It has been eleven years since they came back and now they have stopped production again!!

The vicious rumor is true. I just got off the phone with NABISCO. Nabisco has halted production of the Pilot Cracker. In 1995 they tried doing this, but the people of Maine led the people of the NATION as they rose up against the corporate GIANT! We must unite once again and call 1-800-NABISCO. It worked once and it will work again if we all call, write or email. KRAFT FOODS has underestimated the passion folks have for this cracker. People need to know what has
happened! Spread the word and ask all of your friends to call if they care about the preservation of a New England tradition, not to mention a darn good cracker. As I wrote in my first article back in the 90s--If this could happen in New England where America began it could happen anywhere. Will grits and collard greens be next?

Don't forget 1-800-NABISCO (1-800-622-4726)

Donna Miller Damon
207-846-5140

ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES - June 11, 2008

Save the
Nabisco Crown Pilot Crackers

THEY'RE BACK!!!! (not for long)

Donna Miller Damon broke the story about Nabisco stopping production of Pilot Crackers and she has been busy writing articles, compiling information and doing television and radio interviews. She would love to get recipes and anecdotes about pilot crackers. She is also putting together a mailing list for anyone interested in what's happening. So please write to her:
Donna Miller Damon
13 Fenderson Road
Chebeague Island, Maine 04017
(207) 846-5140

Or you can email me (Beverly Johnson)
and I can get the information to her.

For people who live in regions where the crackers are not available you can now order a case from Nabisco by calling 1 (800) NABISCO.

PILOT CRACKER PIN

Click on the picture to get more information on ordering the pins! Gail Miller has designed a pilot cracker pin or magnet which will benefit the Chebeague Historical Society!

PUBLISHED ARTICLES:

• February 5, 1997

  The islanders and others were treated to a wonderful clam chowder and celebration of the Pilot Crackers return. All the local television stations were there as well as Tim Sample with CBS Sunday Morning (I think it will air February 9th). It was great - everyone got to bring home boxes of their beloved crackers and they even gave away some beautiful replicas of the old wooden cracker boxes. Nabisco presented a gift of $1000 to the Chebeague Historical Society.

  • Crown Pilot back from depths of downsizingby Tess Nacelewicz, Portland Press Herald
  • The Cracker That Wouldn't Die (Put That in Your Chowder) by Julie Flaherty New York Times
  • Boston Herald
  • Brockton Enterprise "The tack is back" Business Section
  • Boston Herald
  • San Fransisco Chronicle "Nabisco Relents, A Cracker Returns"
  • St. Petersburg, Florida Times "Nabisco cracks under pressure: Hardtack's back"
  • Baltimore Sun"Small Maine isle savors its victory" by Mary Corey
• Boston Herald January 28, 1997: People going crackers over Nabisco move
  
  
• Portland Press Herald, January 25, 1997Nabisco may crack and bring back a beloved cracker
  
  
• Forecaster, January 23, 1997For love of a cracker:
  
  
• Forecaster, January 23, 1997 Crooning for crackers (this article includes Gary Varney's pilot cracker song)
  
  
• Portland Press Herald - January 12, 1997
  
  
• Inter-Island News Article by Donna Miller Damon, October, 1996
  
  
• Inter-Island News Article by Donna Miller Damon
  "Hard tack on hard times" August 1996
  
  
• Maine Boats and Harbors, Winter, 1997
  "No More Hardtack Matey"
  
  
• Yankee Magazine, January 1997
  "Save the Cracker" by Tim Clark
  
  
• DownEast Magazine, November 1996
  
  
• Boston Globe Article by Donna Damon:
  "Say it isn't so, Nabisco" September 12, 1996
  
  
• Christian Science Monitor Article by David Holmstrom
  "Chowder Lovers Feel Crushed by Crackers' Crumble" September 12, 1996
  
  
• Cruising the Maine Coast Magazine - Current Issue
  Near the end of the issue under Scuttlebutt

POETRY:

Pilotless, by Gainor M. Ventresco

PILOT CRACKER BALLAD:

Words written by Gary Varney sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, My Bonnie Lies Over the Sea"

