Monroe Boston Strause was an American piemaker whose innovations included graham-cracker crust, chiffon pie, and black-bottom pie. He was a "pie celebrity" whose name was "a household word."[1]

Strause was born in 1900 in Los Angeles. In 1919 he was hired by his uncle who ran a wholesale pie business. In his early twenties, Strause took over the business, following his uncle's retirement. He became a consultant in the 1930s after selling his company.[1]

Because of improvements in oven reliability and consistency, homemade and increasingly complex cakes had been overtaking pie as a popular American dessert, which inspired Strause to his experimentations.[1] He considered pie to be the "Great American Dessert," superior to most other foods.[2]

Strause's technique was more scientific in nature; he called his recipes "formulas." The publisher of his book Pie Marches On described it this way: "He has reduced pie baking to an exact science and measures each ingredient with the care of a pharmacist." His focus on quality combined with secrecy and showmanship allowed him, according to The Globe & Mail, to earn "a bank president’s salary out of pie."[2]

He was an early pioneer of the celebrity chef ethos.[2] In 1960, Strause was hired as a consultant by Cannon Foods Inc. of Bridgeville, Delaware, to create recipes based on Cannon food products.[3]

Strause and his wife Violet Marian had a daughter, born May 21, 1938,[4] and a son.[5]

Strause died in 1981.[6]

Books

  • Pies for Profit (1938)[3]
  • Pie Marches On (1939)

Patents

  • Dry grater[7]
  • Meringue pie[8]
  • Pie marker, method of finishing meringue pies and the resulting meringue pie[9]
  • Method of making fruit pie [10]

Images from patents

Drawing of a dry grater - US2207903 Drawing of a way to make meringue pie - USD167430 Drawing of a piemaking machine (#1) - US2901352 Drawing of a piemaking machine (#2) - US2901352

References

  1. 1 2 3 Perry, Charles (January 9, 1997). "The Pie King". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Anastopoulo, Rossi (March 24, 2020). "The 'Pie Engineer' Who Designed a Dessert For the Jazz Age". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Two Appointments Made By Bridgeville Food Firm". The Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware). September 21, 1960. p. 24.
  4. ↑ Lamson, F.B. (1939). Condensed History of Meeker County, 1855-1939. Genealogy & local history. Brown Printing Company. p. 203. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Faith to be Topic of Rev. Hogarth". The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California. April 22, 1949. p. 9.
  6. ↑ Family Search
  7. ↑ US patent US2207903A, Monroe Boston Strause, "Dry grater", published 1940-07-16, issued 1940-07-16
  8. ↑ US patent USD167430S, Monroe Boston Strause, "Meringue pie"
  9. ↑ US patent US2901352A, Monroe Boston Strause, "Pie marker, method of finishing meringue pies and the resulting meringue pie", published 1959-08-25, issued 1959-08-25
  10. ↑ US patent US2756152A, Monroe Boston Strause, "Method of making fruit pie", published 1956-07-24, issued 1956-07-24
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