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In 1951, Henry Green Parks, Jr. (1916-1989), had an abandoned dairy plant in Baltimore, Maryland and a shoestring budget. Parks began the Parks Sausage Company, using his tasty southern recipes for sausage and other products. When Parks began in 1951, there were two employees; these two eventually grew into 240 employees with multi-million dollar operations and annual sales exceeding $14 million. In 1969, the company became the first African American owned publicly traded company and Black Enterprise continually cited H. G. Parks, Inc., as one of the top 100 black firms in the country. Parks registered several trademarks, but the radio and television commercial featuring a child's voice is probably the most famous. "More Parks Sausages, mom." After consumer complaints about the youngster's perceived disrespect, Parks added the word "please" to his slogan and the cry, "More Parks Sausages, Mom, please" became the familiar call. That call combined with the aroma of sausage and scrapple cooking in kitchens along the American east coast has made it a little easier for kids and their parents to come to the breakfast table in the morning. Parks sold his interest in the company for $1.58 million in 1977, but remained on the board of directors until 1980. Parks also served on the corporate boards of Magnovox, First Penn Corp., Warner Lambert Co., and W.R. Grace Co., and was a trustee of Goucher College of Baltimore. He died on April 14, 1989, at the age of 72. |
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Work Cited: H. G. Parks |
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