International Milling Co., which operated the Standard Elevator in St. Louis Park, began as Imperial Milling in Duluth in 1889. A few years earlier in 1882 Thomas and his brother John organized the McCarthy Bros Grain Co. in Hitchcock, South Dakota.
Imperial Milling became the Capitol Milling Co. in 1905, owned by Francis Bean, who began flour milling in New Prague in 1892. His company later became International Milling (IM). He acquired Capitol Milling in 1920. IM also constructed flour mills in Moose Jaw and Swift Current, Saskatchewan and Medicine Hat, Alberta.
The McCarthy Bros sold their business to IM in 1949. The operation in SLP was also known as the Interior Elevator – co called because it was not in the Port of Duluth. IM renamed the Interior Elevator the Standard Elevator and painted the sign on it, advertising Robin Hood Flour. IM also acquired Century Milling in SE Minneapolis, Big Jo Milling in Wabasha and the New Ulm Rye Mill.
After World War II the Canadian operation, now headquartered in Montreal, was independently operated, even though the IM (USA) still owned it. Also after the war they acquired mills in Kansas City, Detroit, and Lockport, New York. A mill corresponding to Lockport was acquired in Trois Riviere, Quebec.
[An ad from 1956 boasts:
- Millers of Robin Hood All Purpose Flour
- Second Largest Flour Milling Company in the World
- 22 Mills Equipped with the Most Modern Milling Machinery in America
- Parent Firm of Canada’s Leading Milling Company
- Pioneers in Bulk Flour Handling For Bakers
- World Wide Distribution in 74 Foreign Markets]
In 1979 International Milling’s name was changed to International Multifoods. The Multifood’s Tower in downtown Minneapolis became the company’s headquarters, remaining there until 2005 when the company was acquired by J.M. Smucker Co. of Orrville, Ohio.
In the late 1960s and ‘70s, Multifoods acquired Kretsohowa Wheat Germ of Michigan, the Bricks pickle company in Ontario, Mr. Donut of Massachusetts, Kaukauna Cheese Co. in Wisconsin, and Morey’s Fish Co. of Minnesota.
Multifood still operates and its headquarters is on Lake Street in Wayzata.
The Bean family, the most prominent name associated with the company, was a noted contributor to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, particularly the Chinese Silks collection. The Minnesota Orchestra has an endowed chair, the Bertha Boynton Bean Principal Harp.
Keith Meland, October 25, 2011
Thanks to Keith Meland for this informative piece. Keith worked for IM from 1964-66, and reports that one of his responsibilities was procurement for the Standard Elevator. In that time he says he never received a request for so much as a paper clip or a light bulb!
See our page on Grain Elevators for photos of the St. Louis Park Interior/Standard/Robin Hood elevators.