Oakland Preserving Company
| Business |
Cannery |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
Oakland, CA |
| Active |
1891-1899 |
| Brands |
Del Monte |
| Successors |
California Fruit Canners Association |
Oakland-based cannery, founded by F. Tilmann Sr., with primary plant on "an acre and a half" at First Street between Filbert and Linden Streets. Initial manager was W.A. Stevens, who had established the Dawson Packing Company and San Jose Fruit Cannery. Tilmann was the president of Tilmann & Bendel, a San Francisco-based wholesale grocer who was frustrated by the quality of canned foods they could buy.
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milpitas | 1896 |
??? | |
| Oakland |
Fruitvale district according to Wikipedia's entry on Oakland |
Details
Founded in 1891, became part of California Fruit Canning Association.
The Thursday, June 11, 1891 Oakland Tribune declares the plant was built in eight weeks:
"Preserving and Cooking Ripe Fruit / A Cannery Built in Eight Weeks / The Great Plant of the Oakland Preserving Company" "Immense buildings occupying the frontage of one entire block on First Street" "When the well known J. Lusk Canning Company, whose cannery was at Temescal, failed several years ago, one of the most important industries, that of fruit caning, was sorely crippled in this country..." "The Oakland Preserving Company is the name of the new corporation, and to show what an energetic concern it is it is only necessary to state that the company was organized, buildings were erected, and the work of fruit canning commenced within height weeks, and the canery is said to be the most complete on e in the United States too. The buildings of the company occupy half a block of land, and are located on First Street between Filbert and Linden streets. The canery proper occupies the Linden-street side, and the immense warehouse where the canned goods will be stored occupies the Filbert Street end of the lot, with the engine and boiler rooms situated in the rear of Linden Street. On First Street a sidetrack has been run the entire length of the block, and fresh fruit may be unloaded at one end and the car laden with canned fruit at the other end...
Oakland Preserving Company was the original user of the Del Monte brand.
Early account":http://books.google.com/books?id=o_lKAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA244&ots=5AYbYIjOfe&dq=%22Oakland%20Preserving%20Company%22&pg=PA244#v=onepage&q=%22Oakland%20Preserving%20Company%22&f=false of Tilmann and the Oakland Preserving Company from "Alameda County: the Eden of the Pacific" includes photos of the plant. A "lawsuit between CalPak and Tilmann and Bendel over the Del Monte trademark gives more details about the history - Tilmann used it because he was supplying coffee to the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey.
The Milpitas cannery as supposedly to be close to asparagus fields