February 28, 1951

The Atkins Pickle Company was purchased by a group headed by E. G. Watkins of Little Rock (Pulaski County) and his wife; Robert Switzer was hired as chemist. He created many of the products that were important for the company’s growth, developing pickled baby tomatoes, called “Tomolives,” and formulating the improved taste and crispness of fresh-pack sweet and dill pickles. Atkins Pickle Company was the major industry in the town of Atkins (Pope County) for more than fifty years, and its legacy survives in the annual Picklefest celebration that began in 1992. Since 2004, the building that housed the pickle plant has housed Atkins Prepared Foods, which processes chicken.