Great Western United Corporation was a short-lived American holding company formed in January 1968 through the merger of the Great Western Sugar Company and the Colorado Milling and Elevator Company. The company operated subsidiaries including Great Western Sugar, the largest processor of beet sugar in the United States at the time, along with Great Western Cities and Shakey’s Incorporated. Hunt International Resources acquired Great Western in late 1974. [1] [2]
Design and History
Documentation of a distinct corporate logo for Great Western United Corporation is limited. The Colorado State University Libraries archive holds a folder titled “Logos, undated” within its Great Western Sugar Company and Great Western United Corporation records, indicating that logo materials exist within the corporate archive but are not individually cataloged or described online. [3]
Visual evidence from the company’s consumer products points to the continued use of the Great Western Sugar brand mark. A cotton sugar bag in the Estes Park Museum collection, described as a 5-pound bag of Great Western Fine Granulated Pure Sugar, features a red “w with a circle around it” logo printed beneath the product name. [4] A photograph in the Loveland Museum collection similarly shows Great Western sugar bags with the company logo visible on the packaging. [5]
The Purdue University Libraries annual report repository confirms that Great Western United Corporation issued annual reports to shareholders from 1968 through 1975, though the repository record does not describe the covers or any logo treatment used on them. [6]
Meaning and Symbolism
No primary source documentation has been located that describes the intended meaning or symbolism of any Great Western United Corporation logo. The red circled “W” mark documented on Great Western sugar packaging is associated with the Great Western Sugar Company brand rather than the parent holding corporation, and no source explains its design rationale.
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
