Jimmy Dean was a multitalented country singer, TV show host, actor and entrepreneur. When a successful entertainment career wasn’t enough, he went on to create and build America’s favorite sausage company. Known for his unique way with words, Jimmy often said, “Sausage is a great deal like life. You get out of it what you put into it.”
Jimmy Dean was born in Plainview, Texas in 1928. Where in the blazes is Plainview, you ask? It’s a little over three hours west of Dallas. He grew up on a rural farm where he discovered his love of beautiful country mornings and making fresh sausage with his grandpa. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, do yourself a favor and check out The Jimmy Dean Museum. It’s just dandy.
Buckle up because here’s how it all began. Jimmy Dean’s love of sausage goes back to his roots, growing up on a farm in Texas and making fresh sausage with his grandfather. He absolutely loved the sights and smells and sounds of beautiful country mornings. He often described himself as the biggest morning person who ever walked the Earth (in cowboy boots, at least). Anywho, one day Jimmy was sitting in a local diner in his hometown of Plainview, Texas. He was having his usual breakfast of sausage and eggs but on this particular morning, he bit into a piece of gristle about the size of Texas. He turned to his brother Don and said, “You know, there has got to be room in this country for a good quality sausage!” The rest is history.
In 1969, he founded the Jimmy Dean Meat Company. When people asked him why he started a meat company, Jimmy often joked, "if you had ever seen my act, you would've realized that diversification was imperative.”
There’s a lot more to Jimmy Dean than just tasty sausage. He became famous through music and went on to become a charming TV personality.
Jimmy Dean’s first love was singing country music and he was pretty darn good at it. So darn good that he’s in the country music Hall of Fame and has some huge hits to this day. Go ahead, look’em up. And be sure to play his song “Big Bad John,” which topped the Billboard charts for months back in the early ’60s.
His singing success led to a TV hosting career. The Jimmy Dean Show helped put country music on the map as well as gave puppeteer Jim Henson his first national media exposure. Jimmy even tried his hand at acting, starring in the Daniel Boone TV series and as a good ol’ boy millionaire in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (basically playing himself). Not too shabby for a farm boy from Texas.
Jimmy Dean was a man so committed to quality that he just couldn’t help but tell you about it. He became the plainspoken sausage spokesman who appeared in hundreds of his own commercials. Back in the day, you couldn’t turn on a TV without seeing his big ol’ grinning face delightfully musing in his charming Southern way about sausage… and life… and mornings… and sausage again. That charming wisdom such as, “Wake up like a tight pair of pants, ready to rip” and “Get yourself a large chunk of that good morning feeling” continues to inspire our company to this day.
Jimmy Dean passed away on June 13, 2010 at the age of 81. Although he is no longer with us, he left behind a heapin’ helpin’ of morning wisdom. His most famous quote of all might be, “You can’t change the direction of the wind. But you can adjust your sails to always reach your destination.” Words to live by. Especially when you add a pan full of his signature sausage.
