4 Young Oscar No ball game or barbecue would be the same without an Oscar Mayer hot dog But who is to thank for these fantastic franks Oscar Mayer is more than a brand He was the man behind one of the most successful meat companies in the United States Oscar F Mayer was born in the German state of Bavaria on March 29 1859 His mother was Wilhelmina Wagner His father was Ferdinand Mayer Oscar had two brothers Gottfried and Max When Oscar was 11 years old Ferdinand died Oscar left school and went to work to help support his family Oscar’s cousin John Schroll owned a grocery store in the Bavarian city of Munich Oscar worked there for the next three years Then in 1873 Schroll closed the store He thought there was more opportunity in the United States and decided to move his family there Fourteen-year-old Oscar asked his mother for permission to go with his cousin Wilhelmina agreed Oscar F Mayer Hot Dog Manufacturer
With Oscar in tow the Schroll family settled in Detroit Michigan Oscar soon found a job at a butcher shop In 1876 he accompanied the Schrolls when they moved to Chicago Illinois Schroll opened a drugstore there Oscar took a job working as an apprentice at a meatpacking business called Armour Company Munich where Oscar’s cousin owned a grocery store is the capital of Bavaria 5
Getting Started Armour Company was an important business in Chicago It was known for its unique butchering methods Unlike other meatpacking companies it did not throw away any parts of the animal This helped shape meatpacking industry practices in the United States at the time Mayer learned a lot during his time at Armour Company He began developing ideas for starting his own meat business In 1880 Mayer shared his ideas with his younger brother Gottfried who was back in Germany Oscar also asked Gottfried to begin studying sausage making Sausages are a traditional German food Gottfried studied the sausage-making process He also learned how to cure ham Meanwhile Oscar began saving money for his dream By 1883 Oscar had saved enough money to start his own business He rented a failing meat market and sausage-making shop called Kolling Meat Market It was located in a German neighborhood in Chicago At the time about 25 percent of people in Chicago were German The Mayers catered to their tastes 6 Oscar F Mayer Hot Dog Manufacturer
Armour Company played a role in helping Chicago become the center of the US meatpacking industry Meanwhile Gottfried and Max had moved to Chicago to live and work with their brother Mayer named his shop Oscar Mayer and Brothers Company The brothers specialties were wieners and sausages Germans who lived in the neighborhood loved Gottfried’s sausages They reminded them of the traditional foods they ate in Germany The brothers small shop quickly became popular with locals Business was booming 7
