Terry O'Reilly

Back in 1925, the Minnesota Canning Company discovered a brand new variety of green peas called Prince of Wales peas.

These peas were tender with a delicious flavor and had one more distinguishing feature.

They were huge.

So the Minnesota Canning Company, who canned vegetables for other companies, offered the huge peas to their clients.

But no one was interested.

So the Minnesota Canning Company decided to sell the peas under its own brand name.

And it decided to emphasize the size of the peas.

They called the brand Green Giant.

Three years later, a mascot was created to help sell these giant peas.

He was a giant, scowling caveman wearing a bearskin.

And kind of terrifying, to be honest.

In 1935, an ad writer named Leo Burnett, who had started his own advertising agency, decided the green giant mascot needed to be warmed up a bit.

So he traded in the bear skin for a leafy onesie, made the giant smile, turned him green, and put the word Jolly in front of his name.

Now, when the Jolly Green Giant came to television in 1954, he gave a friendly wave to viewers while holding a can of giant peas.

Here's the very first Green Giant TV commercial.

The Fee-Fi-Foe-Fum soundtrack borrowed heavily from the Jack and the Beanstalk story.

The giant was still a bit scary-looking, but over the years, Leo Burnett and company would soften him up and added a jolly laugh so kids wouldn't run and hide under their beds when he came on television.

Speaking of food, another well-known advertising campaign began in 1953.

It was for spaghetti sauce made by Chef Boyardee.

But when you listen to this very first commercial for the brand, you realize the correct pronunciation was actually Chef Boyardi.