The Tomato Queen, Tillie of the Valley, The First Lady of the Larder, The Duchess of Diet – were nicknames that newspapers and magazines such as Time, Life and National Geographic had given Tillie Lewis by the time her career reached its pinnacle. She was an exemplary businesswoman who made history in the 1930s during the Great Depression. She fundamentally changed the culture of food processing with her company Flotill Products, later Tillie Lewis Foods, right here in Stockton. Tillie was born Myrtle Ehrlich in a Brooklyn tenement. She changed her name, calling herself Tillie – a peppier version of Myrtle which better suited her drive and ambition. She lost her mother at a young age and reportedly disliked her stepmother so much that she dropped out of high school and got married at age 16. She had worked at various jobs since the age of 12 and now as Tillie Weisberg she worked as a clerk in her husband’s grocery store. Their grocery store sold canned goods and the Italia
One employee's behind the scenes look at the Haggin Museum.