Tillie Lewis: World’s tomato queen

Tillie Lewis, America’s first woman in foods, explains the exclusive and patented process that makes Tasti-Diet Fruits sweet, delicious, firm – entirely unlike any other diet fruits.In 1916, 15-year-old Brooklyn native Myrtle Ehrlich quit high school after one year to marry a wholesale grocer and to work in his business. When she noticed the high demand for the imported cans of firm-bodied, pear-shaped Italian tomatoes (pomodoros) used by the best cooks to make spaghetti sauce, she had an idea — “Why not grow pomodoros domestically?” She consulted with the agriculture specialists at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, who advised that pomodoros could not be grown in American soil. Discouraged (and divorced after a short time), she moved on, studying business and briefly selling securities on Wall Street.

In 1934, the federal government raised the tariff on imported tomato products by 50 percent. Once again Myrtle decided to pursue the possibility of growing the pomodoro domestically. An upcoming vacation to Italy provided the perfect opportunity. There she met Florindo del Gaizo, an Italian exporter who was worried about losing his American customers. Myrtle procured pomodoro seeds, and she talked Florindo into staking $10,000 to acquire appropriate lands and to establish a cannery in Stockton, California, although other sources put this figure at $50,000. They partnered to create the Flotill Foods Corp. and hired Stockton farmers to experiment. Needless to say, the experiment was a success — pomodoro tomatoes grew beautifully in California!

Myrtle’s next step was to talk the Pacific Can Company into building a plant in Stockton with an option for her to buy it. On July 13, 1935, her 34th birthday, the first Flotill cannery opened in Stockton. Florindo died in 1937. Myrtle persuaded the Bank of Stockton to lend her $100,000 to buy her partner’s interest. By December 1937, she had paid back the loan and was the sole owner and manager of Flotill Foods – the first cannery owned by a woman. 

By 1940, San Joaquin County had become the top tomato-producing county in the United States. Flotill diversified into canned fruits and vegetables, baby foods and frozen juices. During the Korean War, Flotill was the largest canner of C-rations for the U.S. Army.

In 1951, pear-shaped tomatoes made up about 10 percent of California’s crop. Flotill, renamed Tillie Lewis Foods Inc., was one of the five largest canning companies in the United States with a profit of $30 million. Tillie Lewis (Myrtle Ehrlich’s adopted business name) was named “businesswoman of the year” by the Associated Press. 

In celebration of Women’s History Month 2010, Tillie Lewis’ biographer, historian Kyle Tobin Williams, pointed out that Tillie Lewis and Stockton weren’t always on friendly terms. “She was a woman in power, a Jew, and did many things that were revolutionary for her time. These practices included: employment and promotion of minorities, company day care and aid to her employees’ education. She was a great manager. She knew how to earn loyalty and did it so well that her retired employees are devoted to her to this day. She had a huge impact on Mexican-Americans and helped them achieve the American dream. She was brazen, dazzling, and brilliant!”

SOURCE for Kyle Tobin Williams quote is his presentation, “From Pauper to Princess: Tillie Lewis, ‘Secrets to Making it Big in a Bad Economy.’ ”

TOBY ROSSNER (tobyross@cox.net) was the director of media services at the Bureau of Jewish Education from 1978 to 2002.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final article in the series on the history of Jewish women entrepreneurs.