
Oscar Mayer
'Oscar Mayer' is an
American meat and
cold cut production company, now owned by
Kraft Foods, known for its
hot dogs,
bologna,
bacon and
Lunchables products.
German immigrant 'Oscar Ferdinand Mayer' (
March 29,
1859 in
Koesingen now
Neresheim -
March 11,
1955) began working at a meat market in
Detroit, Michigan, and later in
Chicago, Illinois. In 1883 in Chicago, Oscar Mayer leased the Kolling Meat Market along with his brother, Gottfried Mayer. The two sold
bratwurst,
liverwurst and
weißwurst and were popular in the predominantly German neighborhood of Chicago around the market.
As the meat market's popularity grew, it expanded its storefront and sponsored local events including the
Chicago World's Fair of 1893. By 1900 the company had 43 employees and Chicago-wide delivery service. In 1904 Oscar Mayer began branding its meats to capitalize on their popularity, beginning an industry-wide trend. In 1906 Oscar Mayer became one of the first companies to voluntarily submit to the newly-created
Food Safety Inspection Service (part of the
United States Department of Agriculture) for testing the purity of their products.
A well-known
advertising jingle, written in 1963 by Richard D. Trentlage, has had generations humming
[1]:
:Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener
:That is what I truly want to be
:'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener
:Everyone would be in love with me.
A 1965 version of the Oscar Mayer Wiener song goes:
:Oh, I'd love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener.
:That is what I'd truly like to be.
:'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener,
:Everyone would be in love with me.
:Oh, I'm glad I'm not an Oscar Mayer wiener.
:That is what I'd never want to be.
:Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener.
:There would soon be nothing left of me!
Another product's jingle is almost equally well well-known:
:My bologna has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R
:My bologna has a second name, it's M-A-Y-E-R
:Oh, I love to eat it every day, and if you ask me why, I'll say,
:"'Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A."
This jingle was sung by
Andy Lambros in
1976 in a famous commercial.
[2]
Oscar Mayer is also famous for their
Wienermobile, which has toured the United States for over 70 years. The first Wienermobile was created in 1936, and six have since been built.
References
External links
★
Oscar Mayer Homepage
★
Uncyclopedia satirical entry for Oscar Ferdinand Mayer