1917 - SAUSAGE SHIPPED BY LOCAL FREIGHT AT BUYERS RISK OF SPOILAGE" - An attractive advertising cover for one of the largest "independent" meat packing companies in the United States

The envelope illustration shows the company's massive plant located in St. Louis's 'Butcher Town" which at one time was home to 27 different meat packing companies of which Independent was the largest.

The two enclosed invoices were for a variety of products including Bologna Sausage, Bacon Round Jowl Butt, Beef Sides, Bacon Fat Back, Salt Butts, and Tubs of Pure Lard. Each bears a purple overstamp reading "Sausage shipped by Local Freight at Buyer's risk of Spoilage."

At one time Texas longhorn steers were carried across the Mississippi River on the Carr Street and North Market ferries from railyards in East St. Louis. Once on the Missouri side, they were driven through the streets by cowboys to either the Union or Courtney Stockyards until the city's Central West End Butcher Town packing plants could receive them. Eventually, hogs and pork replaced cattle and beef within the plants.

The St. Louis Independent Packing Company alone occupied over 16 acres at Chouteau and Vandeventer Avenues. It was one of the last St. Louis packing companies to close, and its Mayrose Meats ("I'm a meat man and a meat man knows, the finest meats, ma'am, are Mayrose" was the company's ubiquitous and catchy jingle) and Hickory Hill bacon remained staples in St. Louis grocery stores and butcher shops until the late 1970s when it was apparently acquired by Swift & Company and operations moved to the National City Stockyards in Illinois.