I’m sure everybody has used Old El Paso products for their Mexican food. I was wondering if Old El Paso started out here and then got acquired by General Mills or was it just some marketing idea from some guys up North?
By the way, I think I found the best green salsa available in El Paso. It is called Herdez and I love it.
My name is David and I am living El Paso.
old el paso products had a plant in anthony texas just north of el paso…I think they were bought out by the carnation company…the plant employed hundreds and you could smell the chili from miles away…it is on the left side of I-10 going to cruces.
they are now a part of general mills
Interesting. I wonder if they put a plant here to be sorta authentic or if this was their main base of operations.
Mountain Pass
If my memory serves me correctly, Old El Paso used to go by the name Mountain Pass and it was bought by the Carnation comapany – a long time ago……maybe 30 years.
Wow, thanks Strelz and Cherry – I didn’t know that the Old El Paso brand actually has roots here in El Paso! I really thought it was just created by General Mills to seem authentic.
And David, good find on the salsa! When I’ve spent time down deep in Chihuahua, that’s the stuff I’ve seen them use. Good, good stuff!
Cherry, you know your El Paso history! I wonder if anybody has any old Mountain Pass memorabilia?
Ariel, I’m glad you like the salsa!
There was another cannery at the same time called “Ashleys” which had their canning plant near the airport, in between the Caballero Hotel (Where Good Coffee is today) and the strip mall that holds Peter Piper Pizza. I remember my parents taking us to the Ashley’s restaurant which also had a large pond in front. It may have been El Paso’s first koi pond.
Anyway, they also had a big water tower with the Ashley name written on it that you could see for miles.
El Paso had been quite the center for food processing back in the 50′s and 60′s.
I too was a little boy when I went go to the old Ashley’s restaraunt. My grandfather was plant manager
from 1957 and retired from there in 1971. It was
a grand place to eat outside. My grandparents home
was behind the plant on the other side of the rail road
tracks. At the time it was the city limits line and
right by the airport. Everything past the city limits
on Montana was desert. If you drove about 5 miles out
you go to the horse stables and rent horses to ride for the day…if anyone else has memories of this. Please
contact me. My great grandparents are buried in the old
Fort Bliss cemetary.
Just saw your mess…..I also relate to the plant. I’m Asley,greatgrandson of George Ashley. I lived in the big house right across from the rest. wow what great times.
Wonder if we remenber each other. I lived in the house right across from the rest. I was probably younger but still remember great things about the whole plant property as we had full run of the place. Great fresh food right off the production line or kitchen……MMMM. The pond was another of me favorite places to play,hoppin on an off slow movin trains thinking we were real daredevils was also cool. We ment my brothers John an David both older an loved climbing the watertower then getting asswhipped good for it. Please reply if you know more.
i rember well and i have this craving for ashley canned chile con queso it was so great and the taste i will never forget.does anyone have a recipe? would love to have it.
i like to research stuff from el paso, especially stuff that uses the name el paso… some years ago on the internets, I found an El Paso Restaurant in Lebanon… there is also an El Paso Barbeque Restaurant Chain in Arizona…and a TexMex restaurant in Ireland or somewhere out there.
Tim, do you know what kind of food Ashley’s canned? There are so many details about El Paso that I keep learning everyday. This city is so interesting.
Other Paul, I think I would like to try the tex-mex restaurant in Ireland. I wonder if they serve mexican beer?
My grandfather was plant manager from 1957 to 1971.They
were know for the canned enchildas, refried beans, vegetables, and they also canned “Shasta” drinks. They also had an amry contract with them.
Let me know what else you would like to know… They great old days.
Thanks for the info Richard! Do you have any old pictures that could be scanned and we could post online?
Ashley’s was down the street on Montana from our bar the Pershing Inn..I was freinds with the Ashley kids & would go into the kitchen & get the best fresh refried beans & tacos! It was located in the 2800 or 2700 blk. Mr Ashley was a wonderful man…can’t remember when he sold it..but he sold it to Mountain Pass in Anthony…wow that was the past..btw this was in the 50′s while I was in grade school.
David,
I think Ashley’s was a direct competitor to Mountain Pass canning, which became Old El Paso..same products: red and green enchilada sauces, refried beans, etc. All before Mexican food was hip. That is why there are train tracks running up Sioux street. They were there to service the canning plant.
