page_title: Spratt's
section_title: American operations
hierarchical_section_title: Spratt's / American operations
caption_attribution_description: English: This is an ad for Spratt's Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes, probably the first patented brand of dog biscuits
context_page_description: Spratt's was the world's first large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits. Its "Meat Fibrine Dog Cake" was the brainchild of American entrepreneur James Spratt who launched the biscuit in London circa 1860. The company began operations in the United States of America in the 1870s and, after Spratt's death in 1880, the company went public and became known as Spratt's Patent, Limited, and Spratt's Patent Limited. Spratt's pioneered the concept of animal life stages with appropriate foods for each stage.
  The company successfully promoted their array of products for dogs and other domestic animals through the astute use of snob appeal. The company was the first to erect a billboard in London. Varieties of biscuits included 'Dog Cakes', puppy biscuits in regular and with cod liver oil, 'Malt-milk' for puppies, 'Weetmeet', 'Bonio', 'Spix', 'Ovals' in regular and mixed varieties, 'Fibo' granulated kibble food, 'Rodnim' hound meal, Alsax, Speedall, as well as a tinned food variety.
context_section_description: Spratt's American operations coincided with the country's burgeoning love affair with dogs in the 1870s. Spratt’s Patent (America) Ltd. launched operations at 239-245 E. 56th St., New York City, but moved, in 1895, to Newark, NJ.  In 1881, the company received an American patent for its "Meat Fibrine Dog Cake" and the product was sold coast to coast. 
  Spratt's became a relentless advertiser, convincing Americans who usually fed their dogs table scraps to buy a product they didn't need.  The company employed snob appeal to hook the public, targeting participants and spectators at dog shows, and, in 1876, focusing on the centennial exhibition with free food for exhibitors.   The company bought the entire front cover of the first journal of the American Kennel Club in January 1889 to broadcast its involvement with American and European kennel clubs, and to trumpet the company's "Special Appointment" to Queen Victoria.  In the 1890s, Spratt's products retailed at approximately $7.00–$8.00 per hundredweight and even more for smaller portions—a considerable expense at a time when $1,000–$2,000 was the average annual income for a middle class American family.  The company also targeted health-conscious dog owners and pioneered the concept of animal life stages with appropriate foods for the various stages.  In the 1950s, General Mills acquired Spratt's US business.
caption: 1876 ad for Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes
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