BROADCASTS:

• January 31 - NEW ENGLAND CABLE NEWS - All day they ran a 15 minute segment on the Pilot Cracker Story featuring all the Chebeaguers they could get in front of a camera.
• January 24 - Nabisco announced that the big announcement will be February 4th instead of Jan 29.
• January 23,1997 MAINE PUBLIC RADIO reported tonight that Nabisco is considering something big. There will be an announcement next Wednesday, 10:30 on Boston's Long Wharf - and will have something to do with Pilot Crackers. In the broadcast they interviewed Donna who speculated that Nabisco is going to advantage of the opportunity to promote the pilot cracker. We can only hope she is right! Another reason for this speculation is that Nabisco executives were seen at a South Portland restaurant and they said they were in Maine because of the pilot crackers!
• CBS SUNDAY MORNING a Postcard from Maine aired January 5th DONNA DAMON and many islanders were interviewed by Tim Sample for the Sunday Morning national broadcast 9 - 10:30 EST. The subject of the show was the ending of Nabisco Pilot Crackers.
  
• Maine Public Radio was on the island today to interview people about the now famous pilot crackers. They intervied the Ladies Aid, Edmund Doughty and Elsworth and Melba Miller. The radio show will be broadcast Friday night, January 10th between 5 and 6.
  
• National Public Radio on All Things Considered - 1/17/97 (Sorry I just found out it was on).
  
• Channel 6 Maine Local News with Jim Crocker 1/17/97
  
• Channel 8 local News with Bob Dyke 1/17/97
  

RECIPES ON THE INTERNET (which include pilot crackers:

• New England Chicken and Corn Chowder
  
  
• New York Style Clam Chowder
  
  
• BASIC HARDTACK - for all of you who can't wait for Nabisco to bring back the pilot crackers!

ALTERNATIVES TO NABISCO CROWN PILOTS:

I thought I would try to get a list of all the manufacturers of pilot crackers so that people will know what is available. I will start with putting a copy of an email I received:

• Dear Beverly,
  Am I glad I found you on the 'net!! I tried to get a contact on Chebeague Island from NPR but haven't heard from them yet!(see below) (And besides now that I see Chebeague I realize how badly I would have spelled it!) So, can I send you some crackers? Have you seen the www site for our local crackers (see below) at
  http://alohamall.hisurf.com/HFMA/HFMAVendors/hilo/hilo.html?
  I offered in my letter to NPR to send you some samples and still would be glad to! I have a friend in St. Paul who used to live here that still craves the saltine crackers from Diamond Bakery and so send them regularly to her.
  Aloha,
  Bonnie Judd
  
  Dear All Things Considered,
  Tell those poor people in Maine to forget Nabisco! We in Hawaii have always had wonderful Saloon Pilot Crackers. In fact, we even have a choice of brands. Both Diamond Bakery of Honolulu and Hilo Macaroni Company make very good crackers of all sorts!
  If you would please send the address of the Methodist Church on that Maine island and I will be happy to send the ladies whom you interviewed in your broadcast on Friday some samples.
  Aloha,
  Bonnie Judd
  The samples are on the way to the Chebeague Island Methodist Church Ladies Aid
• Bent Pilot Crackers
  G.H. Bent Co.,
  7 Pleasant Street
  Milton, MA (617) 698-5945
• Sailor Boy Pilot Bread

COMMENTS AND LETTERS:

• "I support your efforts to bring back the Pilot Crackers! They are a New England institution that I grew up with. Chowder won't be the same without them."
  Boyd Norcross
  
  
• Letter to Nabisco:
  I was very disappointed to learn that Pilot Crackers were no longer going to be manufactured. Perhaps to you it is not a big ticket item, but to New Englanders who were raised with them they are important. When my wife and I return to Utah from Maine we always bring back enough boxes to last until our next visit. In eliminating this product you are taking away a part of the heritage of New England. I have no idea what the financial impact of continuing to manufacture and distribute Pilot Crackers would be. I can't imagine that for a company the size of Nabisco it would make much difference. I think that you should seriously consider eliminating a product that has been available for over 200 years. By discontinuing the product you run the risk of alienating a significant number of your customers towards Nabisco and your other products. I urge you to consider a mechanism to make sure that Pilot crackers will again become available.
  Gary Oderda
  Salt Lake City, UT
  
  
• Letter to the Editor Portland Press Herald:
  

  In re to the article in the January 12 issue of the Sunday Telegram on Donna Miller Damon's efforts (along with those of other Chebeague Islanders) to persuade Nabisco to bring back the time honored Crown Pilot Cracker.

