Deaths: Charles Sanna and Swiss Miss Cocoa-- Part 3: Name From Laurel and Hardy Film

The airlines eventually cancelled their contracts as the mix was expensive, so Charles returned too the kitchen and reworked the recipe, again with the help of his children. He replaced the whole milk with powdered skim milk which was cheaper and gave the cocoa mix a longer shelf life.

The new product was named Swiss Miss, the title of a film by Laurel and Hardy.  It was marketed with mail-order Swiss Miss dolls and inspired similar mixes by Carnation, Nestle and Hershey.  It was a hit.

To say the least, it was a hit even in Antarctica

Charles Sanna retired and Sanna Dairy was sold to Beatrice Foods in 1967.  Since 1990, Swiss Miss has been a part of Conagra, which says it sells more than 50 million boxes of it each year.

--Cooter