
RORY: The other night when we were watching Julia, and Jane Fonda was playing Lillian Hellman.
LORELAI: Oh yeah, and I made the Hellmann’s mayonnaise joke.
Hellman’s is an American brand name for a line of condiments, owned by the British company Unilever since 2000. They are sold as Hellman’s east of the Rocky Mountains in the US, and around the world, and as Best Foods west of the Rocky Mountains and in Asia/Oceania.
The company was begun by Prussian immigrant Richard Hellman, who opened his first factory in New York City in 1913 to make Hellman’s Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise. It was voted the best mayonnaise in the US in 1920.