Duke's Mayonnaise Was Invented At This Old, Charming Two-Story Ruin In South Carolina From The Early 1900s
By Robin Jarvis|Published April 26, 2020
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Robin Jarvis
Author
Robin Jarvis began writing for OnlyInYourState.com in 2015 and quickly advanced to a Senior Editor role. She's currently the Brand Manager and has a Bachelor's degree from West Virginia University in Journalism with a minor in Marketing. Her career history includes long running appearances on radio and television. She also has served as publisher of Shades of Green Magazine and Design Lead on several print publications. Her love for travel has taken her to many parts of the world. She's lived in the Carolinas for more than three decades and currently resides in Charleston, SC. When she's not working, she loves playing guitar, painting, traveling, and spending time with family.
Contact: rjarvis@onlyinyourstate.com
If you’re a mayonnaise lover and you’re from South Carolina, then chances are good that you’re also brand loyal to Duke’s. But on the outside chance you aren’t already a fan of the nation’s number three brand of mayonnaise, then here’s a little background that may nudge you in that direction pretty quickly:
Long before Duke's was born, a woman named Eugenia (her last name was Duke, of course) moved to Greenville with her husband. The year was 1910.
Eugenia had a real talent for making sandwiches that soon were in such high demand that she opened a little sandwich shop in the old Ottaray Hotel in downtown Greenville. That was in 1920 — but only after...
Eugenia spent three years (1917-1920) delivering sandwiches to the hungry soldiers at Greenville's Camp Sevier.
According to the archives at Duke's, by 1918, Eugenia had sold 11,000 sandwiches! Wondering what made them so good? It was Eugenia's famous spread - which remained unnamed at that point. But it wasn't nameless for long.
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After three years of selling her famous sandwiches from her small sandwich shop at the Ottaray Hotel, in 1923, Eugenia decides to give up sandwich making and instead, focuses solely on her famous spread.
Her little production line for the egg-based spread had been mostly at her home but there soon proved a need for a larger space to meet the demands for the new Duke's Mayonnaise.
In March of 2018, the City of Greenville named a bridge after Eugenia Duke in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Duke's Sandwiches and Mayonnaise.
Duke’s Mayonnaise has been around for so long it’s practically synonymous with South Carolina. Read more about the history of South Carolina’s favorite sandwich spread on the official website for Duke’s Mayonnaise.
Did you know Duke’s was first mass-produced in what is now the Peace Center’s Wyche Pavilion? What’s your favorite mayo? Careful, if you don’t answer “Duke’s,” then everyone will know where you place your loyalties.
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