Arbogast & Bastian
Encyclopedia
Arbogast & Bastian was the name of a slaughterhouse
and meat packing plant located in Allentown
, Lehigh County
, Pennsylvania
, in the United States
. Once a national leader in hog
slaughtering, the company had the capacity to process most of the 850,000 hogs raised annually in Pennsylvania for slaughtering. In its heyday, Arbogast & Bastian slaughtered an average of 4,000 hogs daily.
Arbogast & Bastian, which was founded in 1887, operated for nearly one hundred years before filing for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in 1984, citing cash flow
issues brought about by market turmoil and labor disputes. The company filed Chapter 7
bankruptcy the following year.
With the sole exception of the company's offices, the Arbogast & Bastian plant was demolished in the late 1990s. These surviving offices were later incorporated into the America On Wheels
museum, which was opened on the site of the former Arbogast & Bastian plant in 2008.
The Arbogast & Bastian Company was founded in 1887 by Wilson Arbogast and Morris Clinton Bastian. Arbogast, who was born in Freeburg
, Snyder County
, Pennsylvania
, in 1851, was a school teacher by training who entered the wholesale provisioning business in the early 1880s in Phillipsburg
, New Jersey
. Bastian, who was born in Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County
, Pennsylvania, in 1859, operated a general store in Allentown.
The two partners built a two story building and stable
at 25 Hamilton Street in Allentown, purchased two horses, and started supplying provisions and lard
to local businesses and distributors. They used their building as a smoke house, and offered "freshly-smoked" hams and bacon that were prepared using meat purchased ready-cured from other suppliers. Ready-cured meat is that which, after slaughter and butcher
y, has been treated by curing
in order to prevent the growth of bacteria and to reduce the opportunity for botulism
to grow, allowing for much safer transport and storage. This grew into a strong business for Arbogast & Bastian, as previously these goods had to be imported from larger cities, such as New York City
and Philadelphia, and suffered in freshness and quality because of the additional time and handling required to get the finished product to Allentown.
In 1890, the company added a hog slaughtering department, in order to offer fresh pork and sausages to their customers. The capacity of the plant increased from 150 hogs per week at inception, to over 1,500 hogs per week in 1905. Pork brands offered included "Pure Home Rendered Lard" and "Old Dutch" hams and bacon. With their venture in pork successful, Arbogast & Bastian soon expanded in a similar manner with beef
, lamb, and mutton, first by purchasing ready-cured meat from suppliers in the West to learn the trade, then by building a full-scale abbatoir
and cold-storage facilities on-site. By 1905, the company was processing over 150 head of cattle, and a similar number of lambs and sheep, weekly.
Arbogast & Bastian Company was formally incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with $200,000 in capital ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation), on June 19, 1902. The additional capital raised by the corporation was used to purchase more land and to build larger refrigeration
facilities and a power plant
. By 1905, Arbogast & Bastian's revenues exceeded $1 million dollars per year ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation.)
The large Arbogast & Bastian facility now occupied a prominent location at Hamilton and Front streets in Allentown, along the Lehigh River
. The facility received livestock and transported goods via tracks run to the plant by the Lehigh Valley Railroad
. On July 14, 1905, a large fire destroyed the original Arbogast & Bastian plant and the company rebuilt a larger, more modern facility. It was the first reinforced concrete
meat packing plant in the United States. The Arbogast & Bastian plant, which allowed for more sanitary and safer operations, was designed and built in direct response to the unsanitary conditions in Chicago's meat packing plants exposed by Upton Sinclair
in his book, The Jungle
, which led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act
and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
During World War II
, 70 percent of Arbogast & Bastian's output went to the United States armed forces
and through the Lend-Lease
program to the United Kingdom
, the Soviet Union
, China
, France and other Allied nations
. By 1973, Arbogast & Bastian had 700 employees processing 160 million pounds (73 million kg) of meat a year, and the company had the capacity to butcher 7,200 hogs and 1,000 cattle a week.
Arbogast & Bastian filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy
on May 11, 1984, citing cash flow
issues brought about by "two years of turbulent market conditions in the pork industry," a labor dispute with the Teamsters
labor union
and the recent shutdown of A&B's slaughtering operations. The bankruptcy was immediately triggered because one of the company's customers had issued a stop-payment on $800,000 worth of checks paid to Arbogast & Bastian. The firm's financial woes were further complicated by four large meat packing companies - Pork Cutters, Inc., Rotches Pork Packers, Inc., Otto Doerrer and Son, Inc. and Crissman, Inc. - who collectively failed to pay for nearly $5 million worth of pork carcasses and meat products purchased from Arbogast & Bastian in 1983 and 1984, according to charges made by the United States Department of Agriculture
. In total, about 380 workers lost their jobs. Within months of filing for bankruptcy, Purity Bacon Products Corp., one of A&B's most profitable divisions, was sold for $1 million to an investor group led by Richard A. Strouce, the president of Arbogast & Bastian at the time it filed for bankruptcy.
