OSCAR MAYER
CORPORATE TIMELINE
1873
Oscar F. Mayer, a 14-year old immigrant from the region of Bavaria, Germany
arrives in the United States and obtains work as a helper in a Detroit, Michigan
butcher shop.
1883
Oscar F. Mayer leases a failing Chicago, Illinois meat market and, with the help of
his brothers Gottfried and Max, makes it a success within five years.
1888
Oscar F. and brother Gottfried borrow money to open another meat store on
Sedgwick Avenue in Chicago when they lose their lease.
1900
The company now has 50 employees.
1906
The company voluntarily joins a new federal meat inspection program and is one of
the first meat packers to obtain the Federal Meat Inspection stamp of approval.
1909
Oscar G. Mayer, son of Oscar F., joins the business.
1911
Oscar F. Mayer & Bro. is incorporated.
1913
Sales top $2.7 million.
1915
The company makes its first major expenditure for advertising - $2000 for window
display materials.
1919
Oscar G. Mayer locates and arranges for the purchase of a slaughtering plant in
Madison, Wisconsin, to provide a source of raw material for their processed meats.
The company’s name changes to Oscar Mayer & Co.
1925
Sales reach $13.5 million.
1929
Oscar Mayer & Co. begins manually banding its wieners with a yellow paper band
bearing the company name, the industry’s first effective branding device for
wieners.
Oscar Mayer & Co. also begins use of the U.S. government inspection stamp to help
differentiate its products from that of other meat processors.
1941
Production at both the Chicago and Madison plants is directed to the war effort and
Lend Lease program.
A research division is established.
1942
A quality control department is created.
1944
Oscar Mayer & Co. engineers create the automatic wiener bander. As a result, the
company’s first subsidiary, The Kartridg Pak Company of Davenport, Iowa — a
machine-manufacturing entity — is established.
Oscar Mayer & Co. is the first meat company to run a full-color newspaper
advertisement. The Chicago Tribune advertisement highlights the new automatic
wiener bander.
Sales top $102 million.
Courtesy of Kraft Foods Archives—January 2012
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1946
The company leases (and later acquires) the Kohrs Packing Company in Davenport,
Iowa.
There are now 3,400 employees.
1948
F.G. Vogt & Sons, Inc., a Philadelphia meat processor, plant is acquired.
The now-familiar red rhomboid-shaped Oscar Mayer Logo is created.
1950
Oscar Mayer & Co. sponsors its first television show, a local Philadelphia broadcast.
1951
Oscar Mayer & Co. acquires the Southern California Meat Packers plant in Los
Angeles, California.
1955
Oscar F. Mayer dies at age 95.
Oscar Mayer & Co. moves its corporate offices from Chicago, Illinois to Madison,
Wisconsin.
1959
Oscar Mayer & Co. wins 100 percent approval from the American Humane
Association for improvements in its slaughter program.
1960
Sales top $260 million.
1962
A continuous wiener process machine, producing 36,000 wieners an hour, debuts at
the Madison, Wisconsin plant.
1964
Property is purchased in Davenport, Iowa to consolidate the manufacturing,
engineering, sales and other departments of The Kartridg Pak Company.
1965
Oscar G. Mayer dies at age 76.
Oscar Mayer & Co. advertises on national television for the first time, sponsoring
the Captain Kangaroo children’s program, and other CBS and ABC daytime
programs.
A hog slaughtering plant in Perry, Iowa is purchased.
1966
Oscar Mayer & Co. sells 50% of The Kartridg Pak Company to Dow Chemical
Company.
1967
Construction of a pork processing plant in Beardstown, Illinois is completed.
1968
Oscar Mayer & Co. purchases a processing plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from
the Morrell-Felin Company.
Total output of Oscar Mayer & Co. products exceeds one billion pounds for the first
time.
Oscar Mayer & Co. begins prime-time (evening) television advertising, cosponsoring the “Gentle Ben” series.
The Madison plant’s 45-year-old ice division is sold.
1969
Oscar Mayer & Co. develops advertising specifically geared towards the Foodservice
Industry.
Courtesy of Kraft Foods Archives—January 2012
Page 2 of 3
1970
Stockholders vote to change the company's state of incorporation to Delaware
(from Illinois), and to increase the authorized stock by 1,000,000 shares of
common stock and 500,000 shares of preferred stock.
The Claussen Pickle Co., Inc. of Chicago, Illinois (established in 1870) is purchased
by Oscar Mayer & Co. in July.
1971
Oscar Mayer & Co.’s common stock, previously offered only in the over-the-counter
market, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 12.
Oscar Mayer & Co. becomes the first major meat processor to use open dating on
packages so consumers can be aware of when the product has passed its peak of
freshness.
Oscar Mayer branded restaurants open in Disneyland and Disney World.
1973
Oscar Mayer & Co. is the first meat processor to adopt the Universal Product Code
(UPC) on meat products labels. The company also began incorporating nutritional
information on its product labels.
1975
Annual sales reach $1 billion for the first time.
1976
A new meat processing plant is opened in Sherman, Texas and a new plant is
constructed in Waunakee, Wisconsin, for the production of heparin and similar
products by Scientific Protein Laboratories, Inc.
Oscar Mayer’s long-standing effort to advertise only on family-type television shows
results in a citation from the National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting. The
company is listed as one of the ten companies that sponsored television shows with
the least amount of violence.
1979
Oscar Mayer & Co. acquires Louis Rich, Inc. of West Liberty, Iowa (established in
1921) in December.
Foodservice sales account for 11% of Oscar Mayer’s total sales.
1981
Oscar Mayer now employs 14,500 people worldwide.
On May 5, General Foods Corporation acquires Oscar Mayer & Co. Inc. for
approximately $470 million. General Foods changes the name to Oscar Mayer
Foods Corp.
Courtesy of Kraft Foods Archives—January 2012
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