Manuscripts Collection
Ken Davis was born in Omaha, Nebraska (September 22, 1923) where he graduated from high school and briefly studied engineering at Drake University. After serving in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II Davis played bass fiddle as a professional jazz musician and later owned and operated a commercial kitchen and a janitorial service in Omaha.
In 1967 Davis moved to Minneapolis and was hired by Dayton's as maintenance supervisor at its store in the Brookdale Shopping Center (1968). In 1969 he bought Edina Chicken, a take-out restaurant in Edina, Minnesota. The restaurant closed the following year and Davis decided to market his barbecue sauce. He established Ken Davis Products, Inc., hired his future wife, Barbara Jo Taylor, to help him develop a consistent recipe, and sold the product out of his car to grocery stores throughout the seven-county metropolitan area.
In 1972 Ken Davis Products, Inc. was incorporated in Minnesota. The company was a success and eventually increased its annual revenues to several million dollars with a varied product line and a five-state market area. Four flavors of barbecue sauce, Original, Sweet 'n Smoky, Smooth 'n Spicy, and 2-gram Carbs Original, are sold in grocery stores in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Davis and his company played an active role in community and charitable causes. This includes his service as one of the first African-American Santa Clauses to entertain in the Twin Cities, his service as honorary co-chairman of INVITE, Inc. (1989), and the firm's sponsorship of fund raising events for local food shelves. Ken Davis died of complications from lung cancer on August 22, 1991.
Barbara Jo Davis, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Taylor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, graduated from Cheyenne Central High School (1960), received a B.A. in dietetics from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, and completed a dietetic internship at Freedman Hospital, Washington, D.C. Her first job was as a research dietician for Cox Coronary Heart Institute at Dayton, Ohio (1965-1967). The program was funded by General Mills and when it ended Davis was hired by Betty Crocker Kitchens. Davis remained with General Mills for 20 years working primarily in management.
In 1988 Davis became president of Ken Davis Products, Incorporated. When Ken Davis died Barbara Jo continued with the company as its owner/president. Barbara sold Ken Davis, Incorporated to Summit Marketing in November 2010.
Davis' professional and community involvement included her service as the first national president for the Coalition for Black Development in Home Economics and her membership in the American Home Economics Association, serving as its membership chair in 1993-1994. She also served on the board of directors of the Meyerhoff Educational Internship Program and helped the Stairship Initiative in Minneapolis.
The collection reflects the Davises' personal lives, education, and business ventures. Topics include Barbara Jo Davis' high school and college education, her career as a certified dietician, Ken Davis' career in the food service industry, the management of Ken Davis Products, Inc., and an entertainment booking and promotion company the couple were engaged in called BassLine Events.
These records are divided into the following two sections:
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics,
persons or places should
Access to business records less than 25 years old requires written permission. News releases, clippings, photographs, and commonly available publications are excluded from this restriction. Persons wishing to access or use restricted material must request written permission. Please consult with the reference department staff for more information.
Quotation, use or publication of anything in or based on the business records less than 25 years old requires written permission. News releases, clippings, photographs, and commonly available publications are excluded from this restriction. Persons wishing to access or use restricted material must request written permission. Please consult with the reference department staff for more information.
Accession numbers: 14,913; 15,233; 15,350; 15,656; 15,681; 16,314; 16,498; 16,537.
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project
grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Processed by: Frank Hennessy, April 1998; Alex Kent, January 2009; Shelby Edwards, July 2011.
Catalog ID number: 001730507
The first group of papers in this series relates to Barbara Jo Davis' education and career as a home economist. A project on fashion art (1957); correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a diary documenting her attendance at Wyoming Girls State (June 7-13, 1959); personal memorabilia from her senior year in high school (1959); a group of poems and papers written for her college English composition classes; and a number of speeches and articles she authored are included.
Other personal papers include correspondence; a newspaper article and diary entries describing Barbara Jo's participation in a picket of Governor George Wallace (1963); records related to Edina Chicken including a newspaper article (November 1970), a photograph of Ken Davis behind the counter, and legal papers related to the firm's bankruptcy proceedings (May 1971). The Davises' marriage certificate (June 14, 1973); Ken's resume (March 27,1974); certificates of appreciation from various organizations (undated and 1980, 1985, 1991); and a guest register from two unidentified social events (December 27, 1986 and August 6, 1989) are also included.
The personal papers also include Ken Davis' obituaries (August 23, 1991), his will (February 7, 1989), and death certificate (August 22, 1991); correspondence and miscellaneous papers related to the establishment of the Ken Davis Memorial Scholarship for students in the jazz program at the University of Minnesota (1993); and a book containing reminiscences, tributes, and anecdotes about Ken Davis (1991).
The remaining personal papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, a schedule, and photographs documenting Ken Davis' service as one of the first African-American Santa Clauses in the Twin Cities (undated and 1975-1977); miscellaneous newspaper and magazine clippings (undated and 1965-1983); portraits of Ken and Barbara Jo Davis (undated and 1960-1973), a personal calender featuring photographs of Barbara Jo Davis and friends (1996), caricatures, and jazz and BBQ sauce accolade collages.
Includes Ken Davis' death certificate, Ken and Barbara Jo Davis' marriage license, and papers related to Barbara Jo Davis' career as a home economist.
Featuring photographs of Barbara Jo Davis and friends.
Includes autographs, ticket stubs, programs, and photographs.
Records pertaining to the marketing of Ken Davis Products, Inc. include the
company newsletter
Other records related to marketing include certificates (1978, 1980, 1990) and correspondence pertaining to trademark registration (1985, 1991), reports based on marketing studies commissioned to outside firms, correspondence with a number of distributors, correspondence and reports associated with a growth program instituted by Ken Davis Products, Inc. which offered sales-based incentives to participants, and correspondence and related material connected with brokers handling Ken Davis products in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Oversize material includes a scrapbook of color photographs of store displays in the Twin Cities area, coupons, newspaper advertisements, and the floor plan for a proposed fish restaurant.
Miscellaneous records include business proposals, articles of incorporation (November 1973), stock offerings (1973), market research, budgets (1990), stock certificates (Oct. 1990), an employee handbook (1991), and a business plan (1991). Financial records include a stock offering the firm made to a limited group of friends and associates in the early 1980s and a set of records consisting of correspondence, legal documents, and notes related to Davis' attempt to sell the company to a number of firms in the late 1980s.
In 1986 Ken Davis sold the licensing rights to the use of his name to Ken Sherman who attempted to distribute Davis' regional product nationally through a company entitled Ken Davis Worldwide. The attempt failed and the company's business records (1986-1991) contain business plans, contracts, financial statements, and correspondence documenting the relationship between Ken Davis Products, Inc., and Ken Davis Worldwide, Inc.
BassLine Events, Inc. is also represented. The firm was founded in 1989 by Ken and Barbara Jo Davis and its purpose was to organize, sponsor, and promote concerts and other forms of entertainment. Papers associated with the firm include correspondence (1989-1991); a corporate minute book containing articles of incorporation, bylaws, minutes, and stock certificates (1989); notes; legal documents (1989-1991); contracts (1989); tickets; newspaper clippings (1989).
The material pertains almost exclusively to a jazz concert and dance to help
the homeless entitled
Two oversize pages, includes
Labeled Octoberfest, documentary, and The Right One,
Produced by Perception Communications.