He and his wife would hand them out using old milk bottles. From there, he worked at a variety of high end restaurants in New York as a cook, eventually working his way up to Chef. There has even been an internet rumor denying his existence, claiming that "Boyardee" was combination of the names of three food company executives; Boyd, Art and Dennis. Sir Henry Morgan sailed the high seas during the 17th century as a privateer. If you are a Chef Boyardee person who loved the stuff as a kid and happen to give it another go, let us know if it lives up to your memories. He worked as a cook at his first restaurant at the tender age of 10 years old in Italy. With his brothers Mario and Paul, Chef Hector starts the Chef Boyardee Company. In less-racist mascot falsification, Betty Crocker was the product of a Saturday Evening Post contest, and KFC's Colonel Harlan Sanders never actually earned the military rank that many misattribute to him. Chef Boyardee Was a Real Person - Today I Found Out To capitalize on their hometown popularity, they started branding their products with Oscars name when they expanded their business. In an iconic TV ad from the early 00s, a can of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli goes on an epic journey, rolling of its own volition from the grocery store all the way to a familys home to be reunited with a small, ravioli-loving child. Real Or Fake: 21 Famous Brand Namesakes Revealed - Purple Clover Privacy Statement The 17 Real People Behind Your Favorite Food Brand Names Slideshow. When inventor Chris L. Rutt wanted to sell his pancake flour, he went for the stereotypical "mammy" archetype and took the name "Aunt Jemima" from a popular minstrel song. Italian food wasnt on the radar. When World War II erupted in Europe, the food company was put to work making Army rations. When he began selling jars and cans of his tomato sauce, he chose to do so under a name that. Based on that strength, Consolidated Foods adopted the name Sara Lee for the whole corporation. Hector teamed up with his brothers Mario and Paul to found the Chef Boyardee company, using a phonetic spelling of the family's last name to make it easier to pronounce.