A TASTE OF VIRGINIA TRADITION
The S. Wallace Edwards and Sons Story
In 1925, a southern gentleman and the lady he courted became husband and wife. They began their life together in the small village of Surry, Virginia (population 300).
The following year, S. Wallace Edwards, young captain of the Jamestown-Scotland ferryboat, began serving ham sandwiches to his ferry passengers....sandwiches made from ham he salt-cured and hickory smoked on his Edwards family farm.
The demand for his ham grew so quickly that Captain Edwards soon began curing and selling hams on a full-time basis. Meanwhile, his young wife, Oneita, contributed from home by cooking hams and raising their two children, Oneita Mae and Wallace Jr. As word of the "Edwards Virginia Ham" spread, the young Edwards family began shipping their products throughout the country.
Today, Edwards smokehouses are still located in Surry County, close to the spot where the Indians first taught the English colonists the secret of bringing out the full flavor in meats. The Edwards family has been honored to demonstrate their art of curing hams at the Smithsonian Institution Folklife Festival, and received many State Fair of Virginia Blue Ribbon and Grand Champion awards for their hams and bacon.
Over the last 81 years, Edwards' emphasis has always been on quality, not quantity. S. Wallace Edwards and Sons (second and third generation) remains a thriving family business dedicated to producing the finest quality smoked meat products...and extending the vision and legacy of its founder, S. Wallace Edwards, Sr.
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1 comment:
I'm a Virginia retailer, and I have to say that my experiences with S Wallace Edwards have not been all that positive. They used my bank references to get my bank balance without mentioning to me that they were closely associated with my main competitor. They put such a low limit on my wholesale account that I would have to fedex them checks every day or so, otherwise they would stop shipping my orders. When I spoke to Mr. Edwards on the phone, he was less than cordial, almost rude. Overall they were the most difficult vendor I have yet to deal with.
Worse yet was the way they handled customer complaints. They just did not seem to care and stuck me with all the expense of making things right for the customers. And there were way too many quality complaints. I finally had to close the account. Then to make things even worse, they reported in credit references that THEY had closed the account. I had to threaten to sue them to make that right again. Thank goodness for Smithfield! They are a much better company overall.
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