Our Story

The first major expansion was to the south (seen on the left hand side of the photo below), offering much larger production and processing space.

The next major expansion provided Best Maid with the needed warehouse space to ramp up production for years to come. Seen in this photo is the 125,000 square foot storage warehouse.

Tucked away on a quiet road in a small rural town of Mansfield, Texas, Mildred Dalton was busy in her kitchen making pastries & pies. Mildred realized she was using a lot of egg whites for pastry meringues, but hardly any of the leftover egg yolks, so unused egg yolks were used to make homemade mayonnaise.

Times are tough, and with three children to care for, Mildred and Jessie start looking for ways
to make extra money. Jessie Otis Dalton begins selling his wife’s homemade mayonnaise
in his Fort Worth grocery store.

With the success of Mildred’s mayonnaise in the family store, Mrs. Dalton’s Salad Dressing was born. The Daltons decided to expand their condiment production by opening a small factory on Evans Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas. From Best Maid delivery trucks, they began selling single jars of pickles and condiments door-to-door to homes and small grocery stores.

This family photo represents 3 generations of the Dalton family. Pictured at the lower left and only ten years old, is Mildred and Jessie’s son, Garland Son Dalton. Garland began helping by taking orders for pickles and condiments and making deliveries after school. It wasn’t long before he was running the entire company.

Mildred and Jessie’s grandson, Gary, was Born in Mansfield, Texas. He later joined the family business, eventually becoming Chairman of the Board. Today, Gary Dalton still serves as Chairman.

The face of Mildred and Jessie’s young daughter, Margie, began gracing the front of every jar of Best Maid. Legend has it that a Best Maid employee drew a caricature of the adorable child, which later evolved into the iconic Smiley face.

The economy was on the upswing, and people across Texas start wanting Best Maid pickles and condiments. To accommodate the greater demand, manufacturing facilities relocated to Riverside Drive. With the larger facilities, Best Maid was able to expand its distribution to grocery stores throughout Texas.

Gary Dalton, grandson of the founders, began working at Best Maid in 1955. He loaded trucks and remembers unloading boxcars of glass, salt stock, and other raw materials in bulk. He later moved to sales after working in virtually every area of the plant. (Left to Right: Jessie Otis Dalton, Gary Otis Dalton, Mildred Dalton, grandson Carl Koch, son Garland Otis Dalton)

The development of a new tank yard facility in Mansfield, Texas on wide-open land was planned to accommodate future growth.

Patricia Dalton, granddaughter of the founders, began working at Best Maid in 1960. She began in production, then at the tank yard, and eventually settled into providing the company with exemplary financial leadership as Chief Financial Officer.

A strategic company investment was made when Son Dalton facilitated the acquisition of Del-Dixi Products. Today Del-Dixi is one the strongest regional pickle labels in Texas.<img class="aligncenter"
src="https://bestmaid.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1962.png" alt="Del-Dixi Pickle Truck"

Traveling salesmen promoted Del-Dixi across the great state of Texas. Del-Dixi remains a staple all over South Texas.

Older wooden tanks became relics of the past. The introduction of fiberglass pickle tanks was a quality move that the pickle industry soon adopted as standard.

Numerous expansion programs were being planned throughout the 70s. The original 1946 facilities seen in the aerial photos shown below were not enough to keep up with growing demand for Best Maid pickles.

The next major expansion provided Best Maid with the needed warehouse space to ramp up production for years to come. Seen in this photo is the 125,000 square foot storage warehouse.