“What Is It Wednesday” Revealed – every Wednesday we post an unusual artifact from our collections and encourage viewers to guess the object. While this object is not on display, please visit the newly-renovated Nebraska History Museum at 15th & P Streets in Lincoln to see interesting Nebraska history like this on exhibit now! 11282-42 Salimeter from the Thiessen Pickle Company. The H. Thiessen Pickle Company was started in 1898 by Herman Thiessen in his apartment in Omaha. He had recently immigrated from northern Germany and had
August 24 What Is It Wednesday. Nebraska State Historical Society. Salimeter
worked for the Claussen Pickle Company in Chicago for two or three years before coming to Omaha. H. Thiessen Pickle Company purchased cucumbers from growers in west central Minnesota and from Japanese-American produce farmers along the Platte River valley in northeastern Colorado. For awhile pickles were purchased from growers around Omaha, but their quality was not as good because of the hot, humid climate there. In the growing districts there were salting stations, where the cucumbers were also sorted by size. The cucumbers were placed in brine solution and cured there over winter. In the spring they were removed from the tanks and shipped by rail to Omaha where the dill and other flavorings were added and they were bottled. They were marked locally under the Thiessen brand name. The Omaha pickling and bottling plant was located at 2101 South 24th Street. They also did extra label business, meaning that they sold pickles to other companies who would market them under their own corporate names. The main customer during the 1950s was Safeway. The business closed in 1961.