Newman E. Drake (1860 – 1930) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Drake's, an American baking company now owned by

McKee Foods McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie ...

Biography

Early life

Newman E. Drake was born in

Andover, New Jersey Andover is a borough in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 595, a decrease of 11 (−1.8%) from the 2010 census count of 606, which in turn reflected a decline of ...

, on December 16, 1860. Newman was the eldest child of John B. Drake (1835–1916), a carpenter who later worked as a mechanic for the Sussex Railroad Company, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Stackhouse (1840–1908).

Drake's Cakes

In 1888, Drake established his company in Brooklyn as Drake Brothers, with a commercial bakery located at 1006 Wallabout Market in Brooklyn. The company's "Drake’s Cakes" sold

pound cake Pound cake is a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold. They are sometimes served either dusted with powd ...

by the slice. As the company expanded, it was renamed Drake Bakeries, Inc., and built a factory facility at 77 Clinton Avenue on the border of the

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the w ...

and Clinton Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Drake Bakeries was one of the few snack cake companies to be produced under kosher guidelines, not using lard or tallow which are prohibited under kosher food laws. In the 1960s, the Drake's brand—which involved familiar products including Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and its trademark round coffee cake—was purchased by large food manufacturing companies. It was first owned by Borden until 1987 when it was sold to

Ralston Purina Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's ...

, and operations were overseen by Ralston Purina's ITT Continental Baking Company. In 1991, it was sold to Culinar, and later

Interstate Bakeries Corporation Old HB, Inc., known as Hostess Brands from 2009 to 2013 and established in 1930 as Interstate Bakeries Corporation, was a wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States. Before its 2012 closure and liquidation, it owned ...

which acquired

Hostess Brands Hostess Brands Inc. is an American bakery company formed in 2013. Its main operating subsidiaries are Hostess Brands, LLC, and Voortman Cookies Limited. The company owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the ...

and

Wonder Bread Wonder Bread is an American brand of sliced bread. Established in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1921, it was one of the first companies to sell sliced bread nationwide by 1930. The brand is currently owned by Flowers Foods in the United States. His ...

. Hostess filed for bankruptcy liquidation in 2012 and shuttered its plants. On January 28, 2013,

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

(makers of

Little Debbie McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie ...

snack cakes) was the lead bidder for the Drake's brand and equipment.Choi, Candace
"Hostess picks Little Debbie maker for Drake's"
in the ''

Stamford Advocate ''The Advocate'' is a seven-day daily newspaper based in Stamford, Connecticut. The paper is owned and operated by Hearst Communications, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues. ''The Advocate'' circulates in ...

'' (January 28, 2013). Retrieved February 27, 2013.

Death and burial

Newman Drake died at

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450 bed non-profit, Tertiary care, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the reg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

on March 17, 1930. His wife, Elizabeth Drake, died October 29, 1940. Both were interred at a private family

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

in Tranquility Cemetery in the

Tranquility Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism—where the term refers to ...

section of

Green Township, New Jersey Green Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,627, an increase of 26 (+0.7%) from the 2010 U ...

Philanthropy to Newton, New Jersey

On September 5, 1928, Drake purchased of meadowland on the north side of Newton, which in November he and his wife donated as “a playground and general recreation field under direction of the Town of Newton.” Newton accepted the donation and in 1929 appointed a Board of Recreation Commissioners, including Drake as president, to transform this tract into a public park.

References

External links

Drake's Cakes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Newman E. 1860 births 1930 deaths American businesspeople American philanthropists People from Andover, New Jersey People from Newton, New Jersey