Rudolph Hass
Encyclopedia
Rudolph Gustav Hass was the developer of the Hass avocado, the source of 95% of avocados grown commercially today.
Rudie met Elizabeth Schuette on 7/4/1918 at a 4th of July church picnic. He was involved in a mission work with children on weekends and asked Elizabeth if she could play the piano for his ministry at the mission. She agreed and thus their courtship began. They were married about a year later on 8/2/1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The family moved to Pasadena, California
in 1923.
Hass got a job as a door-to-door salesman in 1923, first selling "Real Silk Hose" (socks and ties for men), then selling Maytag washing machines. In 1925 Rudie got a job with the Pasadena Post Office making 25 cents per hour. That was before mail truck routes, so Rudie carried the heavy mail sack every day on his route for ten years until he was given a car route due to his failing heart.
After reading a magazine article illustrating an avocado tree with dollar bills hanging from it in 1925, Rudie used all the money he had to buy a small acre and a half avocado grove in La Habra Heights, California
. The trees were old Fuerte avocados with 2 or 3 Lyon as well as a few Pueblas and Nabals. The Fuerte was the best avocado available at that time, but Rudie could not afford to buy more trees, so he decided to cut down many of the old trees and have them grafted over to Fuerte with new bud wood.
Rudie hired a professional grafter named Mr. Caulkins, who advised Mr. Hass to buy Guatemalan avocado seeds from a nursery owned by Mr. Rideout and grow his own seedlings and then have them grafted to the Fuerte variety. Rudie agreed and followed his advice. He planted the rest of the grove on 12 feet (3.7 m) centers with three seeds in each hole. Cuttings from existing Fuerte trees were grafted onto the strongest of the three newly planted trees from each hole. All but three of the grafts 'took' and new Fuerte trees grew out of the new seedlings. Mr. Caulkins re-grafted those three trees. Then he re-grafted the one tree that had rejected the second graft. Again it did not take. Rudie was ready to give up and asked Mr. Caulkins to chop it down, but he told him it was a good strong tree, and advised Rudie to "just leave it alone and see what happens." So Rudie did.
Mr. Hass was not a botanist like Luther Burbank (1849 - 1926) who purposely cross pollinated plants to produce over 800 better varieties. The seed that produced the Hass Avocado had already been cross pollinated by nature before Mr Rideout sold it, along with a hundred other seeds, to Mr. Hass.
When that seedling was 14" tall and the trunk only 1/2" thick, it had three walnut size fruit on it. Fuertes rarely produced fruit in less than five years. Rudie had his wife Elizabeth take his picture kneeling by the seedling and showing one of the tiny avocados hanging over his hand. This was in July, 1926. That picture has been immortalized in a portrait painted by Rudie's grandson, Thomas Wilkes. That seedling grew more rapidly and produced more fruit than the Fuerte grafts. It also grew straight up and was not as spread out as the Fuerte trees making more trees to the acre possible. When the fruit grew large enough and mature, Rudie picked them to ripen. The family agreed that this avocado tasted as good, if not better than the Fuerte.
As the tree grew and produced more fruit than the family could use, Rudie took some to his co-workers at the Pasadena Post Office. They liked the avocados and asked if they could buy more from him. He agreed to sell them a bag of 4 or 5 avocados for $1. He sold all he brought to work and took orders for more. The Hass family began to work harvesting and selling avocados from a roadside stand by the grove at 430 West Road in La Habra, California
.
Rudie also contacted the 'Model Grocery Store' on Colorado St. in Pasadena and found it to be a ready market. He left them a few sample avocados and they agreed to sell the fruit and did so for many years. The chefs of wealthy people who lived on South Orange Grove Street shopped there, and once they sampled the Hass variety, they insisted upon it. At $1.00 each, Avocados were only available to the rich. A dollar a day was a typical food budget for a family of four or five in those days.
In August 1935 Rudie patented his 'Hass' avocado tree, but since it was the first patent ever issued on a tree, it got no respect. Growers would buy one tree from Mr. Brokaw who had the exclusive right to produce the nursery trees. They would then re-graft their whole grove with the bud wood from that one tree.
For that reason, Rudolph Hass made less than $5,000 in royalties over the life of the patent. (Patents expire after 17 years.) However, Rudie was the first to have a producing grove of Hass Avocados, though it was a very small grove.
Rudolph Hass expanded to Fallbrook, planting an 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) orchard in 1948 which bore its first crop in 1952, just as his 17-year patent expired.
Rudie was 43 years old when he received his patent in 1935, but he knew his time on earth was tenuous because he had a weak and enlarged heart. So he prayed to live as long as the patent was in effect. One month after the patent expired in August 1952, at the age of 60, Rudie died of heart failure in the Fallbrook Hospital on September 24, 1952.
His wife Elizabeth lived to the ripe old age of 98 after a lifetime of eating a half piece of wheat toast or waffle with avocado slices on it with breakfast just about every morning. She lived the rest of her life on the pension from her husband's mailman job.
Biography
Rudolph Gustav Hass was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 5, 1892 to Henry C. Hass and Alma F. (Zergman) Hass. Known as Rudie, Hass quit school after finishing 10th grade at age 15 and went to work. He tried to enlist in the Army during World War I, but they rejected him due to a congenital heart murmur.Rudie met Elizabeth Schuette on 7/4/1918 at a 4th of July church picnic. He was involved in a mission work with children on weekends and asked Elizabeth if she could play the piano for his ministry at the mission. She agreed and thus their courtship began. They were married about a year later on 8/2/1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The family moved to Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
in 1923.
