Oy Bay! The History of America's Beloved Spice Blend
From WWII Concentration Camp to Pantry Staple
There are few, if any, spice blends with a fandom like Old Bay. It can be found tattooed on people’s arms, printed on socks, swirled into ice cream, mixed in the tartar sauce on McDonald’s fish-filet sandwich, and has even been infused in an ale. When Old Bay released a limited-edition hot sauce it sold out in one hour.
Just Plain Crab
Before Old Bay was invented in the 1940s, steamed crab, the dish most associated with the blend, was virtually absent from cookbooks, even ones that were focused on local New England fare.
The story begins in 1906 in the town of Bastheim, Germany, when Gustav Brunn was 13 years old. He quit school because it was too expensive and began working as a tannery apprentice. In 1923, the value of the German mark plummeted and in turn, the fur business collapsed and the tannery closed.
Brunn bought the store and began selling spices to sausage makers, the beginning of his lifelong career in the spice industry. Brunn’s spice business was a success. That was, until 1933 when Hitler came to power. After moving his store to Frankfort in an effort to stay in business, Brunn and his family applied for visas to the United States. The plan was to leave by the end of 1938, but that changed on the night of November 10, 1938, Kristallnacht, when the Nazi regime arrested Jews on a massive scale.
The next day, Brunn was taken to Buchenwald concentration camp.
As they had already applied for and received American visas, they were able to escape with their two children to New York City and later Baltimore, Maryland, where Brunn had family. He had to leave virtually everything behind, but there was one item he couldn’t part with: his spice grinder. Brunn founded the Baltimore Spice Company on the second floor of 26 Market Place, across from the bustling fish market.
Soon, seafood vendors were stopping in his store, searching for spices for steaming crabs. Brunn took note of what they ordered — a mix of pepper, salt, and mustard — and began experimenting with his own blends.
Enter Old Bay, a kitchen sink of 18 spices. Brunn tinkered with the mix, adding spices with results that even he didn’t expect. The minor things he put in there — the most unlikely things, including cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves — which had nothing to do with crabs at all — gave a background bouquet that he couldn’t have anticipated…Old Bay, per se, was almost an accident.”
Brunn gave samples of his new spice blend to the seafood vendors across the street. Customers liked it - but it needed a name.
Originally he called it “Delicious Brand Shrimp and Crab Seasoning” but that was quite a mouthful. At the time, a well-known Baltimore steamship company was named the “Old Bay Line” and as a sort of tribute Brunn trademarked his blend “Old Bay,” giving his spice blend an instant feeling of tradition and a strong regional identity.
THE BIG RIVAL
Also located in Baltimore was the worlds biggest spice maker, McCormick and Company, and they noticed Old Bay’s rising demand. In fact, for a brief period of time, Brunn had worked for them.
McCormick wasn't fooling around. They tried to buy Brunn out, but Brunn rejected every bid. In retaliation they blocked Brunn at every turn using their influence to stop his membership in the American Spice Trade Association by threatening to leave.
For decades Brunn’s only competition was his former employer McCormick, which created its own copycat blend, packaging their seasoning in virtually identical yellow, blue, and red tin cans.
Brunn, in a genius campaign of deception, listed 18 ingredients on the Old Bay label, despite there being only four principal spices (celery salt, crushed red pepper, paprika, and black pepper). The trick worked, with McCormick failing time and again to mimic Brunn’s magic.
It took 50 years, but McCormick finally acquired Old Bay in 1985, when Brunn passed away at the age of 92. It cost them $14 million — a price of over $40 million in todays money.
Today, Brunn’s original spice grinder—the size of a whiskey barrel—is on display at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. daringgourmet.com; myjewishlearning.com