After a respite from the business in college and the Army, Ralph went back to work for Sears in 1919. Two years later he leased two of their pickle stations, getting his start as an entrepreneur. He was still shipping the brine stock to other companies like Heinz. By the early '30s Ralph was selling pickles and relish in bulk in wooden kegs and barrels, some of this directly to restaurants. Jars for consumer sales were hand-packed by Ralph's wife Anna in her kitchen, often with the help of some neighbor ladies. In 1930 the business grew out of the house. The barn was converted into a factory, after another home was found for the cow. After the barn burned in 1937, a masonry building was erected from which the present facility continues to grow.

Starting out as "St. Joe Valley Brands," the company wasn't renamed "Ralph Sechler & Son" until 1948, when Ralph's son Frank finished college and committed to the family business. At that time it was also decided to concentrate on consumer-sized packaging. On Ralph's death, Frank took over management.

Sechler's first product available to the consumer was Genuine Dill Pickles (which is still available from Sechler's today as Genuine "Aged in Wood" Dill Pickles.) Sweet relish and sweet pickles soon followed. Sweet pickles quickly became a Sechler specialty. Candied Sweet Orange Strip Pickles were added in 1940, being a Sechler's favorite ever since. Pasteurized "Fresh Pack" pickles were introduced to the Sechler's line in 1958. Innovative product development has been a constant over the years, to where Sechler's now offers over 45 items to the consumer, many of these unique.

The late '40s saw the first mail orders. Gallon jars were sent out in boxes individually hand-made by the boiler operator. These were sent out by railway express. The volume and sophistication of our mail order business has steadily increased ever since. Our factory has had an attached showroom since 1965 from which all of our products are available and groups are given tours of the factory. Frank's wife Fran took over responsibility for the showroom and mail order business in the late '70s.

A third generation of Sechlers, Franks' son David and daughter Karen, assumed leadership roles in 1990 when Frank took partial retirement. After 75 years Sechler's is still family owned and operated. While new processes and procedures are introduced, we've resisted change that might in any way detract from the quality of our pickles. While most pickle companies emphasize fresh-pack pickles, the majority of ours are still tank-cured.

Sechler's Pickles is still located near St. Joe, Indiana. That old farm house in which Anna Sechler hand-packed pickles now serves as an office. The surrounding facility, including the tank yard, now exceeds 60,000 sq. ft.

In retrospect many things here at Sechler's have changed with the times, but only if they improved our pickles. Traditions like family ownership, original recipes, and fresh, quality ingredients haven't changed. As we like to say "We could make them faster, but that wouldn't make them better."

Sechler's shipped pickles in 50-gallon oak barrels and smaller 15-gallon oak kegs to restaurants until the late 1930's.

A photo of Ralph Sechler, his dog and panel delivery truck about 1932.

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