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L. Teweles Seed Co. was created in 1865 and became the second largest forage seed company in North America, only behind Northrup-King. Over the years the L. Teweles Seed Co. had many of the industry’s firsts which include, putting seed in a handy sized bags, bulk seed handling, dying bluegrass seed blue and radio advertisings. The firm was a family run business over 4 generations until it was later acquired by Kent Feeds, Inc. of Muscatine, Iowa in 1972 for an undisclosed amount.

History

Ludwig Teweles create the L. Teweles Seed Co. in 1865 he first started selling chicken feathers, seeds and feed. Teweles was immigrant from Bohemia; he opened a general store in Kellnersville, a produce business in Sheboygan, and a seed company in Milwaukee and started the L. Teweles Seed Co, in 1865. His business grew quickly and became a powerhouse in seed production in the Midwest. In 1918 the firm built the tallest building on the south side of Milwaukee, a 12-story reinforced concrete warehouse and production plant. The building is still standing today and is a renovated apartment complex. Teweles Seed separated themselves from the industry in the 1920s when Hugo Teweles came up with the innovation of branding seed. During WWII there was tremendous demand for seed by foreign wartorn countries, including Germany and England. Teweles was allocated by the US government to ship 6,000,000 pound of seed to Germany alone. L. Teweles Seed Co. continued to be a leader in seed production with their expanding product line and focus on ground breaking research. Teweles believed in research of producing hybrid seed. In 1950 the firm was first to enter private research to create hybrid seed, most notably corn, and alfalfa. From 1950 to 1964 the company began to completely focus on research, over that time research spending increased by 400%. Teweles Seed claim to be the pioneer of the world's first alfalfa hybrid. In July 1972 the L. Teweles Seed Co. was acquired by the Kent Feeds Inc. and to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kent that September.

Brands

Teweles Seed was known for branding their seeds. Forage seeds were sold with a grade of prime, choice or fancy before before Hugo Teweles, a zoo buff, was given credit for branding the seed grades during the 1920s. They used Badger brand as the top quality, with two lesser qualities Buffalo brand and Elk brand. The firm set itself apart from others by selling smaller bags of seed. Seed began to be sold in smaller bags, 60 pounds for alfalfa, clovers, etc. and 45 pounds for timothy-grass, with orchard and brome grass in 50-pound bags. Previously, the legumes had been in 150-pound grain bags, timothy in 125 pounders, with orchard and brome grass in 100’s. The slogan for the Badger brand in the 1950s was “More PURE-LIVE seed for your money.”

L. Teweles Seed Co. also played a role in the consumer market. The division went by the name of Teweles Lawn Systems Products with the slogan of "Look for big red T." Products that they offered were various blends of lawn grass seed and lawn treatment products. Lawn blends included; Formula 88, Executive and Leisure.

Family

Ludwig Teweles, born in Austria, founded the L. Teweles Seed Co., in 1865. Died from heart failure early July, could be the 8th or 9th of 1917 and was 76 years old. He had five sons, Hugo, Max, Edwin, Oscar and Arthur.

Oscar Teweles died, 66, in the Hotel Astor fire of Milwaukee in the mid thirties. Oscar lived in Hotel Astor for years and was a deaf mute after suffering a stroke. He was retired at the time of his death and once held the positions of assistant secretary and treasurer.

Hugo Teweles died at 57 June 11, 1929 was president of the firm and was son of Ludwig Teweles. Born in 1872 in Sheboygan and moved to Milwaukee 1884. Lawrence and Richard Teweles are his sons.

Lawrence Teweles dies of a heart attack Jan 6 1967. First joined the firm in 1919 then became president in 1952 until 1960. He was chairman of the board in 1967. L. William Teweles and Robert L. were the sons of Lawrence Teweles.

L. William Teweles worked for the family business from 1946 until July, 1972. He was president for 12 of those years.

Robert Teweles was executive vice president of Teweles in 1972.

References

1. ^ Divine, Gene (08/08/1964). "Teweles Seed 100 Years Old". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ Teweles, L. William. "quest fo a history of the seed undustry". SeedQuest.com. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
3. ^ "Kent Feeds Buys Seed Firm Here". The Milwaukee Journal. 1972-07-21. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
4. ^ "Teweles Seed Tower". Retrieved 4 January 2013.
5. "Seed Scarcity Seen for U.S." The Milwaukee Sentinel. 02/13/1946. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Advertisement". Ludington Daily News. 02/09/1956. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "Advertisement". The Milwaukee Journal. 5/4/1962. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. ^ "Death of Ludwig Teweles". The Grain Dealers Journal. 1. XXXIX: 160. 07/10/1917. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
9. ^ "By-the-Ways". Flour and Feed. 1. 18: 13. 1917. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
10. ^ "Arthur Teweles". The Milwaukee Journal. 12/21/1943. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ "Invalid, Nurse Fire Victums". The Milwaukee Journal. 02/18/1935. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "Rites Teweles to be Thursday". The Milwaukee. 06/12/1929. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. ^ "Lawrence Teweles Dies". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 01/06/1967. Retrieved 4 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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