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 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.

An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile at NAIAS 2005.

A well-known advertising jingle, written in 1963 by Richard D. Trentlage and set to music by Philip Bova, 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] The Evolution Control Committee mashed this jingle with the American National Anthem to make their tune Star Spangled Bologna. 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
• Star Spangled Bologna (mp3)