  My father was a loyal consumer of Pilot crackers until they became unavailable. A chowder wasn't a chowder without them. I, too, believe them to be as important as the milk. In addition, I often ate them with butter (plain and toasted) and they are wonderful spread with melted cheddar or baked brie.

  Granted the niche for this product is a small one, but I can't believe that Nabisco sells all of its products in all areas of the nation in equal numbers. Some parts of this country consume more of a product than others. Tradition will always be diverse. It is erroneous to believe that people's taste can be altered by industry's greed for a dollar. Isn't the customer always right? Isn't a business supposed to give the consumer what s/he wants? What happened to time honored business practices? Have they all followed the way the Pilot Cracker?

  -Shane Pitkin Barden
  Cliff Island, ME

• Letter to Nabisco:
  I am a life long chowder and soup eater. The pleasure of soups one of the great foods of the world is beyond description when you consider the health and nutritional benefits as well as the sensuos pleasure ofmaking and then consuming a hot bowl of soup on a cold wintry day or a cold soup in mid-August.
  So now Nabisco has pulled the Crown Pilot Cracker off the shelves! Whatam I supposed to do with those measeily mealy little oyster crackers that are left. Saltines don't hold a salt lick to the majesty and pleasure of the long-lived Crown Pilot. I say LONG LOVE THE CROWNPILOT! A response announcing the Crown's return to the shelves of every local market is expected forthwith!
  Richard Stelle
• When I was a youngster my mother often sent her sister in calif. Pilot crackers.
  For years my aunt tried to buy them out there even by the case to no avail. Often store owners asked. What do thay do lady FLY?
  Norman Jordan
• Last summer, my husband noticed that Pilot Crackers were no longer on the shelves of the local Shop N Save. I told him I'd find out what the problem was so I e-mailed Nabisco. They replied - Pilot Crackers were not being made any longer. He was devastated. Every week when we shop, he would tell me he was going to look for Pilot Crackers and I told him he'd have to "get over it". That is, until the article in the Press Herald yesterday!! He now has a ray of hope!! His family has eaten the crackers for years in many different ways. They used them in chowders, ate them with just butter or peanut butter or tuna. A Letarte family specialty consisted of a pilot cracker spread with peanut butter then topped with a slice of american cheese. Our son even brought them to school for lunch, enduring the inevitable "What's that!!".
  Please add them to the number who miss them and long for their return.
  Judy and Rob Letarte
  26 Pinecrest Ave.
  Windham ME 04062
• Another email letter:
  just want to lend my support to you all in your endeavor to "convince" Nabisco to return pilot crackers. it's becoming all to apparent that large companies have been sacrificing regional tastes (that have always been a base of support for them) for the bottom line. what they seem to do is try and develop an national taste/product to make it easier for them. in the long run I hope that they return to the basic understanding that not everyone has the same tastes. please continue to support the company down in Mass. (i don't remember the name) becasue, tho they may not make a product exactly like Crown, they are respectful of regional tastes and as such deserve our support.
  GOOD LUCK
  Paul K.
• DearDonna,
  My husband has been complaining about the lack of Crown Pilot Crackers for some time now. When he finally discovered they weren't being made any more, he was very disappointed. Congratulations on your efforts to get them back!
  Cjackson
• Email letter:
  Hello Beverly,
  I just became aware of the fact that Nabisco is going to stop making Pilot Crackers! One of my favorite all-time lunches is a Pilot Cracker topped with a slice of American cheese, a couple of tomato slices, and topped with partially-cooked bacon. Put under the broiler until the bacon is done and the cheese melted. Yum!! I don't know where the recipe idea came from; perhaps from the Pilot Cracker box years ago. My mother used to make it and I have done the same over the years.
  I hope a public outcry will keep Pilot Crackers alive!!
  Karen
  kayakers@iconn.net
• Ms Johnson, Please include me on this list. We also miss the cracker. We are a small fishings family and community on the northern gulf coast.
  Our supply of crackers, in recent years, have come from fishermen friends in Maine. We have written Nabisco
  Thanks
  Ed Lilliott
  414 North Orange Street
  Perry, FL 32347
• Email Note:
  Dear Beverly:
  In October, my 78 year old mother invited my husband, son and myself to her home for some fish chowder. She had gone to Shop N Save and Shaws looking for Pilot Crackers. Well, no one told her the crackers had been removed. She asked several store employees where they were located and they couldn't be found. For 58 years or so she had only used Pilot Crackers with chowder. You just can't have anything else. It's truly a Maine staple. Not to just the islands, but to all true Mainers. Thinking that my mother was mistaken and just couldn't find them I went the same route looking for them too. They were truly gone. I even drove to South Portland and checked out the stores there thinking maybe it was just in the Scarborough area. Not so. The crackers had disappeared from all the shelves.
  It was with great pleasure that I read the article in Yankee Magazine. I promptly told everyone I knew to please call Nabisco and let them know they are making a BIG, BIG mistake. I do have enough to do in my life that I don't to take on any causes, but this one was far too important to let go. For 51 years I have eaten "The Pilots" with chowder.
  It just not the same without them. Please bring them back.
  After many, many tries I did manage to get through to Nabisco. The customer service rep wasn't to thrilled. She did offer another brand, but no way could you eat those for a Sunday night supper with milk. My husband loves them with peanut butter and marshmellow. We appreciate the efforts of all. I am going to send Nabisco an E-mail next.
  Thanks
  
