Food Dudes OSCAR F MAYER Hot Dog Manufacturer Heather C Hudak Checkerboard Library An Imprint of Abdo Publishing www abdopublishing com
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
