Old Bay was invented by a German Jewish spice maker named Gustavo Brunn who was one of the most successful spice producers (specialized in sausage spice) in Germany in the 20s and 30s. When Hitler started terrorizing Jewish communities he got a visa to travel to America, sponsored by an uncle who lived in Baltimore. Two weeks before they were supposed to leave, Jews were rounded up to be sent to concentration camps and Kristallnacht happened. Brunn actually escaped Buchenwald concentration camp to survive and make it to American in 1938. All of his possessions and money had been taken by the Nazis, but he managed to get back to his shop, get his enormous spice grinder and get on a ship. The spice grinder is now in the Baltimore Museum of Industry. He created Old Bay to market it to the fish mongers after trying to get a job at McCormicks and being rejected for being Jewish. His family eventually sold the spice blend to McCormick’s in the 90s for a ridiculous amount of money, but well deserved given the bigotry that spawned its creation
