05/11/2026
On behalf of this plumber, you're welcome!
RANCH DRESSING WAS INVENTED BY A BLACK PLUMBER FROM NEBRASKA — AND IT CONQUERED AMERICA - Ranch dressing — now America’s best-selling condiment — was created around 1950 by Steven Henson, an African-American plumbing contractor from Thayer, Nebraska, while cooking for his work crew in remote Alaska. Unable to source fresh ingredients easily, he blended dried herbs, buttermilk powder, and mayonnaise into a tangy dressing his crew loved. He retired at 35, bought 120 acres in California’s Santa Barbara County, and renamed it Hidden Valley Ranch — serving his dressing to guests who loved it so much they smuggled jars home.
By 1957, Henson was mailing dry seasoning packets nationally for 75 cents each, eventually filling every room in his house with the operation. In 1972, Clorox bought the Hidden Valley Ranch brand for $8 million. Ranch surpassed Italian dressing as America’s top-selling dressing in 1992 — a position it has never relinquished. Henson’s name is rarely mentioned alongside his invention.
Sources: Wikipedia, PushBlack, Food Republic, Taste of Country — various
