915 S Meridian: Kraft's South Side Baking Company
Exterior of Kraft's South Side Baking Company
Phillip Kraft immigrated to the United States from Romania around 1911 and moved to Indianapolis with his family around 1922. When he first arrived in Indianapolis he lived and worked at 547 S Illinois, the location of the NY Baking Company. A few years later, around 1922, Kraft became a partner in the Southside Baking Company along with Isaac Regenstreif and Fishel Wagner. The bakery was located at 915 S Meridian Street.
In 1936, Isaac Regenstreif left the South Side Baking Company and opened Regen’s Baking Company just down the street at 818 S Meridian Street. Wagner retired around 1937 and Phillip Kraft became president of the company. In 1944, the name of the company was changed to Kraft’s South Side Baking Company.
Prior to World War II, the South Side Baking Company produced specialty goods such as rye and whole wheat bread wholesale for hospitals, jails, and other institutions and events as well as for sale at their shop at 915 S Meridian or at the City Market. However, once the war began, Phillip Kraft was approached by Camp Atterbury to supply their bread. From there, the business began supplying bread products to for the military on a much larger scale. Because of this relationship with the government, Phillip Kraft made the decision to give his civilian contracts to some of the other bakeries on the Southside, including Regen’s Baking Company. After the war, Kraft’s South Side Baking Company began selling its products in grocery stores as it was difficult to get their wholesale contracts back.
Advertisement for Kraft's Rye Bread
During the war, Phillip Kraft would help out other bakery businesses on the Southside. According to his son, Gerald Kraft, because of the government contracts, Phillip was having to purchase flour “by the railroad…it was by entire train.” Because he was purchasing so much flour, if he heard that a local bakery was running out of flour, he would make sure they got some. In 1967, Phillip Kraft sold the bakery’s routes to Regen’s Baking Company and discontinued the Kraft trade name.
Kraft’s South Side Bakery was an important part of the community on the Southside. The business provided jobs to many of the community’s residents, both Jewish and African American, and provided essential bread products to residents and businesses in the area.
Making bread at Kraft's Bakery.