The corporation filed for Chapter 7
liquidation on January 9, 1985. With the closure of Arbogast & Bastian, only two major meat processing facilities remained operating in the state of Pennsylvania - Hatfield Quality Meats
of Hatfield, Pennsylvania
, and Martins Abattoir & Wholesale Meats, Inc., with headquarters in Godwin
, North Carolina
.
As early as 1989, city officials in Allentown had announced plans to revitalize
brownfield land
along the Lehigh River
, which included the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian plant. This redevelopment, which was to be known as "Lehigh Landing," was originally to include a museum, a brewery
, walking trails, a footbridge across the river, and a promenade for festivals. Allentown businessman Raymond E. Holland, former president of Holiday Hair Fashions, had purchased the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian plant for $250,000 in 1985 and gave it to the Allentown Economic Development Corp. as a charitable contribution in 1990. Development of "Lehigh Landing" was hindered by fundraising problems, environmental remediation issues, and even a national debate on pork barrel
government spending. The iconic Arbogast & Bastian plant remained vacant for over a decade, often the victim of vandalism and suspicious fires. The plant was finally dismantled in late 1990s, and the company's large heart-shaped sign, long a fixture of the Allentown skyline, was taken down on June 30, 1998. The offices of Arbogast & Bastian, which had not been torn down, were later incorporated into the America On Wheels
museum, which was opened on the site of the former Arbogast & Bastian plant in 2008.
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
and meat packing plant located in Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, Lehigh County
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Once a national leader in hog
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
slaughtering, the company had the capacity to process most of the 850,000 hogs raised annually in Pennsylvania for slaughtering. In its heyday, Arbogast & Bastian slaughtered an average of 4,000 hogs daily.
Arbogast & Bastian, which was founded in 1887, operated for nearly one hundred years before filing for Chapter 11
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
bankruptcy in 1984, citing cash flow
Cash flow
Cash flow is the movement of money into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It is usually measured during a specified, finite period of time. Measurement of cash flow can be used for calculating other parameters that give information on a company's value and situation.Cash flow...
issues brought about by market turmoil and labor disputes. The company filed Chapter 7
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...
bankruptcy the following year.
With the sole exception of the company's offices, the Arbogast & Bastian plant was demolished in the late 1990s. These surviving offices were later incorporated into the America On Wheels
America On Wheels
America On Wheels is an over-the-road transportation museum located in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States.The museum offers over of exhibit space divided into three main galleries and several smaller exhibits...
museum, which was opened on the site of the former Arbogast & Bastian plant in 2008.
History
Freeburg, Pennsylvania
Freeburg is a borough in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 584 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land....
, Snyder County
Snyder County, Pennsylvania
Snyder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 39,702. Snyder County was formed in 1855 from parts of Union County...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, in 1851, was a school teacher by training who entered the wholesale provisioning business in the early 1880s in Phillipsburg
Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Phillipsburg, known locally as P'burg, is a town in Warren County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 14,950....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Bastian, who was born in Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
-Climate:Most of the county's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year....
, Pennsylvania, in 1859, operated a general store in Allentown.
The two partners built a two story building and stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
at 25 Hamilton Street in Allentown, purchased two horses, and started supplying provisions and lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
to local businesses and distributors. They used their building as a smoke house, and offered "freshly-smoked" hams and bacon that were prepared using meat purchased ready-cured from other suppliers. Ready-cured meat is that which, after slaughter and butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
y, has been treated by curing
Curing (food preservation)
Curing refers to various food preservation and flavoring processes, especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, nitrates, nitrite or sugar. Many curing processes also involve smoking, the process of flavoring, or cooking...
in order to prevent the growth of bacteria and to reduce the opportunity for botulism
Botulism
Botulism also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin which is metabolic waste produced under anaerobic conditions by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and affecting a wide range of mammals, birds and fish...
to grow, allowing for much safer transport and storage. This grew into a strong business for Arbogast & Bastian, as previously these goods had to be imported from larger cities, such as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia, and suffered in freshness and quality because of the additional time and handling required to get the finished product to Allentown.
In 1890, the company added a hog slaughtering department, in order to offer fresh pork and sausages to their customers. The capacity of the plant increased from 150 hogs per week at inception, to over 1,500 hogs per week in 1905. Pork brands offered included "Pure Home Rendered Lard" and "Old Dutch" hams and bacon. With their venture in pork successful, Arbogast & Bastian soon expanded in a similar manner with beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
, lamb, and mutton, first by purchasing ready-cured meat from suppliers in the West to learn the trade, then by building a full-scale abbatoir
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
and cold-storage facilities on-site. By 1905, the company was processing over 150 head of cattle, and a similar number of lambs and sheep, weekly.
