Dreamers, Doers

Industrial dreamers have long enjoyed slumber-visions of a great foodstuff merger. Industrial doers have long pondered specific methods of making such dreams come true. Last week came rumors that the House of Morgan was planning a gigantic food manufacturer's consolidation. Nucleus of this merger was to be Fleischmann Co., of which the Morgan company purchased a large minority interest (400,000 to 500,000 shares) in 1926. Inspiration for working out the merger was provided by the unique Fleischmann daily delivery system. Constituents in the merged company were rumored as Postum, Gold Dust, Corn Products, Campbell Soup, Heinz, Royal Baking Powder, Procter & Gamble, and many another. The rumors met with emphatic denials from the companies mentioned; meanwhile Fleischmann and other food stocks climbed with a rapidity that showed considerable Wall Street faith in the merger story.

The Fleischmann company has more than 300,000 bakers and grocers who receive their yeast from the Fleischmann company. Bakers are visited daily; grocers triweekly. A transportation subsidiary and 900 agencies see to it that contacts are never broken. In March 1918, a blizzard struck Chicago, kept the 41 Fleischmann delivery trucks in their garages. Thereupon the Fleischmann Chicago personnel equipped itself with yeast-packed satchels, made a door-to-door journey to Fleischmann customers.