As consumers, we are so accustomed to spin doctor's images on products like Quaker Oats, Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima, that we often find it hard to believe when a product is named after the real inventor. For years, the rumor has circulated around the Internet, that the famed, canned pasta purveyed by Chef Boyardee, was also an ad man's concept, drawn from the names of three men who founded the company, Boyd, Art and Dennis.

But it wasn't true. And it's hard to believe the rumor even got started, since another famous television ad campaign of nearly 40 years ago, featured the beginnings of the real story, which started with a very young Hector Boiardi.

Hector, who was born in northern Italy in 1898, was interested in his mother's cooking even as a toddler, and was reputed to have been working in restaurant kitchens at the age of 11. When he was 17, he immigrated to America, joining his brother who worked at the distinguished Plaza Hotel. His brother's position opened the kitchen door to Hector, who then began creating his own dishes.

After working his wonders in a number of high class hotels, Boiardi opened his own restaurant in Cleveland. One of his specialties was rich, thick tomato sauce that had patrons asking for a little extra to take home. Boiardi soon began distributing milk bottles of the stuff, and when the demand kept growing, he used the loft next door to produce it, along with packages of pasta and his famous cheese.

Boiardi eventually gave up the restaurant for the greener pastures of grocery making, and changed the name to an easier spelling- Boyardee. He was making pasta full-time, even after his company merged with American Home Foods, for whom he worked until his death in 1985.