Herman Lay
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Herman W. Lay
| image = Herman W. Lay.png
| alt =
| caption = Portrait of Herman Lay as Chairman of the Board of PepsiCo, 1969
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth-date|March 6, 1909}}
| birth_place = Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
| death_date = {{death-date and age|December 6, 1982|March 6, 1909}}
| death_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Businessman, philanthropist
| known_for =
}}
Herman Warden Lay (March 6, 1909 – December 6, 1982) was an American businessman who was involved in potato chip manufacturing with his eponymous brand of Lay's potato chips. He started H.W. Lay Co., Inc., now part of the Frito-Lay corporation, a subsidiary of PepsiCo.[http://www.cmstory.org/people/people.asp?id=1261426363 Charlotte Mecklenburg Library] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130414113201/http://www.cmstory.org/people/people.asp?id=1261426363 |date=April 14, 2013 }}
Early life
Lay was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 6, 1909.{{cite book|first1=Laura|last1=Lee|title=The Name's Familiar: Mr. Leotard, Barbie, and Chef Boy-Ar-Dee|publisher=Pelican Publishing|year=1999|page=159|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-tNsbAhFiIC&dq=%22Herman+Lay%22&pg=PA159|isbn=1-56554-394-7}} His father, Jesse N. Lay, worked for International Harvester, first as a bookkeeper in Charlotte and later as a commercial salesman in Columbia, South Carolina, where the family moved. By 1920, they moved to Greenville, South Carolina. In 1922 his mother died of cancer and his father remarried. He then attended Furman University on an athletic scholarship for two years, but did not graduate.
Career
He began his career at Sunshine Biscuits and was laid off because of the Great Depression.[http://www.cbe.csueastbay.edu/~sbesc/layaward.html The Smith Center for Private Enterprise Studies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730092948/http://www.cbe.csueastbay.edu/~sbesc/layaward.html |date=July 30, 2012 }}Dirk E. Burhans, Crunch!: A History of the Great American Potato Chip, Terrace Books, 2008, p. 40 [https://books.google.com/books?id=U4tqtcJGMEkC&dq=%22Herman+Lay%22&pg=PA40] He then worked as a traveling salesman for the Barrett Food Company, when he delivered potato chips to his customers in his Ford Model A.[http://www.fritolay.com/about-us/history.html Frito Lay history] His territory eventually expanded and his profits began to grow. In 1932, he borrowed US$100 and founded the H.W. Lay Distributing Company based in Atlanta, Georgia, a distributor for the Barrett Food Products Company, and began to hire employees.[http://www.pepsico.com/Story/Happy-50th-anniversary-Frito-Lay----PEPline-looks-back-at-FLNAs-history09292011.html Happy 50th anniversary, Frito-Lay -- PEPline looks back at FLNA's history] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130201002042/http://www.pepsico.com/Story/Happy-50th-anniversary-Frito-Lay----PEPline-looks-back-at-FLNAs-history09292011.html |date=February 1, 2013 }}, Pesico Press release, September 29, 2011[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/diffs Texas State Historical Association]{{Cite web |url=http://www.sfa.org/sfa/news.php?id=60 |title=Snack Food Association |access-date=November 19, 2012 |archive-date=November 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129044608/http://www.sfa.org/sfa/news.php?id=60 |url-status=dead }} He peddled potato chips from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee.Lovedeep Kaur, Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, Academic Press, 2009, p. 28 [https://books.google.com/books?id=j6cmAxf6ofoC&dq=%22Herman+Lay%22&pg=PA28] By 1937, he had 25 employees, and had begun producing his own line of snack foods.
The H.W. Lay & Company merged with The Frito Company in September 1961, creating the largest-selling snack food company in the United States, the Frito-Lay corporation.[https://www.wsj.com/ad/article/sir-brand-dallas The Wall Street Journal, Dallas] In 1965, Herman W. Lay (chairman and chief executive officer of Frito-Lay) and Donald M. Kendall (President and chief executive officer of Pepsi-Cola) merged the two companies and formed PepsiCo, Inc.[http://www.pepsico.com/Company/Our-History/1965.html PepsiCo, Our history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606184847/http://www.pepsico.com/Company/Our-History/1965.html |date=June 6, 2012 }}
A philanthropist, he helped found the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE).
Personal life
Lay married Sarah Amelia "Mimi" Harper{{Cite web |url=https://www.apsu.edu/news/apsu-benefactor-alumna-heiress-frito-lay-co-dies |title=APSU benefactor, alumna, heiress to Frito-Lay Co. dies |access-date=April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926033147/http://www.apsu.edu/news/apsu-benefactor-alumna-heiress-frito-lay-co-dies |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |url-status=dead |publisher=Austin Peay State University|last1=Burke|first1=Dennie B. |date=October 30, 2007}} and had four children. He died at the age of 73 on December 6, 1982. His late son, Herman Warden Lay Jr., was a Dallas-based co-founder of a bottling company in Mexico for Pepsi and 7 Up.{{cite web|first1=Joe|last1=Simnacher|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20111028-herman-warden-lay-jr.-son-of-snack-icon-who-found-his-own-success-in-business-dies-at-66.ece|title=Herman Warden Lay Jr., son of snack icon who found his own success in business, dies at 66|website=The Dallas Morning News|date=28 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101110432/http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20111028-herman-warden-lay-jr.-son-of-snack-icon-who-found-his-own-success-in-business-dies-at-66.ece}}
Legacy
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a room named after him.[http://www.uschamber.com/about/meetingspace/herman-lay U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Meeting Space] His alma mater, Furman University, offers a scholarship in his name.[http://www2.furman.edu/admission/EngageFurman/FinancialInformation/Pages/Meritbased.aspx Furman University scholarships]
The Furman University Herman W. Lay Physical Activities Center is named after him.[http://www2.furman.edu/ATHLETICS/ATHLETICS/PAC/Pages/default.aspx Physical Activities Center] Furman University.
The Lay Ornamental Garden in the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is named after him.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dallasarboretum.org/Gardens/Lay_Ornamental_Garden.htm |title=Lay Ornamental Garden |access-date=November 19, 2012 |archive-date=May 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510215149/http://dallasarboretum.org/Gardens/Lay_Ornamental_Garden.htm |url-status=dead }}
In 1975, Lay received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lay, Herman}}
Category:Businesspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina
Category:Businesspeople from Atlanta
External links
- {{Findagrave|13786341}}