“Please Pass the Syrup”
Augustus Eugene Staley founded a sales company for food starch in Baltimore in 1898. In 1909 Mr. Staley purchased an inoperative cornstarch plant in Decatur, IL. The factory began processing on March 12, 1912. A. E. Staley Manufacturing was one of the largest processors of corn in the United States, and he was one of the first to see the great potential of the soybean as a source of oil, meal, and flour. He was a true pioneer in the days when the soybean was so little known that national production and acreage records were not yet kept. He is generally regarded as the father of the soybean industry.
Staley founded a company football team, the Decatur Staleys, in 1919. The players worked as semi-professionals in his factory. The team was a charter member of what became the National Football League in 1920. In 1921, Staley turned the team over to George Halas, who moved it to Chicago, changing the team name to the Chicago Bears a year later. The team's mascot since 2003 is Staley Da Bear.
We believe this vintage Staley Syrup can originated in the 1960’s. The maple neck was once part of a piece of furniture, possible from the same era. This instrument is equipped with a piezo disk.