Every now and again certain advertisements become so etched in our memories that it becomes a cultural phenomenon. We can all remember the Budweiser frogs, the Taco Bell Dog or, even a little further back, the “Where’s the Beef?” lady.
Few, however, have the impact of the Armour hot dog song. Start the song and just about anyone older than 30 can sing the lyrics. The amazing thing about the “Armour” brand is that it started in Madison County with a young man named Philip Danforth Armour.
Phillip Danforth Armour was born in Stockbridge in 1832. His father Danforth and mother Julia came here from Connecticut around 1830, setting up a farm in what was then Lenox but later became Middle Road in Stockbridge.
Armour went to local schools and later attended Cazenovia Seminary. While there, he worked as a driver on the Chenango Canal. After leaving the seminary, Armour accepted some money from his father and headed to California hoping to make his fortune in gold.
Realizing quickly how difficult that was, he took a job making sluices and saved enough money to come back east to Central New York, where he invested in a farm briefly before moving to Milwaukee where he partnered with Fred P. Miles in a commission and produce business.
Shortly after the partnership began, the firm started dealing in smoked and pickled meats. The new work was quite profitable and led Philip to join a packing firm in 1863. The business flourished and Armour convinced his brother H.O. to open a plant in Chicago and another brother, Joseph, to operate a plant in New York.
The business initially only processed pigs but by 1880, the house was processing pigs, cattle and sheep.
By 1878, the refrigeration car was available, but railroads were not interested in investing in the new phenomenon. This led Philip to build and operate his own fleet of refrigeration rail cars based out of Chicago. This development allowed the company to process and ship meats during the seasons when fresh meat was typically not available.
Armour not only revolutionized the industry with his use of the refrigerated car, he also was one of the first to utilize parts of the animal that typically were not used. He started factories that manufactured glue, fertilizer and soap to use remnants of the slaughtered animals. This became an additional source of revenue for the company.
At the time of his death in 1901, Armour’s businesses totaled more than $180 million dollars in sales throughout the world.
For all of Philip Armour’s developments, there was also negativity surrounding him. Armour was fiercely anti-union and broke three strikes without caving in. He was known to have the organizers of said strikes blackballed from any other jobs in Chicago. His factory working conditions were deplorable, and Upton Sinclair wrote his book The Jungle after spending time working at one of Armour’s meat processing facilities (the book was published after Armour’s death).
Outside of Armour’s business endeavors, he was a well-known philanthropist, donating $1 million to start the Armour Institute in 1890. Armour partnered with Frank Gunsaulus to help educate students from all backgrounds. In 1940, the institute merged with the Lewis Institute to form the Illinois Institute of Technology, which is still operating today.
On a local level, Armour and his brothers donated stained glass windows to the Stockbridge Methodist Church in 1883 during a church renovation. The windows are still there today.
Matthew Urtz is Madison County historian. He can be reached at 315.366.2453 or email matthew.urtz@madisoncounty.ny.gov. Like “Madison County, NY History” on Facebook and visit madisoncountynyhistory.com. Sources Cited: Madison County Deed Records; Boylan, Olive Quilt; A story of Stockbridge Valley. Published 1986. Wentworth, Edward N. Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Business Men: Philip Armour. Roycrofters, East Aurora, NY, 1908. A Biographical Catalog of the Portrait Gallery of the Saddle and Sirloin Club. Union Stock Yards, Chicago, IL. 1920.