Oscar Mayer

This article is about the entrepreneur Oscar Mayer. On the Swiss politician see Oscar Mayer (politician) ; on the Austrian politician see Oskar Mayer .

Oscar Ferdinand Mayer (born March 29, 1859 in the municipality of Kösingen , now part of Neresheim , † March 11, 1955 in Chicago , Cook County , Illinois ) was a German-American entrepreneur. He emigrated from Germany to the United States, where he became one of the largest sausage manufacturers in the world. The advertising jingle "Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener" has become part of everyday American culture .

Life

Oscar Mayer had to accept the death of his father very early. He first began an apprenticeship as a butcher in Nördlingen . After emigrating , Mayer worked at the meat wholesale markets in Detroit and Chicago at the age of 14 . His brother Gottfried, a trained butcher who last worked in Nuremberg , joined him and in 1883 they jointly took over a butcher shop in north Chicago; Gottfried became production manager under Oscar. Within a short time, the shop became a great success, and the many German-born Americans resident there particularly appreciated the German specialties on offer, such as buck , liver and white sausage . Finally, Max, the third of the Mayer brothers, also left Germany and became the head of finances for the family business. With its growing success, the company expanded; by 1900 it already had over 40 employees and offered a city-wide delivery service by horse-drawn cart . In 1904 the sausage and meat products were marketed for the first time under a brand name, but initially under the name Edelweiss .

Oscar Mayer Wiener

After a few more name changes, the uniform brand Oscar Mayer was introduced in 1929 . At this point, Oscar's son of the same name had already taken over the management of the company. As a distinguishing feature, the company's sausages were given a yellow label , which made them stand out from the crowd of competitors. In order to further increase the awareness of the brand, the Wienermobile was put into service from 1936 and is still used as an advertising medium across the United States. The Oscar Mayer advertising jingle has been played almost unchanged since 1963, with only minor text adjustments; it is now so popular that it is in the repertoire of marching bands and is often performed during the halftime of American football games at high schools and colleges .

Web links

• Oscar Mayer in the database of Find a Grave (English)