Betty Crocker’s Homemakers’ Creed

The Betty Crocker Homemakers’ Creed is a great reminder of why homemaking is important. Maybe it’s something we should bring back.

When you think of Betty Crocker you likely picture the perfect homemaker. It’s one of the most recognizable names when it comes to cooking and homemaking. It may come to a surprise to you that she is actually fictional.

Betty Crocker got her start at an advertising company when a man wanted to answer questions they received after a contest and felt a woman should be giving the advice. Crocker was after the former company director William G. Crocker and Betty just sounded cheerful and friendly. 

Marjorie Husted is the woman that helped shape Betty Crocker’s personally. She wrote the scripts for her radio broadcasts and helped carefully shape the public face of Betty Crocker. 

In 1944, around 70,000 housewives enrolled in the Betty Crocker Home Legion, an organization by Marjorie Husted to encourage homemakers.

She is quoted as saying “good housekeeping is an art and it’s about time it is treated as such.”

It’s also been said she believed every woman was a homemaker, regardless of whether she held a paying job or not because woman usually bears the brunt of cooking and housework.

Husted was a pretty amazing woman. She not only believed women should be honored for their work at home but also championed rights for women in the workplace.

I agree with her that homemaking is important and should be honored. And anyone that bears the brunt of the housework should consider themselves a homemaker and be proud of that fact. 

Something that was reportedly given to the woman that joined the Betty Crocker Home Legion is a frameable copy of the Homemakers’ Creed. 

The Homemakers’ Creed

I Believe homemaking is a noble and challenging career.

I Believe homemaking is an art requiring many different skills.

I Believe homemaking requires the best of my efforts, my abilities, and my thinking.

I Believe home reflects the spirit of the homemaker.

I Believe home should be a place of peace, joy, and contentment.

I Believe no task is too humble that contributes to the cleanliness, the order, the health, the well being of the household.

I Believe a homemaker must be true to the highest ideals of love, loyalty, service, and religion.

I Believe home must be an influence for good in the neighborhood, the community, the country.

This is to certify that (member’s name) is a member of the Home Legion dedicated to Good Homemaking for a Better World.

Signed, Betty Crocker

How to Be a Better Homemaker

One of the parts of the Homemakers’ Creed is “homemaking is an art requiring many different skills.” We must be learning new skills all of the time to be the best homemaker we can be.

It can be time-consuming to seek out the resources that will help us to do that. A great shortcut is the Retro Homemakers Club.

It’s a virtual club where you can connect with other homemakers and learn new homemaking skills. Join today!

Learn More About Betty Crocker

The Betty Crocker story is very interesting and there is so much more to it than what I shared here. If you want to learn more check out the book Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food by Susan Marks.