Slim Jim's Inventor Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday September 09, 1997 12:00 AM EDT

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Adolph Levis, 89, a pickled goods producer who one day in the '40s turned around and invented the popular dried meat snack called Mr. Slim Jim, died last Tuesday in a Florida hospice, according to The New York Times. Like the pigs' feet he also sold, Levis's beef sticks were stored in jars of vinegar and distributed mainly in bars. As Levis liked to say of his invention (that he promoted with the slogan, "SLIM JIMS - 10 cents - All Beef - the Ready-to-Eat Spiced Sausage Treat - Make Your Next Drink Taste Better"): "We made it an exciting snacking experience, not just a little fat greasy stick." In 1967, Levis sold his company to General Mills for about $20 million.