In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

AMOROSO’S
BAKING COMPANY
In 1904, Vincenzo Amoroso and his two
sons, Salvatore and Joseph, crossed the
Atlantic from Italy to America in search of
the American Dream. Vincenzo brought with
him only a handful of modest possessions
and his family’s recipe for making authentic
Italian bread. He opened a small bakery,
complete with a brick oven, at 320 Stevens
Street in Camden, New Jersey. By 1914,
Amoroso’s had outgrown its humble beginnings
and made a bold move across the river
to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their new
storefront at 6505 Haverford Avenue soon
became a neighborhood favorite.
Despite the effects of the Great Depression,
Amoroso’s Baking Company continued to
grow by making home deliveries of their
hearth-baked bread and rolls to families
in the West Philadelphia neighborhoods.
They made deliveries twice a day—once in
the morning for breakfast and lunch and
then again in the late afternoon for dinner.
Hearth-baked means the bread and rolls are
never baked in a pan. As a result each piece
is unique, with no two being the same.
By the early 1930s, Salvatore had taken
over the family business and with the help
of his four sons, Daniel, Vincent, Leonard,
and Salvatore, Jr., the business continued to
grow. The boys would work in the bakery
before and after school.
Following World War II, America began
to witness the effects of suburban sprawl.
The sprawl resulted in the birth and growth
of the local supermarket era and the end
of home deliveries. Amoroso’s first sold its
products on consignment to the Great
Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, commonly
known as A&P, in the Overbrook Park
section of West Philadelphia. To land the
account, Leonard Amoroso, Sr., asked the
store manager if he could leave the bread
for one day, promising to pick any unsold
bread and rolls. They soon became a favorite
throughout the Delaware Valley and A&P
placed orders for all their stores in Amoroso’s
service area. With the success at A&P, other
supermarket retailers began selling the
Amoroso’s brand in their stores.
It was during the 1950s that advertising
spread beyond word of mouth. For the
first time in its history, Amoroso’s began
purchasing advertising space. Throughout
Philadelphia, signs promoting Amoroso’s
products were painted on the sides of
buildings. As the highway system developed,
signage went from the sides of city buildings
to stand-alone billboards along the
city’s highways.
The company expanded its route distribution
system to include neighboring counties,
in addition to distributing to stores in New
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