Glorious Malone's in the Community
Discover the buzz surrounding Glorious Malone's, a beloved local business that has captured the hearts and taste buds of the community. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for preserving traditional flavors, Glorious Malone's has become a culinary treasure. Don't just take our word for it – explore the wealth of accolades and recognition they have received from reputable sources. From glowing reviews in esteemed publications to features on trusted food blogs, these articles serve as a testament to the exceptional quality of Glorious Malone's products. Click through the links to immerse yourself in the stories that celebrate the rich heritage, meticulous craftsmanship, and mouthwatering taste that make Glorious Malone's a cherished institution in the local culinary scene.
Glorious Malone - Meat Science - UW-Madison
Glorious Malone took a family recipe for Southern-style headcheese and developed it into a successful business, Malone’s Fine Sausage, Inc., that recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and sells its product throughout the upper Midwest.
Glorious Malone was born in Hammond, Louisiana in 1932. After suffering rheumatic fever, she joined her father, Sterling Williams, in Milwaukee. Mr. Williams was among the city’s first African American entrepreneurs as a barber and had other enterprises including a taxi service and a small store that sold fresh fruits and vegetables from the South. Glorious worked as a nurse’s assistant and in 1950, she married George Malone. George gained a reputation for his headcheese that was prepared from a personal recipe and was given to friends and relatives during the holidays.
George and Glorious purchased their first grocery store, along with her father, Sterling, at 6th and Hadley in Milwaukee in 1961, where they sold general groceries, deli meats and penny candy. George and Sterling now had a perfect opportunity to expand their sales of fruit and vegetables from the South. Because their headcheese was so popular, they were able to sell it as an additional product in their store.
After George’s death in 1971, Glorious became the sole management of the store. She improved the headcheese recipe and the product continued to grow in popularity and was more in demand than ever. She continued to prepare it in the kitchen of her store. Unknown to Glorious, her customers were reselling her headcheese in stores and serving it in taverns as far away as Chicago. Glorious soon received a visit from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Meat Inspection Division to discuss these activities. As a result, Malone’s Fine Sausage, Inc. was born. It received a state meat inspection license and subsequently moved to federal meat inspection. Glorious Malone was the first African American woman in the United States to obtain meat inspection accreditation from the USDA and to own and run a federally inspected plant.
Malone’s Fine Sausage, Inc., prospered. When they outgrew the first location on 6th and Hadley, they moved to a building at 17th and Center Streets that had a smoke house. When she outgrew 17th and Hadley, Glorious purchased a lot on Walnut Street in 1993 and in spite of much opposition, trials and tribulations, built the current 12,000 square foot facility. Malone’s Fine Sausage, Inc., currently produces and markets 300,000 pounds of headcheese annually, has 12 employees and markets its product in deli style loaves and retail packages throughout the Midwest. Southern-style headcheese is Malone’s only product and, with its smooth texture and unique flavor, it differs completely from the European recipe, also named headcheese. It is available at supermarket stores such as Pick N Save, Piggly Wiggly, Albertson’s and Dominick’s and more than 500 independently-owned stores.
Glorious Malone has three children – Daphne, Denise and Derek. She died of pancreatic cancer in 2007. Her daughter, Daphne Jones, assumed management of the company in 2006 and became sole owner after Glorious’ death. In honor of Glorious and as a tribute to her tenacity, Daphne decided to begin doing business as Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage.
In addition to being a determined, innovative and successful businesswoman, Glorious Malone was a caring, generous, civic-minded individual. She helped those in need, generously providing food and assistance. When the need for larger, more modern facilities arose, she chose to build her new plant in Milwaukee’s historic King Drive neighborhood, thereby contributing to the redevelopment of the area, rather than move to the suburbs. She never forgot where she came from and those who helped her achieve success. She wanted the example of her firm’s growth and success to be shared by the community.
