AMERICAN BAKERIES COMPANY:

An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

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HISTORY OF AMERICAN BAKERIES COMPANY

American Bakeries Company had its beginnings when Mike Molan and Tom O'Connor, salesmen for a baking company in Minneapolis, struck out on their own and opened a small bakery in Minneapolis in 1902 and called it the Chicago Bakery. In 1906 they purchased the Schwab Bakery, also in Minneapolis, for the purpose of making pastry. In 1908 they opened a new bakery building in North Minneapolis. In 1912 they built a bakery on University Avenue in St. Paul, which operated as the Haynes Bread Company.

In 1912 Foley Brothers of St. Paul built a large bakery building in downtown St. Paul at Twelfth and Minnesota streets, which operated as the St. Paul Bread Company (1912-1913). A 1916 merger between the Haynes Bread Company and the St. Paul Bread Company (apparently known since 1914 as Purity Baking Company) resulted in the creation of the Flour State Baking Company. The company began baking bread in Duluth in 1921.

In 1924 Flour State Baking Company acquired the stock of Wernig's Bakery, Minneapolis, as well as several other baking properties, and incorporated all their holdings under the name Purity Bakeries Corporation. The corporate headquarters was at that time moved to Chicago.

Merita Bakeries, located in the southeastern United States, was aquired in 1953, and the name of the company was changed in that year to American Bakeries Company. In 1971 American Bakeries Company operated forty-two plants in twenty-three states. In 1972 it claimed to be the second-largest bakery opearation in the United States. The Minnesota-area market was known as the Midwest Division, and it had over 600 employees. The Division was under the supervision of J.M. Tombers, who officed in downtown St. Paul.

The corporate headquarters was moved from Chicago to to New York City in 1982. In 1986 American Bakeries Company agreed to sell the company to a new entity called BCA Corporation, a group of investors led by American Bakeries managers, a move that took the company private. In 1987 G. Heileman Baking Company became the owner; it closed the Duluth plant shortly thereafter. In 1988 Heileman merged with Metz Baking Company. Metz closed the downtown St. Paul Taystee bakery in 1991. The firm was acquired by The Earthgrains Company in 1999.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

In addition to a fairly-complete run of American Bakeries Company annual reports (1953-1985) there is a photocopy of a 1926 Purity Bakeries Corporation annual report. Clippings (some of which are laminated) include news stories about the closing of the Duluth and downtown St. Paul Taystee Bread plants. Photographs include two images of the St. Paul bakery and two images of a magazine advertisement for General Tires that features a Taystee Bread delivery truck equipped with General tires.

There are minutes from the first meeting (October 1, 1942) of an organization calling itself the Twin City Bakers War Effort Association, an industry group that besides Purity Baking Company included Egekvist, McGlynn, Zinsmaster, and other bakeries and that was involved in the sale of war bonds.

This material was collected and donated to the Minnesota Historical Society by former American Bakery Company executive Jerry (Gerald A.) Partlow, who in 1987 was Chief Executive Officer of the St. Paul-based operation.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below.

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