Actually, that area of Montana had quite a few really good restaurants during the 60s and 70s…
Ashley’s, the Caballero, Heinz’s. I think Smokey;s BBQ is about the only one still going after all of these years.I was told that the restaurant right behind Dick Poe’s was the fore runner of what became the Central Cafe, It was called Miguel’s and was quite popular. When they moved downtown, it became Miguel’s Central Cafe, then Cafe Central.
That area at the corner of Montana and Airways was a big commercial area as was all of Montana before I-10 was built. Montana and Alameda were the main thoroughfares through El Paso going east-west.
There was a FedMart where the Peter Piper is now, and I think that the Kmart used to be something else.. a Gibson’s maybe? When Ashley’s moved out, (went bankrupt I think) was about the time I-10 opened up, and pretty much all of the business on Montana started to change. Ever wonder why there were so many car dealers on Montana? Dick Poe, Mack Massey, Rudolph Chevrolet, Casa Ford all were on Montana because that was where the action was.
here is some more info about early El Paso Mexican food canning and restaurants:
http://www.sipes-houston.org/Short%20Stories/the_whole_enchilada.htm
Pictures of the Ashley Inc. Canning factory.
http://elpasotimes.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=480396&CategoryID=34683
I ALSO HAVE 9 PIECES OF ASHLEY’S ORIGINAL MEXICAN WARE WITH THE ASHLEY’S LOGO. MY GRAND FATHER WAS PLANT MANAGER WHO GAVE MY PARENTS IN THE MID 50′S A SET OF
ASHELY’S DISHES. I WISH I COULD FIND MORE OF THEM. ANYONE OUT THERE KNOW WHERE I COULD FIND SOME?
Tim, thanks for the research! The story on the “whole enchilada” was great and the pictures of the old canning factory were awesome. Thank you again!
Actually, the rail line wasn’t on Sioux St. by Dick Poe , but a little further down Montana where the current Sonic & Denny’s are now. The railroad still calls this Ashley, TX. If you go into Track One, they have an Ashley sign.
Track One is towards the top of my list for best hamburgers. I know a lot of people go there for the wings but I think the hamburgers are right up there with them.
Several people said Mountain Pass was bought out by Carnation-not true. It was bought by Pet, Inc which previously was Pet Milk.
Pet has been around for a long time…thanks for the info JR.
http://www.petmilk.com/history/Default.htm
I’m doing a project where I’m needing some vintage ads or logo’s from the Mountain Pass Canning company. Does anyone know where I might be able to find these at?
The El Paso City Forums might be able to help you find some pictures too. http://www.city-data.com/forum/el-paso/
I wonder if El Paso Mexican food was Ashley’s. When we lived in England during the 1950′s, my father had crates of Ashley’s Mexican food shipped to England. I remember the packaging and it looks so similar to Old El Paso Mexican food today. The Ashley packages came with canned tortilla’s, refried beans, sauce, canned tamales.
Also, remember the alligator pond in downtown El Paso and I believe the first Hilton hotel was in El Paso too. White stucco and red tile roof. Can’t remember the street though. I went to school at Ascarate Elementry School off of George Orr Rd.
crates of mexican food?? What food ingredients were sent in the crates…was it just dry goods?
wish i could find a recipe for the great queso ashley made. it was in a very small can and sold in the frozen food section of grocery store. all thes comments are sure making me lonesome for el paso.
I spent some time at “The Plant ” as my folks called it,as I’m great grandson of George Ashley founder of the rest. and canning factory. It was indeed a wonderous and delicious experience. No aligators though,just huge orange and white carp. we use to try an catch. Great memories!
I remember eating at Ashley’s when I was a child. My brother and I loved it, we always ‘fought’ over who would get to sit next to the pond. I always won, one of the advantages of being older. The other restaurant I loved going to as a child was Grigg’s (westside). It was quite a drive – out Mesa to crossroads then west – past the dairy.
Good to hear the nice stories about Ashley’s,boy I got some real fond and funny memories of growing up living in what seemed like a private hideaway at the time. Loved to wander all around the property which seemed to go on forever. From the main entrance on Montana to the RR tracks in back an from the warehouses to the west to the factories an rest. to east. Sad day when gram an gramp sold….
