Background
A native of Jägerndorf (Czechoslovakian: Krnov), Moravian Silesia, Charles Fleischmann was the son of Alois (or Abraham) Fleischmann, a distiller and yeast maker, and Babette.
A native of Jägerndorf (Czechoslovakian: Krnov), Moravian Silesia, Charles Fleischmann was the son of Alois (or Abraham) Fleischmann, a distiller and yeast maker, and Babette.
He was educated in Budapest, Hungary, Vienna and Prague.
He then managed a distillery in Vienna, where he produced spirits and yeast. In 1865, Fleischmann came to the United States, and was disappointed in the quality of locally baked bread in the Cincinnati, Ohio region. In 1876, they exhibited a Model Vienna Bakery at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, which brought international publicity and sales exposure to the fledgling company, and yeast sales dramatically increased.
Eventually, Fleischmann would own 14 manufacturing facilities.
Max commuted to New York headquarters from his home in Santa Barbara, California by private railcar. The company still exists today as a Saint Louis-based producer of yeast and other products.
The Fleischmann Yeast Company eventually became the world"s leading yeast producer and the second largest in the production of vinegar. lieutenant was also a commercial producer of gin, under the Fleischmann brand name.
When Prohibition interfered with liquor sales, the Fleischmanns developed a new market for yeast, investigating its possible health benefits for skin and digestion, and promoting it as a good source of vitamins.
They hired the J. Walter Thompson Company, who created a health food fad for yeast cakes. Charles Fleischmann is responsible for numerous mechanical patents involving yeast production machinery. He helped to organize the Market National Bank and became its president from 1887 until his death in 1897.
He was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in a mausoleum based on the Parthenon.
Charles Fleischmann was inducted into the American Society of Baking’s Baking Hall of Fame on March 3, 2008, at the Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.