Florida has been in the news a lot lately. Some of it is because they are at the center of the culture wars currently raging in the country. Also, a major hurricane just devastated the state.
On social media, I have seen arguments on whether Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home should have gotten destroyed by the hurricane. Notwithstanding how horrible thinking that is, there is much more to the story of Donald Trump’s Florida home.
It is time to go into the previous owner of that famous home, who Donald Trump purchased from the estate of one of the most famous woman entrepreneurs in history, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Her father was the founder of the Post cereal company. He had serious mental health issues and would commit suicide in 1914. He left his cereal company to his daughter. During that time in history, running businesses was a man’s profession, but Majorie Post wasn’t backing down.
She wanted to expand Post cereal into other products, so she created Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee, and many other products. Post eventually brought all those products, including the original Post cereal, under one umbrella, which she called General Foods.
While on a trip in her private yacht, she stopped in Gloucester, MA, where she met an innovator named Clarence Birdseye, who was trying to figure out a way to keep food frozen to preserve it longer. Majorie had a keen eye towards innovation and the future, bought Birdseye’s company.
She sold the idea to grocery stores with sheer will and her ability to sell her ideas. They would move freezers into their stores, thus, inventing frozen foods. We would not have frozen food isles if not for the creation from Marjorie Merriweather Post, which have been one of the most successful creations in food in history.
Marjorie Post also became a major philanthropist, who funded the U.S. Army hospital in France during World War I. The French government even awarded her the Legion of Honour. She also financed and supervised the Salvation Army during the Great Depression and financed the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Washington D.C, which still stands today.
Post is a pioneer for women, and an example of never giving up with the odds are against you. She is also a historical figure, who defied the man made odds stacked against her.
Post purchased a vacation home in Florida, which she named Mar-a-Lago, is a national historic site. It must be preserved regardless of who the current owners are.
Links to learn more about Marjorie Merriweather Post:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Merriweather_Post
