Holland American Wafer Company

The modern sugar wafer made its appearance in 1905 at the Great Paris Exposition. The "new cookie" was an instant success, and word of the exposition's taste sensation spread across all of Europe. The sugar wafer quickly became the traditional treat for family gatherings on the continent, and within a short time Americans were also enjoying their first sugar wafer cookies.

G. Adrian Heyboer, born shortly after his parents immigrated to Grand Rapids, Michigan from the Netherlands, began his job career in the Grand Rapids area around the turn of the century. He first worked as a fruit tree salesman, and later became a fruit buyer for the W.S. Thomas Canning Company.

During this period of time, Mr Heyboer was approached by a gentleman from the Netherlands who offered him a partnership in a new business "guaranteed to bring financial success." The partner had secured a machine and a secret formula for the popular new sugar wafer cookie. Unfortunately, the next two years of experimentation proved the machine and formula to be useless. Mr. Heyboer brought in new partners, new machinery, and a new formula, and in 1919 Holland American Wafer Company was born.