Henry J. Heinz
Encyclopedia
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
.
Early life
Heinz was one of eight children born to John Henry Heinz and Anna Margaretha Heinz. Both parents had emigrated from KallstadtKallstadt
Kallstadt is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :Kallstadt lies on the German Wine Route...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and settled in the Birmingham section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
—today known as the South Side
South Side (Pittsburgh)
South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes. Both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City...
.
When Henry was six, the family moved several miles up the Allegheny River to the little town of Sharpsburg
Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania
Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In the past, it had a rolling mill, foundries, machine shops, and manufacturers of varnish, brick, glass, lumber products, wire, hair, felt, and lubricating oil. In 1900, 6,842 people...
. There, at age six, young Henry (called Harry by his family) started helping his mother tend a small backyard garden behind the family home. At age eight Henry was canvassing the neighborhood with a basket under each arm selling vegetables from the family garden door to door. By age nine he was growing, grinding, bottling and selling his own brand of horseradish
Horseradish
Horseradish is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family, which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, and cabbages. The plant is probably native to south eastern Europe and the Arab World , but is popular around the world today...
sauce, based on his mother's recipe. At ten he was given a ¾-acre (3,000 m²) garden of his own and had graduated to a wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
to deliver his vegetables. At twelve he was working 3½ acres (14,000 m²) of garden using a horse and cart for his three-times-a-week deliveries to grocery stores in Pittsburgh. At seventeen he was grossing $2,400 a year—a handsome sum for the times.
Heinz attended public schools and then Duff's Business College. After graduating from college, he started employment with his father's brick manufacturing business, eventually becoming a partner in the firm. During this time he continued growing and selling fresh produce.
Early businesses
Heinz began packing foodstuffs on a small scale at Sharpsburg, PennsylvaniaSharpsburg, Pennsylvania
Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In the past, it had a rolling mill, foundries, machine shops, and manufacturers of varnish, brick, glass, lumber products, wire, hair, felt, and lubricating oil. In 1900, 6,842 people...
, in 1869. There he founded Heinz Noble & Company with a friend, L. Clarence Noble, and began marketing horseradish. The company went bankrupt in 1875, but the following year Heinz founded another company, F & J Heinz, with his brother and a cousin. One of this company's first products was tomato ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
.
H. J. Heinz Company
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
, the name it carries to the present day. Its famous slogan, "57 varieties", was introduced by Heinz in 1896. Inspired by an advertisement he saw while riding an elevated train in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(a shoe store boasting "21 styles"), Heinz picked the number more or less at random because he liked the sound of it, selecting 7 specifically because, as he put it, of the "psychological influence of that figure and of its enduring significance to people of all ages." (The company marketed far more than 57 varieties of product even at that point.)
H. J. Heinz was incorporated in 1905, and Heinz served as its first president, remaining in the position for the rest of his life. Under his tutelage, the company was noted for fair treatment of workers and for pioneering safe and sanitary food preparation. Heinz led a successful lobbying effort in favor of the Pure Food and Drug Act
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906, is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines...
in 1906. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he worked with the Food Administration.
He was a director in many financial institutions and was chairman of a committee to devise means to protect Pittsburgh from floods.
Legacy
At the time of Heinz's death in Pittsburgh at the age of 74, the H. J. Heinz Company had over twenty food processing plants, and also included seed farms and container factories. Heinz was the grandfather of H. J. Heinz IIH. J. Heinz II
Henry John Heinz II , best known as Jack Heinz, was an American business executive and CEO of the H. J. Heinz Company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....
, great-grandfather of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III
H. John Heinz III
Henry John Heinz III was an American politician from Pennsylvania, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate .-Early life:...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and great-great grandfather to Henry John Heinz IV along with Andre Thierstein Heinz and Christopher Drake Heinz.
Citations
- Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century: Making Markets for Processed Food by Nancy F. Koehn. The Business History Review, Vol. 73 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 349–393.