Janssen, Charles H. (Charles Herman).

Charles H. Janssen apparently arrived in Saint Paul around 1910. He worked as a bookkeeper for James T. Ingersoll Co., dealers in dental supplies (1910). By 1916 he was a "credit man" for Holm & Olson, a St. Paul florist and nursery firm. He later worked as a credit manager and office manager for Michaud Bros., a St. Paul-based wholesale and retail grocery firm (late 1910s and early 1920s).

Janssen became secretary of the St. Paul Retail Grocers Association in 1924. He was secretary-manager of the National Association of Retail Grocers (1927-1934), and editor of its trade publication, the National Grocers Bulletin .

He served as head of the National Food and Grocery Distributors' Code Authority (1934-1935), a National Recovery Administration agency charged with effecting application of standards of fair practice in competition in the food and grocery industry. Janssen was a top official of the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers (1936-1940), and secretary-manager of its successor, the National Margarine Institute (1941-1942).

In October 1942 Janssen became head of the Retailer-Wholesaler Section of the Office of Price Administration's Food Rationing Division, a federal agency established in 1941 to prevent undue price rises and to provide for the fair distribution of products in short supply during World War II. He served in this capacity until July 1943, when he left to become associate director of the Food Industry War Committee, an industry-wide committee of manufacturers, processors, and wholesale, intermediate, and retail distributors established in 1943 to deal with wartime problems affecting the food industry.

Janssen retired from business life in 1946 and made his home in St. Paul. He died of a heart ailment on January 18, 1960.

From the guide to the Charles H. Janssen papers., 1933-1960 (bulk 1933-1944)., (Minnesota Historical Society)