Nina Robertson's puff pastries, made at her Lynn factory, caused heads to turn and mouths to water earlier this month at the 47th annual Summer Fancy Food Show in Manhattan.

In fact, her Good Wives Seafood Thermidor Puff Pastries, which are frozen, handmade cocktail pastries, won in the snack food or hors d'oeuvre category.

It was no small accomplishment, considering the show, held over three days at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, attracts 2,300 exhibitors, who show off both domestic and international products, and 24,000 visitors.

The story of Robertson's success dates to 1979, when she began making the hors d'oeuvres in her Marblehead home.

"There was a Greek woman who had two recipes that she was selling to five or six customers, including Nandee's Restaurant in Lynn,: said Robertson, who today runs Good Wives, Inc. with her husband, Bruce, from spacious first-floor quarters in the Sontz Building on Sanderson Avenue.

"She was moving to Philadelphia, so we took it over and worked out of my kitchen."

Robertson's partner at the time was Dale Coxe and the pair started with the two items: spanakopita (spinach, spices, feta and cream cheeses) and tiropita (tangy feta cheese). The spanakopita is still the company's No. 1 seller among more than 60 items.

The company soon outgrew Robertson's kitchen, which had already been expanded and modernized to accommodate the business and its handful of employees.

When Coxe left the company, Robertson briefly was the sole proprietor, but soon took her mother, Marissa Coogan, as a business partner. They moved into a former restaurant on Spring Street in Marblehead in the mid-1980s and stayed there until the move to Lynn about 10 years later.

It was Coogan who spotted the space-for-rent sign posted on the Sontz building and figured it was worth investigating. They decided to make the move. By then, Robertson's husband had already left his job as an accountant at GTE Sylvania in Danvers and joined the company.

"We looked in Peabody and Salem. We wanted to stay local," she said. "We have good workers and a handmade product with a lot of labor involved."

The company ships its gourmet products directly from Lynn to distributors nationwide. Forty percent of its sales are made during the last quarter of the year — parties, weddings and Christmas events.

At last count, Good Wives had about 60 employees, mostly Lynn residents.

Robertson said she is often asked about the derivation of the company name, especially in the age of political correctness. She explained that it's a reflection of Marblehead's Colonial tradition, adding that the term "Good Wife" was applied to a Puritan woman. "It implied industriousness and integrity," she said.

Robertson said the retail products generate 20-25 percent of the business, the remainder from sales to hotels, caterers, restaurants and banquet facilities.

"Basically, we sell party food," she said. "It's very rewarding. I've always enjoyed cooking and I enjoy eating as well."

Specialty foods represent $25 billion in annual sales, according to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.

The New York summer show is the nation's largest showcase of specialty foods.