# Link to 'why is elsie the cow on the bottle of glue' needed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785 "2003-12-18T16:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/1 "2003-12-18T16:38:28Z")
The hampster’s hate me. I can’t find this classic Cecilian ( Cecilonian?) article about why a cow is the mascot for a bottle of Elmers’ glue. A fast browsing of all my Holy SD books is not helping either. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/2 "2003-12-18T17:20:26Z")
Apart from a link - the original formulation for Elmer’s glue was a casein glue (it no longer uses this formulation). Casein is a byproduct of dairy processing. Which is why Borden got into the glue business, and put a cow on the label of their glue. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/3 "2003-12-18T18:00:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Link to ‘why is elsie the cow on the bottle of glue’ needed And when you’re done with that, my car needs washing and the laundry needs to be folded and put away. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/4 "2003-12-18T18:53:34Z")
I can find nothing in the Archives and nothing in the index of the books, themselves, (searching on “Borden,” “Elmer,” “Elsie,” “glue,” and “paste”). I also checked Paniti, on the off chance that he had covered it and found nothing. On the other hand, I did find a web site that provides [The Story of Elsie, the Borden Cow](http://www.elsie.com/about_elsie/body.html) which includes the stories of Elmer and Beulah. (It is Elmer, of course, “who” appears on Borden’s _Elmer’s Paste_ and _Elmer’s Glue_, as he was loaned to the Borden Chemical Division for that purpose.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/5 "2003-12-18T19:17:30Z")
Incidently, I answered this quickly and offhandedly because I did the research once before when somebody wondered if Elmer’s was “made from cows”. One interesting thing that turned up - a grade school exercise on making your own white glue: [http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/students/us/clubs/KTK/Glue/Index.htm](http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/students/us/clubs/KTK/Glue/Index.htm) That would probably be pretty close to the original Elmer’s. The modern formulation is a PVA glue. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/6 "2003-12-18T20:25:10Z")
Of course, I also stumbled across this item on the web: [The Borden’s Split](http://www.foxbghsuit.com/usenet01.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-to-why-is-elsie-the-cow-on-the-bottle-of-glue-needed/219785/7 "2003-12-19T00:36:36Z")
Thanks **Tom**. Am I imagining it, or wasn’t there an article about Elsie the cow and glue by Cecil in either the books or web?