its first lot from him. When
they erected a small concrete building, there was no water
along Highway 7 and they had to melt snow to make mortar.
They moved into the building in the spring of 1947.
The company’s building and land holdings grew steadily, and
now covers the entire frontage on the northeast corner of
Highways 100 and 7. One of the properties they acquired was
a lumber yard, and on that land stood the old Peavy grain
elevator, built in 1899. Nordic Ware replaced the words
“Lumber Stores” on the tower with its own Viking symbol.
Another parcel was once part of the Robin Hood Flour grain
elevator, acquired when it was torn down in 1968.
By 1948, the focus was changing to cast aluminum bakeware
and specialty kitchenware. Some of the first products
included the krumkake iron and the rosette, ebleskiver, and
platte pans. Maid of Scandinavia was set up to market these
products by mail order, and became a separate entity in
1963. In 1949, the company bought out Northland Aluminum
Products and the term “Nordic Ware,” and has been known as
Nordic Ware ever since.
In 1966, the company’s signature Bundt pan was used in a
winning entry (the “tunnel of fudge” cake) in the Pillsbury
Bake-Off, and its popularity soared. Founder David Dahlquist
had created the pan in 1950 based on the specifications of
two Jewish women from the Minneapolis chapter of Hadassah,
who wanted to make an old-world (German) bund cake. Bund
meant “a gathering of people,” but other connotations led to
changing the name to Bundt. Starting in 1971, Pillsbury made
cake mixes specifically formulated for the Bundt pan. Nordic
Ware could hardly keep up with the demand for pans.
Two exciting things have happened lately over at Nordic
Ware. The first is the publication of a history of the
company, replete with many interviews of people who were
instrumental in making the company such a success. The book
is called The Nordic Ware Saga, An Entrepreneur's Legacy,
written by Linda Dahlquist Jeffrey. It’s a fascinating look
into the workings of a family business.
The second exciting development is that the famous bundt pan
has been acquired by the American History Museum of the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. On February 23,
2007, curators from the Smithsonian arrived at Nordic Ware
to collect bundt pans and other artifacts relating to its
development.
Founder H. David Dahlquist died on January 2, 2005. His wife
Dorothy serves as the company’s chief ambassador. Son H.
David Dahlquist III has run the business for many years.
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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.