H.J. Heinz Company Hitch

On Delivery (1903)

Photo:  Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

Library & Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

In the early 1870s, the H.J. Heinz Co. operated out of a two-story Sharpsburg farmhouse along the northern edge of Pittsburgh.  They delivered their products by horse-drawn wagons.  

Henry J. Heinz was born in Pittsburgh in 1844, of German ancestry.  He began his life-long food business career -- not with pickles or ketchup -- it was with horseradish. 

Heinz was still a boy when he began bottling and selling "Heinz Horse Radish" using a keystone-shaped label representing the Keystone State of Pennsylvania. 

Henry J. Heinz on Horseback

Credit:  Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

In 1869 Heinz got married, and partnered in business with L.C. Noble.  They bottled Anchor Brand food products at the Heinz homestead, which became their headquarters. Their quick growth of establishing branches in Chicago and St. Louis caused Heinz and Noble to go bankrupt in 1875.  In 1876, Henry and two of his brothers "got back on the horse" and started all over again as F. & J. Heinz Company, getting their head-above-water financially in 1879.  

In 1888 the company changed its name to H. J. Heinz Company and moved forward in building their "Heinz Complex" in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania.  During this time, H. J. Heinz Company produced chili sauce, mincemeat, baked beans, tomato sauce, macaroni and 

spaghetti with cheese, fruit butters, piccalilli, currant jelly, cherry and pineapple preserves, Worcestershire sauce, mustard dressing and other preparations.  Presently, the Heinz Company manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six continents, and markets these products in more than 200 countries and territories.

The company has used its "57 Varieties" slogan since 1896, even though there were already at 60 products at that time.  

The Heinz Company's distribution was well-known and recognized due to its elegance of delivery service.  The horses were pure black Percherons, bred originally as warhorses rather than draft horses. The horse-drawn delivery wagon was usually painted white with green trimmings, carrying boxes of Heinz products.  

Delivering Pickling Barrels, Pittsburgh, PA (1888)

Photo:  From E. Willard Miller, Keystone to Progress, An Illustrated History
Windsor Publications (1986)

The quality of the horses was demanded in that the company's name was associated with the presentation of the delivery years ago, and then again in its exhibition hitch of recent years.  

Heinz Hitch Postcard (1989)

The horses needed to be well taken care of, happy, well-shod and clean, bringing recognition to the brand name.  Heinz demanded that his horses maintained a certain conformity in weight, size, type and color, and they were housed in his stables which were known as their "equine palaces."  

H. J. Heinz Company had over 150 teams of Percherons operating out of its Allegheny City facilities.  From 1894, Heinz Company shipped vinegar and pickles by means of rail.  

Heinz was one of the first industrial employers of women who worked in a spotless factory.  Their physical and moral welfare was carefully guarded, as "The Heinz Girls" had their medical and dental bills covered by the company.

Labeling Machine (1901)

Photo:  Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania

Library & Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

The Heinz Hitch was used for marketing and was seen in parades around the United States and Canada from 1984 (debuting at the Pittsburgh Labor Day Parade).  Dalmatians (one was appropriately named "H.J." back in 2002) and "Susan Pickles," a bleary-eyed Basset Hound, accompanied the hitch throughout the exhibition years.  The harness was handcrafted by the Amish in Central Ohio in patent leather with all chrome hardware and fittings, weighing approximately 74 pounds each set.  Unfortunately, the company's officials announced in May 2007 that they could not keep spending $500,000 annually on a program whose marketing impact was difficult to measure.  

"The decision to cease funding of the hitch was one that Heinz wrestled with for a number of years."  With that, the company notified John Dryer (whose family owned the hitch operation and stabled the horses on its Washington County farm) and the sponsorship ended.  Heinz agreed to fund the appearances already agreed to and on the books for 2007. 

John Dryer

"Nothing lasts forever in this age."
"I've been all over the world with the hitch, but my wife hasn't.  It might be time to show her some of it."

Mr. Dryer worked for Heinz for 32 years, retiring in 1992 from his position as General Manager of Research and Product Quality Assurance.

Click and watch the Heinz Hitch exhibition at 

Spruce Meadows in Alberta in 2003

Heinz History Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Heinz hitch wagon is a 6,800 pound antique Studebaker that traveled 57,000 miles a year over two decades promoting the Pittsburgh condiment-maker's products.  The wagon was found uncovered in a roofless shed in central Pennsylvania in 1978 with a tree growing up through its bed.  Built in Indiana in the 1850s, shipped to the east coast by rail, this same wagon hauled Heinz products around Philadelphia at the turn of the last century. Heinz purchased it in 1986, and two years later, spent $22,000 to have it refurbished by expert craftsmen.  It took more than six months and 19 coats of paint on the initial refurbishment, and received only one more complete face lift in 1998.  This heavy-duty hitch wagon served as the "tandem" trailer trucks of their time.  Its home is now in The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and the largest history museum in Pennsylvania.

The H. J. Heinz hitch "wowed" the crowds through the years at five Rose Bowl parades, the Calgary Stampede, and countless county fairs, exhibitions, Fourth of July and other holiday parades.

Horse Drawn Caisson at Arlington Cemetery
Passing Christmas Wreaths
Photo:  Don Harper

In August of 2007, The H.J. Heinz Company formally announced that it would donate its hitch horses to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) where they were used to pay homage to fallen soldiers (and former Presidents and other statesmen) at Arlington National Cemetery. This ensured that the horses would be well cared for throughout their lifetime as they participated in some of the eight full-honor military funerals per day in Arlington while living at Fort Myer, adjacent to the cemetery.

Fort Myer, Virginia traces its origin as a military post to the Civil War.  In 1887, Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, the Army's commanding general, decided Fort Myer should become the nation's cavalry showplace. The cavalrymen moved in, including the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported by the 16th Field Artillery Regiment, and the communications people moved out. Fort Myer became home to as many as 1500 horses from 1887 to 1949, and horse care was of utmost importance then and now.

All of the horses at Fort Myer have a full-time dedicated caretaker and veterinarian, and more than 40 other horses for company. Those other horses in the stable have various honor duties, including taking part in therapeutic riding programs for injured military personnel.

In February 2013, the Heinz Company was eventually sold to Warren Buffet's Birkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital for $23 billion dollars.  Other product lines that you might recognize and might not know are Heinz products include: HP Sauce, Lea and Perrin's sauce, Ore-Ida and Tater Tots potato products, TGI Friday's, Weight Watchers, and several others brands. 

On an interesting note:  For many years, Heinz supplied McDonald's with ketchup.  In October 2013, McDonald's ceased this relationship after 40 years, and decided to transition business to other suppliers.  This was due to the then-recent management changes where 3G Capital (part-owner of Burger King) / Heinz hired the former Burger King CEO, Bernardo Hees, as president of Heinz.  However, many McDonald's locations overseas still use Heinz Ketchup.

"To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success." 
~ H.J. Heinz

A motto to strive to live by, here at Eaglesfield Percherons.