Dorothy Anker Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Dorothy Anker 3
. Did he continue the business in Leipzig after they started the one
in Koenigsberg?
A. Yes. He continued It in Leipzig, But he was not quite $0 well at
that time any more and the young man was a head of it. He had another
son In the business then in Leipzig and they continued in that way, Bat
the larger business developed out of Koenigsberg which later on spread
ton; we had another part of the business in Hamburg there.
Q. You also had warehouses there?
A. Yes. Bur more rented warehouses. We didn't own any. And my uncle
and my brother later on bought there and we had another branch in Paris,
Fr ance .
Q. You say it was a large firm and obviously it was with all these
branches. Rut physically how large was It in Koenigsberg? Did you have
several buildings?
A. We had two large warehouses and we had a pretty large office
building. And we employed about a hundred to a hundred and thirty
people.
. Were some of these women?
A. Yes, I mean some were women even In the warehouses who did some of
the hand sorted vegetables and of course secretaries in the office . , .
Q. You say hand sorting. Did you grade thaw by size or by quality?
A. Yes, both.
Q. Before they were shlpped?
A. Before they were shipped hecause certain firms wanted to have the
peas all the same size, Like Cross and Blackwell used to can peas and
make them mom into a vegetable, not only like for soups but into
vegetables that would be served at the table.
Q. Well now, were some of these shipped fresh? 1 thought you dried all
these vegetables in your plant. You didn't? Were some of them shipped
as fresh vegetables?
A. No, they were then half cooked and usEd as fresh vegetables.
Q. I see. But you did dry them before they were shipped out?
A. Ja, they came to us mostly dry.
Q, Oh, did they?
A. But sometimes the better buys, they hod gotten wet and because, T
mean lying in warehouses and being out in the open on ships and being
unloaded and reloaded, the things . . .
Dorothy Anker Memoir -- Archives, University of Illinois at Springfield