Graniteeth "Bite in the Bird" Advertising Mask + Original Foldout (c 1956-1958)

Georgia Marble Co. / Dorsey Grain Co. Agricultural Promotion — Lithonia, GA & Fort Worth, TX

One of the more surreal crossovers between farm marketing and pop-culture graphics of the mid-century era. This brightly printed die-cut chicken-head mask was distributed by the Georgia Consolidated Products Company (a division of The Georgia Marble Co.) to advertise Graniteeth Brand Granite Grit, a mineral supplement used in poultry feed. The accompanying foldout brochure — vividly hex-patterned and slogan-heavy — announced “It puts the BITE in the bird!”

The mask served double duty: attention-grabbing trade-show giveaway and lighthearted mailer insert to feed dealers across the rural South. Few survived; most were tacked to mill walls or discarded after county-fair promotions. Surviving pairs (mask + brochure) are virtually unknown outside advertising-ephemera circles.

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Manufacturer / Distributor:
Graniteeth Brand was produced by Georgia Consolidated Products, Inc., Lithonia, Georgia — part of the Georgia Marble Company’s “Consolidated Quarries Division.”
Distributed through Dorsey Grain Co., Fort Worth 7, Texas.

Date Range: ca. 1956–1958, based on postal zones (“Fort Worth 7”) and mid-century type design.

Purpose: Promote crushed-granite “grit” for egg-laying hens. The cartoon mascot embodied the tagline “puts the bite in the bird,” symbolizing strength and calcium density.

Design: Full-color lithography on lightweight cardstock, die-cut with eye holes and string slots. Back printed with product text and Decatur, GA address.

Advertising Brochure: 8-panel foldout explaining how granite grit improves shell strength and feed efficiency, peppered with trade-fair graphics, product shots, and the same toothy rooster.

This campaign reflects post-war optimism in the U.S. farm-supply industry: industrial materials (marble, granite, lime) re-imagined as miracle science for poultry production. The Georgia Marble Company—famous for quarrying building stone for the Lincoln Memorial and numerous courthouses—used Graniteeth to diversify into agricultural minerals as mechanized farming boomed in the Southeast.

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Mask: Lithographed cardstock, approx. 10 × 8 inches

Brochure: Full-color offset foldout, 11 × 17 inches opened

Origin: Lithonia & Decatur, Georgia / Fort Worth, Texas

Condition: Excellent for age—minor edge wear, slight fold toning, mask string replaced; brochure bright and fully legible.

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Though whimsical in design, this piece captures the industrialization of the American farm—when chemical and mineral science were packaged in cartoon form to reassure feed dealers that progress was fun, safe, and profitable. The grinning rooster—with his absurdly human teeth—embodies the period’s mix of humor, confidence, and advertising absurdity.