Arbogast & Bastian Company was formally incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with $200,000 in capital ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation), on June 19, 1902. The additional capital raised by the corporation was used to purchase more land and to build larger refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
facilities and a power plant
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
. By 1905, Arbogast & Bastian's revenues exceeded $1 million dollars per year ($ in dollars, adjusted for inflation.)
The large Arbogast & Bastian facility now occupied a prominent location at Hamilton and Front streets in Allentown, along the Lehigh River
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
. The facility received livestock and transported goods via tracks run to the plant by the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
. On July 14, 1905, a large fire destroyed the original Arbogast & Bastian plant and the company rebuilt a larger, more modern facility. It was the first reinforced concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
meat packing plant in the United States. The Arbogast & Bastian plant, which allowed for more sanitary and safer operations, was designed and built in direct response to the unsanitary conditions in Chicago's meat packing plants exposed by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
in his book, The Jungle
The Jungle
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
, which led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act
Meat Inspection Act
The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was a United States Congress Act that worked to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. These requirements also apply...
and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 70 percent of Arbogast & Bastian's output went to the United States armed forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
and through the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
program to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, France and other Allied nations
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
. By 1973, Arbogast & Bastian had 700 employees processing 160 million pounds (73 million kg) of meat a year, and the company had the capacity to butcher 7,200 hogs and 1,000 cattle a week.
Arbogast & Bastian filed for Chapter 11
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
on May 11, 1984, citing cash flow
Cash flow
Cash flow is the movement of money into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It is usually measured during a specified, finite period of time. Measurement of cash flow can be used for calculating other parameters that give information on a company's value and situation.Cash flow...
issues brought about by "two years of turbulent market conditions in the pork industry," a labor dispute with the Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
labor union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
and the recent shutdown of A&B's slaughtering operations. The bankruptcy was immediately triggered because one of the company's customers had issued a stop-payment on $800,000 worth of checks paid to Arbogast & Bastian. The firm's financial woes were further complicated by four large meat packing companies - Pork Cutters, Inc., Rotches Pork Packers, Inc., Otto Doerrer and Son, Inc. and Crissman, Inc. - who collectively failed to pay for nearly $5 million worth of pork carcasses and meat products purchased from Arbogast & Bastian in 1983 and 1984, according to charges made by the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
. In total, about 380 workers lost their jobs. Within months of filing for bankruptcy, Purity Bacon Products Corp., one of A&B's most profitable divisions, was sold for $1 million to an investor group led by Richard A. Strouce, the president of Arbogast & Bastian at the time it filed for bankruptcy.
The corporation filed for Chapter 7
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...
liquidation on January 9, 1985. With the closure of Arbogast & Bastian, only two major meat processing facilities remained operating in the state of Pennsylvania - Hatfield Quality Meats
Hatfield Quality Meats
Hatfield Quality Meats is primarily a pork meat packing company based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. It produces over 1,200 different fresh and manufactured pork products. Hatfield's distribution is primarily on the East Coast of the United States, as well as some international markets...
of Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Hatfield is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,290 at the time of the 2010 census.-Geography:Hatfield is located at ....
, and Martins Abattoir & Wholesale Meats, Inc., with headquarters in Godwin
Godwin, North Carolina
Godwin is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Godwin is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Legacy
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
brownfield land
Brownfield land
Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations. Cf. Waste...
along the Lehigh River
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
, which included the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian plant. This redevelopment, which was to be known as "Lehigh Landing," was originally to include a museum, a brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, walking trails, a footbridge across the river, and a promenade for festivals. Allentown businessman Raymond E. Holland, former president of Holiday Hair Fashions, had purchased the abandoned Arbogast & Bastian plant for $250,000 in 1985 and gave it to the Allentown Economic Development Corp. as a charitable contribution in 1990. Development of "Lehigh Landing" was hindered by fundraising problems, environmental remediation issues, and even a national debate on pork barrel
Pork barrel
Pork barrel is a derogatory term referring to appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district...
government spending. The iconic Arbogast & Bastian plant remained vacant for over a decade, often the victim of vandalism and suspicious fires. The plant was finally dismantled in late 1990s, and the company's large heart-shaped sign, long a fixture of the Allentown skyline, was taken down on June 30, 1998. The offices of Arbogast & Bastian, which had not been torn down, were later incorporated into the America On Wheels
America On Wheels
America On Wheels is an over-the-road transportation museum located in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States.The museum offers over of exhibit space divided into three main galleries and several smaller exhibits...
museum, which was opened on the site of the former Arbogast & Bastian plant in 2008.