Hass got a job as a door-to-door salesman in 1923, first selling "Real Silk Hose" (socks and ties for men), then selling Maytag washing machines. In 1925 Rudie got a job with the Pasadena Post Office making 25 cents per hour. That was before mail truck routes, so Rudie carried the heavy mail sack every day on his route for ten years until he was given a car route due to his failing heart.
After reading a magazine article illustrating an avocado tree with dollar bills hanging from it in 1925, Rudie used all the money he had to buy a small acre and a half avocado grove in La Habra Heights, California
La Habra Heights, California
La Habra Heights is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2010 census, down from 5,712 at the 2000 census. La Habra Heights is a rural canyon community located on the border of Orange and Los Angeles County. The zoning is lots with a variety of...
. The trees were old Fuerte avocados with 2 or 3 Lyon as well as a few Pueblas and Nabals. The Fuerte was the best avocado available at that time, but Rudie could not afford to buy more trees, so he decided to cut down many of the old trees and have them grafted over to Fuerte with new bud wood.
Rudie hired a professional grafter named Mr. Caulkins, who advised Mr. Hass to buy Guatemalan avocado seeds from a nursery owned by Mr. Rideout and grow his own seedlings and then have them grafted to the Fuerte variety. Rudie agreed and followed his advice. He planted the rest of the grove on 12 feet (3.7 m) centers with three seeds in each hole. Cuttings from existing Fuerte trees were grafted onto the strongest of the three newly planted trees from each hole. All but three of the grafts 'took' and new Fuerte trees grew out of the new seedlings. Mr. Caulkins re-grafted those three trees. Then he re-grafted the one tree that had rejected the second graft. Again it did not take. Rudie was ready to give up and asked Mr. Caulkins to chop it down, but he told him it was a good strong tree, and advised Rudie to "just leave it alone and see what happens." So Rudie did.
Mr. Hass was not a botanist like Luther Burbank (1849 - 1926) who purposely cross pollinated plants to produce over 800 better varieties. The seed that produced the Hass Avocado had already been cross pollinated by nature before Mr Rideout sold it, along with a hundred other seeds, to Mr. Hass.
When that seedling was 14" tall and the trunk only 1/2" thick, it had three walnut size fruit on it. Fuertes rarely produced fruit in less than five years. Rudie had his wife Elizabeth take his picture kneeling by the seedling and showing one of the tiny avocados hanging over his hand. This was in July, 1926. That picture has been immortalized in a portrait painted by Rudie's grandson, Thomas Wilkes. That seedling grew more rapidly and produced more fruit than the Fuerte grafts. It also grew straight up and was not as spread out as the Fuerte trees making more trees to the acre possible. When the fruit grew large enough and mature, Rudie picked them to ripen. The family agreed that this avocado tasted as good, if not better than the Fuerte.
As the tree grew and produced more fruit than the family could use, Rudie took some to his co-workers at the Pasadena Post Office. They liked the avocados and asked if they could buy more from him. He agreed to sell them a bag of 4 or 5 avocados for $1. He sold all he brought to work and took orders for more. The Hass family began to work harvesting and selling avocados from a roadside stand by the grove at 430 West Road in La Habra, California
La Habra, California
La Habra is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. Its related city, La Habra Heights is located to the north of La Habra, and is in Los Angeles County.-Origin of name:...
.
Rudie also contacted the 'Model Grocery Store' on Colorado St. in Pasadena and found it to be a ready market. He left them a few sample avocados and they agreed to sell the fruit and did so for many years. The chefs of wealthy people who lived on South Orange Grove Street shopped there, and once they sampled the Hass variety, they insisted upon it. At $1.00 each, Avocados were only available to the rich. A dollar a day was a typical food budget for a family of four or five in those days.
In August 1935 Rudie patented his 'Hass' avocado tree, but since it was the first patent ever issued on a tree, it got no respect. Growers would buy one tree from Mr. Brokaw who had the exclusive right to produce the nursery trees. They would then re-graft their whole grove with the bud wood from that one tree.
For that reason, Rudolph Hass made less than $5,000 in royalties over the life of the patent. (Patents expire after 17 years.) However, Rudie was the first to have a producing grove of Hass Avocados, though it was a very small grove.
Rudolph Hass expanded to Fallbrook, planting an 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) orchard in 1948 which bore its first crop in 1952, just as his 17-year patent expired.
Rudie was 43 years old when he received his patent in 1935, but he knew his time on earth was tenuous because he had a weak and enlarged heart. So he prayed to live as long as the patent was in effect. One month after the patent expired in August 1952, at the age of 60, Rudie died of heart failure in the Fallbrook Hospital on September 24, 1952.
Marriage and children
Rudolph Hass and Elizabeth Schuette were married on August 2, 1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They had five children.Death and afterward
Rudolph Hass died of heart failure in the Fallbrook Hospital on October 24, 1952. He was buried on October 28, 1952.His wife Elizabeth lived to the ripe old age of 98 after a lifetime of eating a half piece of wheat toast or waffle with avocado slices on it with breakfast just about every morning. She lived the rest of her life on the pension from her husband's mailman job.