Oscar G. Mayer, the retired chairman of one of America’s best known hot dog and cold cut producers, Oscar Mayer Foods, has died at the age of 95.

Founded by German immigrant Oskar Ferdinand Mayer in 1989, Oscar Mayer were one of the first cold cuts manufacturers to start branding their products in 1904, and in 1906 amongst the first companies to voluntarily submit to the newly created Food Safety Inspection Service for testing the purity of their products.

Oscar G. Mayer was the third Oscar Mayer in the family – his grandfather, Oscar F. Mayer, died in 1955 and his father, Oscar G. Mayer Snr., died in 1965 – and transformed the small family business into one of the best known processed meat producers in America..

Mayer retired as chairman of the board in 1977 at age 62, soon after the company recorded its first $1 billion year.

The company was later sold to General Foods and is now a business unit of Kraft.

Mayer’s first wife, Rosalie, died in 1998 and he married Geraldine Fitzpatrick in 1999.

Many American’s will be surprised to learn of the existence of Mayer, let alone recognize him

The company used a dwarf, ‘Little Oscar,’ as its spokesman – by comparison, Mayer was a tall, dignified and courtly man, who rarely sought publicity.