Produced by the Dallas-based Jamieson Film Company, this industrial film gives a behind-the-scenes look into the Imperial Sugar Company. The film begins with a brief history of American sugar production, identifying the company’s origin as the Oakland Sugar Plantation. The narrator then delves into the life of an Imperial sugar granule, from sugar cane in Puerto Rico to table sugar in Texas. The film concludes with a psychedelic music video about the prevalence of sugar in all types of food and everyday items.
The city of Sugar Land now occupies the site that was once the Oakland Plantation. It was there that in 1843 Samuel May Williams installed a commercial sugar-grinding mill on his land, leading to a rapid shift from cotton to sugar cane as the area's dominant crop. In 1905, the area's sugar plantations were acquired by the Kempner family, who dubbed their company the Imperial Sugar Company. Though sugar has not been refined at the original plant since 2003, the company's headquarters remains in Sugar Land, making it the oldest extant business in Texas.