Bologna Didn't Come From America But This Classic Brand Helped Make It Popular Here

Piled high with a schmear of mayonnaise or mustard between two pieces of soft white bread or simply eaten as a snack on its own, bologna has been a favorite lunch meat for over a century, first appearing in the United States in the early 20th century. Though it is beloved by Americans, it wasn't born in America. Like how Champagne comes from Champagne, bologna does, in fact, come from Bologna, Italy, where mortadella — a pork mixture often cut with pistachios, rolled, and baked before slicing — reigns supreme. While mortadella is deeply linked to the region — it earned its Indicazione Geografica Protetta, which protects the name of a food or wine of a specific region, in 1998— variations on the recipe took the name of it's hometown instead. 

Like much of food history, how Italian mortadella made it's way to America and eventually evolved into bologna isn't clear, but it is said to have been popularized in America by German immigrants. One, in particular, helped turn it into a booming product with a household name; that was Oscar F. Mayer.

Born in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Oscar F. Mayer came to Detroit at the age of 14, where he lived for three years before moving to Chicago to work in meatpacking, opening his first butcher shop in 1883 with his brother, Gottfried. 

Sausages and bologna were having a bit of a moment at the time, growing in popularity with the glamorous debut of the hot dog at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Not long after, a meat-slicing machine was invented and soon became a fixture in delis and butcher shops, forever changing processed meats and the way we eat them. Mayer was ready to take advantage of the boom, growing his business and eventually purchasing a meatpacking plant in Madison, Wisconsin in 1919. By 1920, it was the fifth-largest plant of its kind in America. 

Bologna grew even more popular in the early 20th century due to its affordability, particularly during war time and the Great Depression. Oscar Mayer (the company) had steadily grown throughout the '20s, and was ready to capitalize on the unfortunate moment. The company had put extra emphasis on marketing and branding in the '30s, labelling its products so consumers could identify the company name and debuting the Wienermobile in 1936.  Arguably the first modern day food truck, the now iconic hot dog-shaped vehicle was a rolling advertisement in its purest form.

Oscar Mayer continued to be at the forefront of advertising, distribution, engineering, and food technology research. The brand honed in on packaging their meats, and later introduced the first vacuum-sealed package, the "Slice Pak," in 1950, keeping products fresher for an extended period of time. The company was transforming the meat market, and by the early '60s, Oscar Mayer had become America's leading manufacturer of branded processed meats.

Oscar Mayer helped grow bologna's popularity throughout its history, but the company's brilliant marketing and branding strategy throughout the '60s and '70s — including one of the most recognizable advertisements ever made — helped skyrocket its popularity further. 

If you're a millennial or older, chances are that Oscar Mayer's famous jingles live in your brain rent-free. "Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener," written by Richard D. Trentlage in 1962, was the result of a contest the company held for an advertising campaign. Trentlage, who had written jingles for other heavyweights including McDonald's and V8, wrote the tune in one hour and recorded the piece with his daughter and son. The song debuted a year later, and wasn't retired until 2010.

In 1974, Oscar Mayer dropped another banger: "My Bologna Has a First Name" by Vice President of Marketing, Jerry Ringlien. The ad campaign, which was intended to boost both sales and moods during the Vietnam War, went viral with a simple commercial, in which a young boy sings, "My bologna has a first name. It's O-S-C-A-R. My bologna has a second name. It's M-A-Y-E-R." Not only did the ad bring joy with its catchy tune and teach the masses how to properly spell bologna, it also cemented Oscar Mayer's connection to bologna. Although Oscar Mayer and bologna had always been linked, the jingle, established them as essentially synonymous. I guess you could say the company has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A.