ANTON T NIELSEN
University Creamery- Altomont Creamery
Palo Alto
The proprietor of the Altomont Creamery at 262 University Avenue, Palo
Alto, Anton T. Nielsen, has met with splendid success in his business
since locating here and has also established a branch creamery at
Mountain View. Mr. Nielsen was born in Jylland, Denmark, November
24, 1886,k the son of Niels K. and Mette Nielsen. The father, who
was only four years old, and when he was nine, his mother also passed
away, so that he had to face the problem of making a living at a very
early age. There were four sons in the NIELSEN family, and among
then Anton is the third, and the only one in America. He began
his life as a wage earner among strangers, working on a dairy farm,
meanwhile attending school as much as he could, and he received a
thorough training in dairy and farm work that stood him in good stead
in later years. When he was twenty-two years old, Mr. Nielsen
came to America, Oakland, Cal., being his destination, and shortly
afterward he went to work on a dairy farm near Pleasanton, and after
six months he came to San Jose, being employed by he Golden Nugget
Creamery there. HE was a hard worker and ambitious, so soon
mastered al the details of the creamery business, becoming a
buttermaker. He then formed a partnership with Mrs. Jackson in the
Royal Ice Cream Company for two years, when Mr. Gulmon bought out Mrs.
Jackson's interest, the Royal Ice Cream Company being operated by the
firm of Gulmon and Nielsen for the next year. Mr. Nielsen then
started the Crystal Creamery, which he operated for two years, then
going to Stockton, where he leased the Royal Ice Cream Company's
business for a years. In 1918 Mr. Nielsen came to Palo Alto and
bought the University Creamery, and soon thereafter the Altomont
Creamery, which he operates with fine success, as well as the branch at
Mountain View, eighteen people being o his pay roll.
In 1911 Mr. Nielsen was married to Miss Opal Young, who was born at
Allen, Mich., and they have one child, Virginia Ruth, They make
their home in the attractive residence which Mr. Nielsen purchased, at
624 University Avenue, Palo Alto. He also purchased the property
at 262 University Avenue, where his business is located, and here he
expects to erect a two-story and basement building of concrete to
accommodate his large and fast-growing business. The Altomont
Creamery uses about 500 gallons of milk a day and makes about 200
gallons of ice cream daily, also a large output of butter and cottage
cheese, which all find a ready market due to their superior quality.
transcribed by C feroben from Eugene T. Sawyers' History
of Santa Clara
County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.
page 1338
BIO-SAWYERS
SURNAMES:
A yound man of
sterling worth, Knut H. Hansen, is one of th recent accessions to Palo
Ato business circles and has recently become the owner and proprietor
of the University Creamery, with its store, manufactory and ice cream
parlor at 209 University Avenue. He brings to his buisiness, the
efficency and campetency, born of years of hard and painstaking work,
especially in the ice cream line, having for several years held
positions of responsibility with several of the leading manufacturers
and caterers on the Pacific Coast and in the Middle West. He was
born at Copenhagen, Denmark, November 11, 1880, and is the only son of
Harold and Judith (Haslund) Hansen, an own cousin, as chemis in the
originating and manufacture of Hansen's butter coloring. The
parents came to America, settling in St. Paul., Minn., in 1891, and to
California in 1895, and the father died in 1917, leaving his widow and
four children. The mother resides with our subject in Palo ALto,
while the three living daughters are: Mrs. Julian Heidekker of
Berkeley; Mrs. Thyra Haslund of St. Paul, Minn., nad Inga Nyby the wife
of Ib Nyby, oil man, in Kern County, Cal.
Knut H. Hansen came to America with his parents in 1891 and at the
early age of thirteen went to work upon a dairy-farm near St.
Paul He continued to work in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the
creamery line until 1907, when he came to California where he has
specialized in the manufacturing of ice cream, having help positions of
responsibility with such well-known firms as Christopher's at Los
Angeles and Sherry Bros., of San Franisco. It is safe to say that
he has no superior in his line in Santa Clara County. He came to
Palo Alto in 1919 and for three yeras was engaged with Mr. A. T.
Nielsen, the proprietor of the Altamont Creamery. On June '1,
1922, he bought out the University Creamery and looks forward to
a successful honrable business career.