This is a question for Marvin Ashley Brisbin, please: Several years ago I purchased a house on San Jose Avenue and my neighbor told me it used to be the Ashley’s estate. I was told they had horses and build other houses for their employees. This must have been in the 1920s or 1930s. Does this mean anything to you? I want to find a photo of the house taken at that time. Thank you for your help.
Who was your gram and gramps that sold?
HI, I am From El Paso Texas, Mexican – American, U.S Army Vet. Food Service Section, 383rd. Q.M. Bn. during Operation Desert Shield/ Storm 1990-1992, we were Stationed in the middle of the Saudi Desert, Next to a large Saudi Air Force Base (KKMC). While getting rations we found a large local grocery store inside the Base. I was looking to get some goodies for me and and my fellow cooks. The last thing I expected to see was canned mexican food, like red chili sauce, refried beans, mexican rice, green chilis and even corn tortillas in the middle of the Saudi desert . All this from a company named Ashely’s from El Paso Tx. my home town. I was so happy to see products like this so far from home ,that I bought every last can they have and ask the manager to orde me more canned goods. During the next few months we managed to survice on t-rations, mre’s and ashely’s mexican food. Thank you for what your gram and grampapa did. I wrote to the company and had all my fellow soldiers sign the letter.
Hi there,
I am part of a UK marketing team working on the Old El Paso brand. We are really interested in finding out more about the heritage of the brand and the original factory – and we came across this page. I have read a lot of interesting information from you all about the Ashley’s factory, but does anyone have any facts or pictures about the Mountain Pass Canning company, which I understand was Old El Paso’s first base of operations. If anyone had any contacts for people who used to work there (I know it was a long time ago!) that would be particularly useful.
Many thanks!
Christine
By coincidence, I was visiting my 93 year old mother today and she gave me an old Mountain Pass Mexican Foods Recipe brochure from the Mountain Pass Canning Co. I looked up Mountain Pass Canning Co and found your request. If you provide me an email address, I will send you a scan of this recipe brochure.
Frank
Thank you very much for your reply, I would love to see the brochure. It will be fascinating to see what recipes they used to make and what their old publications looked like.
My email is christine@thecollaborators.com
Thanks for your kindness,
Christine
This is a question for Marvin Ashley Brisbin, please: Several years ago I purchased a house on San Jose Avenue and my neighbor told me it used to be the Ashley’s estate. I was told they had horses and build other houses for their employees. This must have been in the 1920s or 1930s. Does this mean anything to you? I want to find a photo of the house taken at that time. Thank you for your help.
Question’ss for Marvin Ashley Brisbin:
I remember my grandfather mentioning ” Russell” . Was Russell an Ashley? My grandfather was the plant manager from 1957 to 1971. His boss was Bob Lester who died of cancer in the early 60′s. My grand father was Joe Schinko.
Do you have any pictures of the old ” plant” as my grandfather would call it? Those were grand days in the late 50′s and early 60′s. My grandparents lived on Aztec behind the plant.
He have my parents a set of Ashley’s dinner ware with the old Ashley’s logo.
I remember the Shasta canned drinks, the fresh tortilla chips, and the frest vegetables that came from the New Mexico valley.
I would like to chat about the Ashley’s. Are the Ashley’s still in the El Paso area?
I hope to hear from you.
Hi Rick L…..sorry it took so long but just now saw your post. Russell Case was my grandfather,married into the Ashley clan via Margorie Ashley. He was a manager of some sort as I recall playing in his office near the RR tracks an warehouses…Grandma was the top secretary. An yes there are still roots in town.Details to follow if you copy. Good day to you….find me on facebook!
Thanks Marvin for the information. I just always remember my
grandfater mentioning his name from time to time when I was a
little boy. I was born in 1952, my first experience of the plant was
in 1957. Where Bassett Center is or was, it was just a desert. I remember
collecting cool rocks back behind my grandparents house on Aztec.
Do you have any relatives around our age, maybe younger with the first
name ” Kent”? I will try to find you on facebook. Great hearing back from you.
I lived in El Paso from 1938 to 1956. When I went to prep school in MA in 1951 my parents would send me canned tortillas from Ashley’s, a great place to eat.