| Birth: | Mar. 29, 1859 | | Death: | Mar. 11, 1955 | 
Business Magnate. Oscar F. Mayer was born in the Bavaria section of Germany. In 1873, at the age of 14, the family grocery business failed, and Oscar came to the United States with his cousin. Settling in Detroit, he answered an ad and took a job as an apprentice with George Weber's Retail Meat Market. He stayed there for three years until 1876, when the he moved to Chicago to work at the Kohlhammer meat market, and also at the Armour meat packing company (located in the stockyards). In 1883, Oscar and brother Gottfried rented the Kolling Meat Market on Sedgwick Street, in the North side of Chicago. Gottfreid had established himself in Nurnberg, Germany as a wurstmacher (sausage maker) and ham curer. The business became so successful that, in 1888, the landlord refused to renew their rent so that he could foreclose and operate the business himself. He failed within a year. The brothers re-opened two blocks away in a larger building they had built, with living quarters above the storefront. The store opened as "Oscar Mayer and Brother Company", specializing in sausages. They employed another brother, Max, as well as salesmen and delivery agents to serve the entire city of Chicago and suburbs. Oscar sponsored several polka bands in and around Chicago, and in 1893, he sponsored the German exposition at the Chicago World‚s Fair. By 1900, they had 43 employees. Oscar Mayer became the first company to identify their sausages with a brand name. Other meat packers remained anonymous. In 1909, Oscar's son, Oscar G. Mayer, joined the company after graduating from Harvard. Ten years later, the company expanded again by acquiring a meatpacking plant in Madison, Wisconsin, and incorporated as Oscar Mayer & Company. Ten years after that, the company patented sliced bacon as a product line, and also adopted the trademark yellow paper ring wrapper around its products. The company offices relocated to Madison in 1919, but maintained a plant in Chicago, where Oscar continued to live. Oscar was an early and innovative user of advertising in the meat business. He became the first meat packer to use newspaper advertisements, and also color newspaper advertisements. The first Wienermobile came in 1936, and the Wiener Whistle in 1951. Television advertising began in 1950. All proved to be valuable marketing tools. Mayer remained active in the company until his death on March 11, 1955, serving as chairman of the board until the end. He died shortly before his ninety-sixth birthday.
Family links:
Spouse:
Louise Christine Greiner Mayer (1864 - 1931)*
Children:
Oscar Gottfried Mayer (1888 - 1965)*
Oscar Gottfried Mayer (1888 - 1965)*
Frieda Mayer Collins (1889 - 1965)*
Louise Emily Mayer Schein (1891 - 1927)*
Helen Mayer Medgyesy (1900 - 1982)*
*Calculated relationship
Search Amazon for Oscar Mayer | | | Burial:
Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum
Chicago
Cook County
Illinois, USA
Plot: Section 15 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 712 |
|
|
|
Do you have a photo to add? Click here |
(4.6 after 138 votes)
