Inheriting a 20 million dollar fortune at age 27, Marjorie Merriweather Post transformed her father’s Postum Cereal Company into the massive General Foods Corporation. During a mid-century career, she pioneered the commercial frozen food market and established herself as one of the most prominent American figures in both large-scale industry and high-society philanthropy.
Building General Foods
Post assumed control of the Postum Cereal Company in 1914 following the death of C. W. Post. Alongside her husband E. F. Hutton, she expanded the firm by acquiring significant food brands, including Jell-O, Maxwell House, and Baker’s Chocolate. In 1929, the enterprise was rebranded as the General Foods Corporation. While traveling on her yacht, the Hussar, she identified the potential of Clarence Birdseye’s flash-freezing technology. She acquired his company, appointed him vice president, and introduced the first commercial freezers to the marketplace.
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Her charitable commitments spanned several decades and sectors. She funded a United States Army hospital in France during World War I, later receiving the Legion of Honour as a Commander. During the Great Depression, she personally supervised a Salvation Army feeding station in New York. Post also donated the funds for the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Washington and received the Silver Fawn Award in 1971. Her contributions to the arts included 100,000 dollars for the National Cultural Center and consistent financing for the National Symphony’s youth concert programs.
Art Collecting and Estates
An avid collector, Post acquired significant Imperial-era Russian art during the 1930s. She and her third husband, Joseph E. Davies, purchased these items from the Soviet government. These pieces, along with French furniture and Fabergé works, are now housed at her former residence, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Her other notable residence, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, was designed by Marion Sims Wyeth and Joseph Urban. Though she willed the property to the federal government for presidential use, Congress eventually relinquished the estate, which was subsequently sold in 1986.
Fast facts
- Born: 1887, Springfield
- Died: 1973, Hillwood Estate
- Education: George Washington University
- Key Business: General Foods Corporation
- Notable Award: Legion of Honour
- Burial Site: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
Questions readers ask
What significant art is held at Hillwood?
The estate houses a substantial collection of Imperial-era Russian art, French furniture, Sèvres porcelain, tapestries, and paintings.
What happened to the Mar-a-Lago estate after she died?
Post willed the mansion to the federal government for use as a presidential retreat, but Congress later repealed the acceptance, leading to its private sale.
Achievements
- Legion of Honour
- Educated at George Washington University
