The Way We Work(ed): Freihofer
Charles Freihofer founded the Freihofer Baking Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1884.
Freihofer’s at 2nd Ave and 126th Street, Lansingburgh, NY.
With business quickly booming, Charles and his brothers, William, Edwin, and Frank, established the Freihofer Baking Company in Lansingburgh on March 12, 1913, selling breads, cakes, and eventually the famous Freihofer Chocolate Chip Cookies still popular today.
Success followed, and by 1914, another plant was constructed in Schenectady with a plant in Albany also constructed the following year.
Signs were given out by the company to be placed in the front windows of homes and businesses so that the Freihofer delivery truck would stop.
Freihofer Horse Wagon, HCM Collection.
The last horse-drawn delivery vehicles worked until 1962 and the last home delivery was in January 1972!
Freihofer’s Today
The Freihofer Baking Company was owned and managed by the Freihofer family until General Foods acquired the company in 1987. General Foods would eventually sell to Best Foods out of New Jersey and then would ultimately become a subsidiary of Bimbo Bakes.
#DidYouKnow that all baking for Freihofer’s is done across the river? Both the current breadmaking facility and the cake plant are located on Prospect Avenue in Albany!
Freihofer’s and The Way We Work(ed)
In drawing attention to the Delivery Tray as seen in The Way We Work(ed), there is an opportunity to discuss the role of deliverymen - not only as an occupation but as a community figure. Discussing the history of the Freihofer Baking Company provides insight on how certain work impacted community and furthermore allows a greater understanding of how advances in technology and production alter the ways and means in which we work.
While Freihofer’s no longer provides home deliveries, examining collection items such as the Freihofer’s window sign and delivery tray allows for further discussion on the impact jobs and work, both old and new, have on our daily lives and greater community.