ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — “If it’s Borden, it’s got to be good.”

Most people recognize that famous slogan and also its equally as famous mascot, “Elsie the Cow”, one of the top ten most recognized advertising icons of all time.

Elsie and her handler, Steve Bradley and his dad, Bob Bradley, made a rest stop in Robertsdale on Sunday night at the Baldwin County Coliseum and Fairgrounds on the way to Lakeland, Fl for an event.

The father and son team drove from Texas and have a full-time job taking Elsie, the five year old Jersey cow, to about 293 event dates throughout the year all over the United States. Elsie rides in style in her custom trailer and gets the star treatment wherever she goes.

“She is very used to crowds and kids coming up to her and petting her. She handles it all very well., “ Bob Bradley said, who is retired and is in his first year of helping his son with Elsie.

“I live in Clovis, New Mexico and Steve called me and asked if I wanted to help him in Houston for a month and since I had time, I said sure and have been on the road with him ever since. I really enjoy spending time with him and Elsie.” Bob Bradley said.

Being with the Borden company for 14 years, Steve Bradley, who lives in Krum, Texas, said he really enjoys being Elsie’s trainer and has been with her two years. “The last Elsie I had was with me for 11 years and we got to know each other so well, we could predict each other’s movements. This is the 33rd Elsie since they had the first one in 1939.”

Seeing 11 million people annually, Elsie is descended from the original Elsie or as close as you can get, Bradley said, and gained her fame in 1938 as a carbon character with a series of radio, magazine, billboard and newspaper advertisements.

According to the Borden website, Gail Borden received a patent for his milk condensing machine in 1856 and used a “vacuum pan” to keep milk pure and able to travel long distances. In 1857, the Borden company was founded in New York and in the early 1900’s, Borden’s methods became the basis for many modern health department regulations concerning milk.

Some other “Elsie” facts are:

-1939, New York City World’s Fair featured Borden’s “Rotolactor” where multiple cows could be milked at one time and everyone wanted to know which cow was Elsie

-1940, The real “Elsie” made her movie debut with her husband Elmer, of Elmer’s Glue fame.

-1942, Elsie began touring the country with her daughter Beulah promoting the sale of War Bonds

1947, Elsie and Elmer have Beauregard, a male bull, who was born in Macy’s Department Store in NYC

1950’s-60’s, Elsie continues her tour with twins Larabee and Labelia in 1957 and continues to star in movies and goes to Disney World

-1999, Elsie celebrates her 60th birthday with a party in NYC

Some unique “cow” facts are:

-Cow’s udder can hold 25-50 pounds of milk at a time and gave give 200,000 glasses of milk over a lifetime

-Have four stomachs and eat 90 pounds of food a day and can produce up to 100 glasses of milk a day depending on the kind of food it eats.

-Before milking machines were invented in 1894, farmers could only milk about six cows per hour. Today, machines can be used to milk more than 100 cows per hour.

To learn more about Elsie or the Borden company, go to www.bordenonline.com