Glorious Malone was a true Wisconsin meat industry pioneer and made an indelible, lasting mark in the Wisconsin meat industry. She is a worthy addition to the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame.
Urban Milwaukee - A Tale of Glorious Malone's Fine Sausage
The 2019 edition of Doors Open Milwaukee takes place on September 28th and 29th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Here’s a look at one of our favorite destinations of the annual event in our Best of Doors Open series. Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage will be open to the public on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Doors Open Milwaukee offers a chance for curious visitors to lift a veil of secrecy and learn about the inner workings, the “guts” if you will, of one of Milwaukee’s most storied African American-owned businesses. Vegetarians beware, this stop may not be for you. But for everyone else, Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage at 300 W. Walnut St. offers adventurous meaty concoctions, specializing in a pungent and mysterious creation called head cheese. But more on that later. Perhaps even more remarkable is the story of how Glorious Malone’s came to be.
A terrifying bout of rheumatic fever prompted young Glorious Williams to move away from her hometown of Hammond, Louisiana to join her father Sterling Williams in Milwaukee in the 1940s. Sterling supported the two through a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors—at times he worked as a barber, and a taxi driver, and eventually opened up a small store that sold fruit and vegetables from the south. While working as a nurse’s aide, Glorious met a young man named George Malone and married him in 1950. George was known for making a special soft concoction of meat and spices and presented it to family and friends each holiday season. This treat – his head cheese – was decidedly different in texture and flavor from the German head cheese that was common in Milwaukee at the time, and began to turn heads, you might say. Head cheese is typically uses meat from the head of a calf or pig and the German version usually consisted of chunks of meat suspended in jelly, but George’s recipe included no jelly at all. George’s creation also included spices redolent of the Tennessee culture in which he grew up.
Glorious, George, and Sterling opened up a grocery store together in 1961 at the corner of 6th Street and Hadley, where they expanded their southern fruit and vegetable business, sold deli meat including George’s head cheese, and also served penny candy to local school children. The business proved to be so popular that they soon moved to a larger location with a smokehouse at 17th and Center street. When George passed away in 1971, Glorious took sole proprietorship of the business and tweaked the head cheese recipe further. Her head cheese gained wider distribution, appearing on tavern menus around Milwaukee and Chicago, and turned up in grocery stores around the city. This attracted the notice of state and federal meat inspectors, and so Glorious incorporated her business into Malone’s Fine Sausage and became the first African American woman to earn federal meat inspection accreditation from the USDA. This honor eventually earned Glorious a spot in the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame, a list of meaty pioneers compiled by UW-Madison’s School of Agriculture.
In 1993, Glorious bought the plot of land on Walnut Street where the business now stands, and had a 12,000-square-foot plant erected. The business continued to prosper, and when Glorious fell ill with pancreatic cancer in 2006, her daughter Daphne Malone took over its management. When Glorious died in 2007, Daphne became the sole owner and renamed the business Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage in tribute to her mother.
It was no accident that the Malones decided to base their business in the historic King Drive neighborhood. Seeing a dearth of good jobs in predominantly African American neighborhoods, they chose to go against that trend, and today employ about 12 workers, mostly from the surrounding community.
On the tour at Doors Open Milwaukee, visitors can see the rooms where plant employees grind meat, cook it, mix it together, and mold it in various loaf pans for sale at delis and grocery stores around the Midwest. The plant is not in action during the event, both because of hygiene concerns and also because the recipes are kept top secret, even after more than 40 years in business. And last but certainly not least, guests can try samples of the head cheese in person! Head cheese is not for the faint of heart, and as a former vegetarian, I was initially nervous to try it. But I did not want to be rude, so gave it a go. On my visit, enthusiastic employees offered samples of three different flavors of head cheese, all with different spices and fluffy textures. It’s highly regarded by gourmet meat makers.
Glorious Malone’s is a great slice of Milwaukee and local African American history, and well worth a visit during Doors Open Milwaukee.