MADISON, Wis., July 8 (UPI) -- Oscar G. Mayer, the retired chairman of the company bearing his family's name, died at a Wisconsin hospice. He was 95.
Mayer had retired in 1977 as chairman of the board of Oscar Mayer Foods, a company founded by his grandfather, Oscar F. Mayer, in Chicago in 1904, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Wednesday.

Mayer's grandfather purchased a slaughtering plant in Madison in 1919 and eventually moved the company headquarters to Wisconsin.

Mayer joined the family business in 1936 after leaving Harvard University for health reasons.

At one time, Oscar Mayer Foods was the largest private employer in Madison. It was sold to General Foods and is now a unit of Kraft Foods.

The State Journal said while Mayer may have had the most famous name in Madison, many local residents did not even know he was a real person because the company used a midget called "Little Oscar" as its spokesman.


© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I still love my Oscar Meyer hot dog.
But I had assumed he was dead already.

PaisleyPark5083 said:

I thought he died years ago.

All wieners are at half mast in honor.

I hope for his sake that the Pearly Gates are not guarded by cow lips & pig assholes.

I had no idea he was a real person.

^ ditto

NastradumasKid said:

same like decades ago...
[Edited 7/8/09 16:52pm]

Oscar Mayer is a Madison institution. The Mayer family did a lot for the community over the years (Oscar Mayer had a theater named after him in the Civic Center for many years).

I think it's safe to say that anyone who grew up in Madison (as I did) knows or is related to someone who worked at Oscar Mayer. My grandpa worked there for years (retired from Oscar's, in fact). And when I was a little girl, my mom regularly got bologna, hot dogs, olive loaf, sandwich spread, braunschweiger, bacon and all kinds of other stuff from my grandpa. And none of it was in the packages you see on the store. It was wrapped up in butcher paper. (I'm pretty sure employees were able to get a certain amount of product on a sharp discount.)

We had wiener whistles all the time, too.

Genesia said:

Am I on crack or did Oscar Mayer hot dogs come with prizes at one time?

Vendetta1 said:

OMG - I totally forgot about that! You're right - they did have a prize sometimes!

ernestsewell said:

Genesia said:

I always thought I imagined that.

I remember there being a ring.

Vendetta1 said:

I Loved his lunchables, whenever I eat those I'll think "Damn, Oscar was my bitch when it came to making lunch for the kids"

NastradumasKid said:

They didn't have Lunchables until Oscar Mayer was owned by Kraft.

It ain't the same company anymore.

Vendetta1 said:

Yup. They'd have a little toy stuck under the belly band.

Hopefully it's not the end of the wiener mobile....

Oh, they still have the Wienermobile. The college students who drive it around are called "hot doggers."

You can follow them on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/WienerMobile

Genesia said:

It's so cool you know this stuff.

Vendetta1 said:

What can I say? I know the culture of my town.

I almost forgot - I actually worked with a former hot dogger once!

Genesia said:

Oh, thank goodness...

I remember seeing it once and loved it..

obsessed said:

It is a sight to see, that's for sure.