The bottle’s namesake, August Bauer, followed by several generations of his family, operated a Williamsburg, Brooklyn and later, Ridgewood, Queens food business that manufactured and bottled mustard, horseradish, relish, pickles and beets. In business for well over 100 years, their marquee product was called “Bauer’s Mustard.”
August Bauer (sometimes Baner) was born in Germany in 1853 and arrived in New York sometime in the mid-1880’s (1883 in the 1900 census or 1885 in the 1910 census). He initially settled in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where as early as 1886/1887 he was listed in the Brooklyn directories with an address of 110 Hopkins Street and the occupation “horseradish. By 1889/1890 he had moved to 139 Meserole Street where, up through 1904, the directory’s listed his occupation as either “horseradish” or “pickles. At the same time, 1900 census records indicate that the same Meserole Street address also served as Bauer’s residence, suggesting it was a small, local business.
Sometime in the mid-1900’s the business moved to Ridgewood, Queens where, by 1909, it was listed in the Brooklyn/Queens telephone book at 1446 Metropolitan Avenue. Sometime in the mid-to-late 1920’s, renumbering of the Queens street system changed the address to 5338 Metropolitan Avenue.
Early on, August’s 19 year-old son had gotten involved in the business as well, listing his occupation as “delicatessen laborer” in 1900 census records, and “bottler pickle works” in 1910 records. At some point, another son, Rudolph, also joined the business and, by 1920, census records suggest the sons were running the business. This was certainly the case in 1927 when this advertisement found in the June 23rd edition of the “Brooklyn Times Union” listed the company name as A. Bauer’s Sons, Inc.
The above advertisement suggests that by then their mustard was the company’s most notable product and it became even more so when, in 1932, Bauer’s mustard won the grand prize at a Paris, France exposition. A story in the February 15, 1932 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Times” made the announcement.
WINS PARIS MEDAL
August Bauer’s Sons, Inc. Sweep Salon With Their Mustard
August Bauer’s Sons, Inc., of 5338 Metropolitan Ave., manufacturers of prepared mustard, horseradish and pickled condiments, have been awarded the grand prize medal and diploma for the quality and flavor of their mustard, which they entered in the International Commercial and Industrial Exposition, in Paris, Dec. 1931, at the Salon Du Progress.
August Bauer, now retired, started the business more than 30 years ago and only through quality, reputation and service has grown to its present size.
The concern, now called August Bauer’s Sons, Inc., has a very large trade in mustard and other products, particularly in the Metropolitan area.
The company soon followed up with a local advertisement that touted the mustard’s grand prize award.” It appeared in the February 25, 1932 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Times.”
The Bauer’s didn’t advertise much in the local newspapers but they did continue to take advantage of their Paris success and over the next three months occasionally ran these advertisements in the Brooklyn newspapers.
In 1940, Rudolph and Fred continued to run the business, each listing their occupation as “manager wholesale foods” that year in census records. By then the census records suggest their sons, August’s grandsons, also named Rudolph and Fred, had joined the business as well, listing their occupations as “labeler” and “wholesale clerk,” respectively.
As far as I can tell, over the next 50+ years, the company remained active in Ridgewood with their mustard occasionally appearing in newspaper advertisements for grocery stores and delicatessens. As late as April 21, 1994, a Poughkeepsie, New York delicatessen called Metzger’s included a bratwurst club sandwich with Bauer’s mustard as part of their “Travelers Lunch Express.”
At the turn of the century, the company was still active, though just barely, and still located at 5338 Metropolitan Avenue, in Ridgewood. At the time, according to an April 20, 1999 story in “Newsday” it was run by a fifth generation family member, Bart Druery. According to “Newsday:”
After illness forced Druerey’s bachelor great-uncle, Fred Bauer, to retire from the business in 1989, Druery visited the factory for the first time in 15 years… A check of the books showed that Bauer’s was in Druery’s words, “an old popular name without a company behind it.” For several years, Fred Bauer and a single employee had made just enough mustard to pay the bills.
The factory showed its age in every corner, from the stamped-tin ceilings to the worn floors, from the rusting fire escape to the aged brick-patterned asbestos siding that covered its brick walls. The machinery was old to ancient.
But for Druery, it represented an opportunity to run his own business… Druery rebuilt most of the machines but didn’t tamper with the old Bauer family recipe. “The mustard I make is the same mustard they were making here in 1920,” he says. Almost all of the production is what the trade calls a Dusseldorf mustard – hot but full-flavored, with a balance of sweet and bitter and sour, heightened with a dash of horseradish….
The story went on to say:
Now, Druery says, the mainstay of the business is “gallon containers that end up in delis.”
Bauer’s small jars do appear on store shelves as far away as Alaska, though most of them are sold in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens. King Kullen supermarkets carry it, so do some Karl Ehmer stores. In summer, demand in the Hamptons helps boost Bauer’s sales 20 percent…
Druery sells 10,000 to 15,000 cases a year, more than double what the company sold when he took over….The price is a killer, but its the quality of the mustard that’s keeping me in business.
As far as I can tell, at some point the manufacture of Brauer’s mustard was moved from Ridgewood to Long Island where Industrynet.com listed a company called A. Bauers Mustard, Inc. with an address of Brooklyn Rd., in Hempstead. As early as 2016, this November 20th story found in New York’s “Daily News” referred to the mustard as “Long Island-made A. Bauer’s mustard.”
Later Bauer’s mustard ads also exhibited the Hempstead location on the jar’s label.
How long the company remained in business is not clear but they’re certainly no longer in business today. A recent telephone call to the Bauer company’s phone number found on Industrynet.com responded with a taped message that said “they had no mustard in stock and no plans for making any.”
The bottle I found is machine made with a finish designed to accommodate a screw top. It’s 2-1/2 inches square and 6-inches tall. The embossed style of the company name closely resembles the style found in many of their 1932 newspaper advertisements, not to mention their recent label.
According to the February 25, 1932 advertisement pictured earlier in this post, the company was manufacturing mustard, horse radish, pickled beets, sweet relish and sweet pickles at the time.
This April/May 1932 advertisement pictured the company’s mustard packaged in a round barrel shaped jar.
So, this leaves relish, horseradish and pickles as options.
According to “StreetEasy.com,” the building that housed the business for over 100 years at 5338 Metropolitan Avenue was built in 1901. It apparently remains to this day and currently houses a tattoo parlor. Here’s today’s version courtesy of “Google Maps.”
