
German immigrant Oskar 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 1900 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 neighborhoods 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 in 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.
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.
In 2007, the company was subject to an email hoax which claimed that Oscar Mayer did not support the United States military.
Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks beat the regular beef frank of both Ball Park® and Hebrew National® —their best-selling beef franks—in a national taste test. To celebrate, on Wednesday, May 20, we gave away hot dogs to hundreds of thousands of people all across America. Be sure to try ‘em for yourself and see what makes them so great — then tell us all about it on our official YouTube channel.