Mabel White Holmes

Mabel White Holmes ( – November 1977) was the inventor of Jiffy baking mixes, and president of the Chelsea Milling Company.

Early life Born December 1, 1890, in Mattoon, Illinois, to mill owner E. K. White, Holmes was involved in the mill and flour industry from a young age. She graduated Chelsea High School in 1907 and then went on to pursue higher education at Eastern Michigan University, then known as Ypsilanti Normal College. Prior to her marriage to Howard S. Holmes and subsequent development of Jiffy Mix, Holmes was a school teacher in Illinois.

Holmes' father, E. K. White, had founded a flour mill in 1887, which was incorporated as the Chelsea Milling Company in 1901. In 1908, White sold the company to Mabel's father-in-law, Harmon Holmes. Mabel's husband, Howard Holmes, ran the company until his death in 1936, after which she became company president. Holmes was active in the business until the early 1940s.

In the twenty-first century Jiffy has branched out to include mixes for many baked goods, from biscuits to pizza dough, although their staple item is still the corn muffin mix.

Holmes was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2015.

Her grandson, Howdy Holmes, a former Indianapolis 500 and CART driver, became the current CEO of the Chelsea Milling Company in 1995.