Many of us grew up eating Chef Boyardee pasta products. The image of the Italian chef on the ravioli cans has become a familiar sight to several decades of youth. However, what many people don’t realize is that the chef pictured on the cans – unlike other stereotyped brand mascots such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben – was a real person who had a presence in Milton, Pa.

Hector Boiardi (nee Ettore Boiardi) started the Chef Boyardee brand with brothers Mario and Paul in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1938, production moved to Milton where the canned and boxed Italian meals are still produced today. It is Hector's image that appears on the pasta packaging.