A. J.
Cripe had operated bakeries in Garnett, Hutchison and
St. Joseph, Mo and had been in the baking business his
entire life. When he sold his last plant in St. Joseph,
in 1935, he chose Pittsburg as the next home of his bakery
ventures. He began the bakery with 14 employees. By 1965
he had two bakeries, one being added in 1956 at Independence,
KS, and a work force of 107 employees with an annual
payroll of over $500,000.His bakery products became known
as “Town
Talk” and
continued well into the 1970’s using old bakery
procedures, well after the industry had changed its processes.
Mr. Cripe believed in quality over efficiency. By 1965
he was the largest independently owned bakery plant operating
in Kansas. |
