Erma Perham Proetz (1891 – August 1944) was an
American advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
executive and the first woman inducted into the
Advertising Hall of Fame The Advertising Hall of Fame, operated by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), began in 1948 as a result of a proposal by the New York Ad Club and its president, Andrew Haire, to the Advertising Federation of America, the predecessor organiza ...
, in 1952.
[Staff report (August 8, 1944). Mrs. Arthur Proetz: One of the Nation's Outstanding Women Advertising Executives. '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
A
copywriter, she did most of her noted work at
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
firm Gardner Advertising Company. There, her work for the
PET Milk Company, makers of
evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...
, was instrumental. She created a PET milk
test kitchen
A test kitchen is a kitchen used for the process of developing new kinds of food. On the largest scale, they are run by the research and development departments of large companies in the food industry. Other test kitchens are owned by individuals ...
and developed
recipes. Under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Mary Lee Taylor, Proetz wrote articles and made radio broadcasts sharing her ideas with consumers. The character, Mary Lee Taylor, was billed as "nutritionist and home economist" for the PET Milk Company. The show that debuted at the height of the
Great Depression with "Mary Lee Taylor" initially providing economic recipes, various cooking tips and, of course, clever ways to cook with the sponsor's product, PET Milk.
Eventually, the segments expanded to 30 minutes and the format changed. The first half of the show featured a soap opera called "The Story of the Week", which centered on a young married couple, Jim and Sally Carter. The second half of the show featured Mary Lee Taylor and her PET Milk infused recipes. In the 1940s, she starting offering free recipe books by mail for the listeners, booklets that are highly sought after by cooking enthusiasts even today.
The show ran for 20 years and was aired on 200 stations at its height. In 1935 ''
Fortune'' named her as one of the 16 outstanding women in American business.
Erma Proetz's death in 1944 in no way stopped Mary Lee Taylor from continuing her radio cooking spots. The show moved to NBC in 1948 but Mary Lee Taylor couldn't make the jump to television. The last show was aired in 1954, a decade after Proetz's death.
She married
Arthur W. Proetz in 1918, and he became a noted Professor of Clinical Otolayrngology at the
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...
.
A collection of his letters to Erma is in the
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
archive.
The Erma Proetz Memorial Scholarship at
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is a part of Washington University in St. Louis. The Sam Fox School was founded in 2006 by uniting the academic units of Architecture and Art with the University's Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum to creat ...
in Washington University is named in her honor.
References
External links
Erma Perham Proetzvia Advertising Hall of Fame
Arthur W. Proetz Papers
*
Advertising Hall of Fame
1891 births
1944 deaths
{{US-business-bio-1890s-stub
20th-century American businesspeople
Washington University in St. Louis people