• Another Email Note:
  Hi, Just want to add out two cents worth. We live in Ct. now and always loaded up with the Pilot Crackers when we went to Maine. (Couldn't get them in CT.) We used them with chowder, all soups and as a meal on hot days in the summer (crackers broken up with milk and suger or salt) . They are sorely missed and let us be umoung those who would like to pressure, beseech, or otherwise convince Nabisco to resume production.
  Jim and Thelma McLean
  24 Cheryl Ann Dr. Milford, CT 06460
• Am so glad to hear about your efforts to bring the pilot cracker back. I was truly amazed when I learned that the cracker had been "pulled" off production and wouldn't be available any more. I do have a box in my closet with one or two stale crackers in it - I'm not going to throw it away until Nabisco decides to produce them again. I will email Nabisco regularly til they succumb to the pressure!! I grew up in Maine and pilots were a staple of my diet - mostly with chowder, but sometimes in the middle of the night with peanut butter - that was my Dad' favorite too. Many relatives are in Maine, I visit as often as I can and my husband and I have plans to move back in a few years - can't wait. It will be better if we knew we could get pilot crackers when we visit. Thanks for all your efforts, keep up the good work.
  Carolie Hancock
  Excelsior, Minnesota
• Hurray for you--we support your efforts in bringing back Crown Pilots!! We have missed them so much!! What is winter chowda without pilots? What is lobsta stew without pilots? What is clam chowda without pilots? Bottom line, what is LIFE without CROWN PILOTS??
  Good luck, and we will be following your progress!!
  
• What no more CROWN PILOTS! Life will not be worth living.
  Paul Hanna
• Beverly--
  My wife and I watched this segment of the CBS program and were very touched. Though we live in the urban sprawl of Southern California we do appreciate the genuine diversity that abounds in so many regions of the United States.
  Here's wishing you the best of luck in getting Nabisco to reconsider their decision.
  Orin L. R

Email me bjohnson@nlis.net if you want to add your comments!

If you would like to email Nabisco's Consumer Information Services cis@nabisco.com I'm sure they would love to hear from everyone!
NABISCO has quite a Web Page - its address is:http://www.nabisco.com/nabisco.html