Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry

A gift in good taste since 1951! Sphinx Date Co. first became a vision of our founders when Roy Franklin was said to have discovered a Black Sphinx seedling in a Phoenix neighborhood in the 1920s. Franklin discovered the tree in someone’s front yard, and recognized it as a new or unknown variety, grown from a seedling rather than an off-shoot. Date palms from seedlings, common in Mexico or Baja California, do not produce good quality dates. Franklin interested Ellen Amelia Goodbody Brophy, a prominent Old West landowner and philanthropist, in the idea; multiple acres were planted on her property in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix to become the original Sphinx Date Ranch. Ellen died in 1934, and her son Frank Cullen Brophy and Ed Peterson took over date operation with Roy Franklin in an effort to grow dates commercially. Frank Cullen Brophy thought up the name "Sphinx" because of its mystery origins. Date trees were initially imported into Arizona from the Middle East in the early 1900s. Throughout the 1940s various tactics were employed to bring awareness to the new date variety. Sugar rationing had begun in 1942 during World War II and dates were growing in popularity as a deliciously sweet alternative to candy, boosting Arizona's date industry. Sphinx Date Ranch began wholesaling to Harry and David and offered screening packages specially labeled for their 10 best customers.  An attempt to can the dates at a Mormon co-op canning factory in Tempe was unsuccessful; however, batches did sell because of the novelty. Eventually, the Sphinx team experimented with date candy, bread, citrus rind candy and finally the date shop and a luncheon patio business was opened in the early 1950s. With the opening of the shop on the Ranch, the business thrived as a unique Arizona experience for high society serving many famous celebrities and families. Ladies staying at Elizabeth Arden's Maine Chance often came to the Sphinx Date Ranch patio for luncheons, including celebrities like Lillian Gish. In 1957, date gift packs were sent to President Ike Eisenhower and members of the U.S. Congress. In the late 1950s the cost to maintain the date groves had brought the business into considerable debt, owners made the decision to divide the property into residential lots, named Montgrove Arcadia. The packing plant and store were demolished to make way for condominiums, moving the store to merge with a neighboring date farm on Camelback Road across from the Royal Palms Resort in the late 1960s. Sphinx Date Ranch continued sending date gifts all over the country via mail order and a catalog brochure. At this time, many of the date farms in Arizona were dividing groves to make way for residential properties. Further, too much rain in the Valley was causing spoilage. Farming operations began moving away from the city towards Yuma and California where there were better growing conditions. Around the same time, a new variety imported from Morocco was quickly becoming the farmer and fan favorite. The Medjool date is of large size, attractive appearance and ripens so that a relatively few pickings would be necessary to obtain high quality. New Sphinx business owners, the Luckeys, continued on as an exclusive vendor at various local resorts. The majority of the business at this time was mail order with operations closing during the summer. The Luckeys now brought in Medjool dates from the Yuma area and still offered Black Sphinx dates from the original property. Some of the famous customers said to frequently order from Sphinx included Bing Crosby, a princess from Yugoslavia, Lady Bird Johnson and the Johnson & Johnson family. The Luckeys found themselves needing more space than the current farm stand and moved the store to a larger location in Scottsdale in the late 1970s. Rick and Penny Heetland, who had owned an ice cream shop next to the Sphinx Date Ranch purchased the Sphinx Date Ranch shop from the Luckeys in 1979. Opening up multiple more store