History of The Beckman & Gast Co.
Our history begins a few years prior to owning a canning operation.
November 6, 1919 Ms. Leona Beckman and Mr. Lewis Gast are married, and
hence a partnership is formed that would forge the lives of many
throughout the next century.
Three short years later
another partnership is formed and The Beckman and Gast Co. is born.
In July of 1922 Henry Beckman, Luke Beckman (Leona’s father and
brother) and Lewis Gast purchase a dry goods store in downtown St.
Henry. Just six years later
the partnership would be canning tomatoes.
In 1907 Mr. Leatherbury of
Circleville, Ohio builds and operates the Pioneer Canning Co at our
current location. The
canning factory packs 35,000 cases of tomatoes the first year.
The following year Mr. Warvell joins the operation and introduces
“Warvell’s Wheat”. The
company changes hands over the next several years settling with the B.
H. Macke Canning Co. In the
early months of 1928 a deal is struck and the Beckman and Gast partners
are proud owners of The Beckman & Gast Canning Co.
In February 1928 Luke Beckman and Lewis Gast opened their new company
for business. The duo turned
their attention to operating their new canning company.
In the fall of 1928 the company processed tomatoes, tomato juice,
red beets, carrots, pumpkin, and dry beans.
Later that year they purchased a glove factory to facilitate the
sale of their dry goods store.
In 1930 they sold the dry goods store to a local businessman and
purchased a 160-acre farm in Cranberry Prairie.
This purchase marks the beginning of our vertical integration of
farmer and processor.
July 1931 Luke and Lewis incorporate the business as “The Beckman & Gast Co., Inc.” Things are
going well for the new company until the onset of the great depression.
The company struggles through the hard years and is fortunate to
remain open. In 1935 a
stroke of luck comes their way.
The Beckman & Gast Co. enters into a contract to can, sell, and
distribute “Schell’s Genuine Turtle Soup.”
This product line paved the way for our company well into the
1960s. Beckman & Gast also
packed soup under their own name as “Beckmans Turtle Soup” and “Beckmans
Friday Chili”. The US Bureau
of Fishers titles Beckman & Gast as the largest packer of turtle soup in
the Unites States in the 1950s.
Production was as high as 30,000 cases per year.
Beckman & Gast continued to pack tomatoes and other products and
the business continued to grow.
In the late 1950s total production surpasses 100,000 cases per
year.
The 1950s were a period of great change for the company and the
partnership of Luke Beckman and Lewis Gast.
In 1943 Luke and Lewis purchase the Minster Canning Co. as a
partnership, they also purchase a canning factory in New Carlisle Ohio
in 1946. The New Carlisle
plant was sold in 1948 and in 1950 Lewis Gast sold his interest in the
Minster Canning Co. to Luke Beckman.
Also at that time Luke Beckman sold his shares of The Beckman &
Gast Co. to Lewis Gast and Sons.
Lewis and his sons opted to keep “The Beckman & Gast Co.” as the
corporate name. At that
point Luke Beckman and his family are operating the Minister Canning Co.
and Lewis and his sons are operating the canning factory in St. Henry.
The families mutually agreed this was for the best.
Lewis and his sons finish out the decade purchasing a facility in
Osgood, Ohio and begin canning green beans.
Today green beans are a large portion of our business.
By the 1960s the second generation of the Gast family control the
day-to-day operation of the canning company.
Lewis and Leona’s four sons (Jim, Bob, Bill, & John) and
son-in-law (Jack) all play major rolls in the operation of the company.
Once again things are going well for the company.
Early in the 1960s the firm purchases a farm to grown more of its
own vegetables. Until this
point the company relied heavily on local farmers for vegetables.
Today Beckman & Gast manages a large farm operation and has a few
local growers for vegetable production.
Through out the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s management progressed from the
second generation to the third. Bob and Bill’s family members began to
acquire ownership of the company. (Trish, Nick, Bo & Gary)
The company continued to grow.
New products, new production lines, new warehouses, new ideas and
old values were the all part of life for the Beckman & Gast
organization. By the turn of the
century the third generation was in complete control of the company.
