07/13/2026
Catsup Or Ketchup. Which Is It?
Catsup and ketchup are the exact same tomato-based condiment. The words are simply regional or brand-driven spelling variations, with "ketchup" being the overwhelmingly popular and dominant choice globally.
What many people don’t know is that Mt. Carmel, Illinois had a big Catsup manufacturing plant from 1913 through the early 1930s. Located down close to the Wabash River and the railroad tracks, a excellent quality catsup was manufactured at the plant during the summer months. It was known as Snider Catsup and distributed all over the United States.
In the spring of 1913 some leading businessmen in Mt. Carmel secured arrangements for the T.A. Snider Preserve Company of Chicago to build a new plant in Mt. Carmel. With 29 other plants in Florida, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Main, New York, Indiana and Illinois the company was the largest packer of vegetables, fruits, jams and tomato condiments.
The Mt. Carmel Snider Catsup plant began operations on September 17, 1913. It would take a train carload of tomatoes on the train sidetracks at a huge shed at the rear of the plant. After being dumped into a hopper and thoroughly washed, the tomatoes were carried slowly toward the peeling machine. The tomatoes were then sorted for faulty ones by the workers leaving only the best for the peeling process. From there the tomatoes moved on to huge vats to be cooked. From the cooking vats the product went next to the bottle filling operation. The bottles had previously been thoroughly washed and set up for filling. After being filled, the bottles were corked and labeled. The finished product was placed in cases and sent out to railroad cars for shipment.
As one might expect, the catsup making process required 6,000 pounds of sugar daily and barrels of vinegar and other spices. In the first year of operations, the company had 1,200 acres under contract to grow the tomatoes. By 1923 the local plant was producing more than 100,000 cases of bottled Snider Catsup. It took over 100 railroad cars to handle those shipments. Plant Superintendent George Stein’s supervision led to steady growth of the plant’s output.
Not only did the plant provide jobs for Mt. Carmel area residents, it also helped the farmers who grew the vast number of tomatoes each year. The company helped the farmers by producing its own tomatoes and providing seeds to the growers. In the beginning workers were paid 25 cents an hour working a 10-hour day.
By 1925 the plant was producing 5,000 cases daily of catsup. It was said that the Mt. Carmel Plant was the best plant owned by the company. By 1929 the plant was paying tomato growers a total of $40,000. Growers were said to be making from $100 to $125 per acre. That was in addition to the wages paid workers in the plant.
Even with a limited growing season for tomatoes in this area, the catsup plant was in operation far into the summer season. It was the leading industry in Mt. Carmel. The smell of the spices and cooking tomatoes could be sensed even to the uptown business district.
A Mt. Carmel Register article published March 23, 1931 carried the sad news. The Snider Catsup Plant would not be in operation that year. Chicago company officials decided to keep open plants that produced a variety of products. The Mt. Carmel Plant only manufactured catsup. This coupled with the fact that 1930 was a bad year for growing tomatoes, led to the decision to close at Mt. Carmel. The Great Depression of 1929 didn’t help matters.
George Stein went to Chicago in January of 1934 and persuaded company officials to reopen the Mt. Carmel Plant. Stein argued that economic conditions were improving. Reopening the plant would mean much to the farmers who grow tomatoes as well as the plant workers.
In March of 1934 it was announced that the Snider Catsup Palnt in Mt. Carmel will go back into operation. Contracts were secured with tomato growing farmers on about 1,000 acres.
There’s an old saying, “All good things must someday come to an end.” That was certainly true for the Snider Catsup Plant in Mt. Carmel. The June 17, 1943 issue of the Mt. Carmel Register carried the sad news. “SNIDER PLANT BUILDING SOLD! L.E. Meyer Becomes Owner of the Building And Takes It Over.” L.E. Meyer and wife of Bellmont purchased the facilities owned at that time by Grant Iron and Metal, Inc. of Marion, Indiana.
Nothing further about the plans of L.E. Meyer could be found. However, a newspaper article printed in 1972 gave a little history of the plant building. It first served as the Barlow Furniture Company plant in 1900. The Snider Catsup Company took over the buildings in 1913. When the catsup plant closed the buildings sat empty and idle for more than 10 years when Meyer and Sons bought them for their Farmers Implement Company in 1963. Then sections of the buildings were rented out to various other small industries. In 1972 the Farmers Fertlizer Company was located there.
So now you know a little about the Catsup manufacturing plant that once operated in Mt. Carmel. Snider’s Catsup is no longer available as an active grocery store product. The once-popular condiment brand was discontinued in the decades following its acquisition by Hunt's Foods in 1953.While you can't buy it to eat today, the brand lives on as a nostalgic collectible. You can frequently find vintage advertising, physical crates, and classic glass bottles on online marketplaces.
