By Andy Rhodes, Managing Editor, The Medallion
The Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Texas Treasure Business Award’s (TTBA) highest-profile recipients are recognizable brands in Texas–like HEB, Whataburger, and Bill Miller BBQ. All started as small businesses that grew to become popular franchises.
Most other TTBA recipients are significant in their local communities, but not household names. However, a small business 20 miles southeast of Lubbock fits both categories.
Slaton Bakery, which occupies a modest storefront in quiet downtown Slaton, produces half a million bags of beloved vanilla wafers each year. The tasty cookies, found on HEB and United Supermarkets shelves across the state, originate from the bakery, which retains its 102-year-old roots as a local business that still churns out buttermilk chess pies, jelly johns, and loaves of bread.
Balancing these business aspects is a privilege for Chad Wilson, the bakery’s third-generation operator and “chief cookie officer.” He says the TTBA distinction is a valuable attribute to Slaton Bakery’s proud legacy.
“It's awesome–definitely a privilege and an honor,” he says. “When your family puts generations of blood, sweat, and tears into building something, it's real cool to be recognized.”
Wilson credits his parents with taking the bakery to the next level by modernizing business practices and increasing efficiency with updated equipment and pastry-making methods resulting in higher volumes and reasonable prices.
“They pretty much taught me everything I know,” Wilson says. “My earliest memories are of this bakery. As soon as I could reach the sink, I was learning how to wash dishes. And I'd sleep on the flour sacks until it was time for grandma and granddad to come get me.”
He adds, “It’s just part of my identity.”
Slaton Bakery started in 1923 and changed hands frequently during its early years before Wilson’s grandparents, Barney and Ola Mae Wilson–who met and worked at the bakery–purchased the business in 1943. One of their early claims to fame, noted on the THC marker in front of the building, was introducing sliced hamburger and hotdog buns to the region.
Barney Wilson was also innovative with cake design and pastry concoctions. Chad notes that one of the bakery’s most popular items in the mid-1900s was a pineapple-flavored filling derived from squash. It became a sensation locally, but Barney was fiercely protective of his recipe so he never shared it with the public or even his family.
“He took it to the grave with him,” Wilson says.
During the bakery’s centennial celebration in 2023, Chad’s father Sherrell Wilson held a meeting and expressed interest in somehow reviving the traditional treat. According to Chad, that night, Sherrell had a dream that his father visited him and shared the squash-based secret recipe. The next day, he noticed his father hovering over the stove––later, he approached Chad with a spoonful of pale yellow filling.
“It tasted just like pineapple,” Chad recalls with a smile.
These days, Slaton Bakery is perhaps best known for its vanilla wafers. Nearly two decades ago, Wilson and his father noticed there were a few customers who went to great lengths to procure the cookies––driving as far as two hours to Slaton to buy the entire stock. Eventually, they asked the customers why they made such a tremendous effort, and they responded that the cookies were of such high quality that it was worth making the several-hour trip.
Wilson and his father decided to inquire about producing the cookies at a higher volume. They worked with United Supermarkets to distribute the cookies in West Texas and the Panhandle, which eventually led to HEB taking notice and inviting Slaton Bakery to enter its 2015 Quest for Texas Best contest. The vanilla wafers won, and the Wilsons accelerated their already-bustling cookie production by expanding operations in a nearby facility that had recently hit the market––a Church of Christ building.
“It’s a bit cheesy, but we like to say that our cookies are heavenly because of that,” Wilson says. “We’re just glad that people enjoy them so much. They’re helping keep our business running while honoring our family’s legacy.”