Lost Tables: Pfeifer's

Pfeifer's

Carl Pfeiffer was born in Germany in 1906. By the 1920s, he was working at a bakery in St. Louis at 2612 North Kingshighway. In 1928, he bought the bakery and hung up his own sign — Pfeifer's Pastry Shoppe. He and his wife Emma lived over the store with their sons, Carl Jr. and Richard.

Pfeifer's Pastry Shoppe, 2612 N. Kingshighway, 1934

Pfieffer was anxious to assimilate. "He was an American, and he was a big patriot," recalled his daughter-in-law, Rosemary Pfeiffer. "He made Dresden stollen at Christmas time, and some of the old-fashioned cookies that were German, but he wasn't known for making the German specialties. The only time they even spoke German was when they didn't want the children to know what they were saying."

After a few years, the forward-thinking Pfeifer established a line of frozen baked goods that people could "buy now, use later." He changed the name of his business to Pfeifer's Frozen Pastries.

Housewives will find in Preifer’s Frozen Pastries just the thing they’ve been looking for, especially to add to the quick, delicious meals so desired during the summer months. They can select from not just a few items, but a complete line-up in every way of the choicest pastry goods the women of this city ever had the pleasure of buying. Cakes and pies of all kinds, rolls, buns — an endless variety of tempting treats that will fill perfectly their rightful place in balanced mealtime planning. Equally important many say is the fact that the housewife is relieved of all the work, except a few minor details.
The Sedalia Democrat, May 5, 1946

Emma & Carl Pfeifer, Pfeifer's Frozen Pastries, 2612 N. Kingshighway, late 1930s

In 1948, Pfeifer moved his business and his family from the city to the county, relocating the bakery to 8021 Clayton Road. He renamed the business Pfeifer's Party Pastries.

Pfeifer's Party Pastries, 8021 Clayton Road, 1951

Pfeiffer's son Richard, nicknamed "Dutch," began working in the bakery after he graduated high school in 1949. He trained alongside his father, and in 1960, took over the business, with his father continuing to work alongside.

As the business grew, Dutch made changes. His father didn't allow talking while working in the bakery; he thought it distracted the men. When Dutch took over, they all talked, although playing the radio wasn't allowed. The elder Pfeifer may not have liked some of his son's changes, but he never interfered.

Dutch's mother, Emma, who ran the office, didn't always adjust as quickly. The shop had three phone numbers, so she had three telephones on her desk. When Dutch replaced them with one phone, she was unhappy until she realized she still had her three separate lines.

Carl Pfeifer (center) working at the bakery at 8021 Clayton Road, 1967

Some of the bakers were at Pfeifer's for decades; there were women who worked in the front for 24 years or more. Every Christmas, they would make Christmas cookies for two days straight, all day long. After they were finished, Dutch would go to the market and get ham and turkey and all the fixings for the men to have dinner. His father had done the same, because he knew how hard they all worked.

Pfeifer's employees line up behind the bakery counter, 1967

Pfeiffer's employees line up behind trays of fancy Christmas cookies, 1967

By 1974, Dutch and his wife Rosemary had six children, and the bakery was thriving. Things were so busy that one day Dutch asked his wife to help. She remained on duty for the next 15 years.

Pfeifer's customers line up at the counter to make their purchases, 1967

Area restaurants had standing orders for Pfeifer's baked goods. Busch's Grove received rolls and pies every day for 40 years.

"We made everything," said Rosemary Pfeifer. "We baked bread, doughnuts, rolls, pies, cakes, brownies. We did fancy French cream cakes, tiny French pastries, tiny caramel rolls, cinnamon pretzels. We did fancy cookies and cut-outs, and old fashioned cookies, like oatmeal cookies and butter cookies." Coffeecakes included deep butter, gooey butter and the customer favorite Pull-Apart.

Pfeifer's made breads of all kinds, including buttercrust, cinnamon, cobblestone, raisin, Cheddar-parsley, oat bran, cream bread, applesauce-oatmeal, French bread and English muffins. "We would make rye and pumpernickel and put that in the freezer, because you didn't sell that much," she said.

Pfeifer's was best known for its pastries, such as its version of Black Forest Cake. When Carl Pfeiffer returned to his homeland of Germany for a visit, he saw the Black Forest cake, with the Black Forest cherries and the devil's food cake. He said, "Americans don't care for cherries, and they don't care for devil's food cake that much." So he changed it. That's why Pfeifer's Black Forest Cake was made from yellow sponge cake and strawberry filling, along with the traditional whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

Dutch holding a Pfeifer's German Chocolate Cake, 1974

Before the bakery closed in 1989, all six of Dutch's children had worked there, even if it was washing pans or cleaning floors. Only his oldest son, Rich, became a baker.

"After I came home from college, I asked Dad for a job. And he said 'OK. Start at the bottom.' So I had to start washing pots, scraping and greasing pans," Rich recalled.

"I worked with him for nine years, from 1980 to 1989," said Rich, who went on to work at Straub's bakery. "Things now are so automated and pushbutton that people don't appreciate what it really takes to actually make something."

Rich described Dutch as being hesitant to adopt modern shortcuts. One long-time employee used a balance scale with metal weights to measure every ingredient.

"We might've been able to eliminate a lot of steps, but Dad wasn't the kind of person who wanted to let anybody go."

Carl Pfeifer retired from his bakery business in 1980; he died in 1994 at the age of 89.

Dutch Pfeifer retired in 1989, closing the bakery his father had opened on North Kingshighway 61 years earlier. He died in 2009 at the age of 77.

The treasures of the previous generations were not lost on Rich Pfeifer. "I still enjoy doing the things that Grandpa did, and Dad. Like the Shaved Chocolate cake, the Black Forest, things that have been around for 60 or 70 years. I want to continue to do that," he said. "People actually still call and request those things. That makes you feel good."

Rich Pfeiffer, 2010