The man who invented Old Bay seasoning

As crab season peaks, it’s time to revisit the remarkable life of Gustav Brunn.

Born in 1893 in southern Germany, Brunn worked in Europe as a spice merchant, selling seasoning to sausage makers, according to historian Deborah Weiner. She wrote about Brunn in a book she co-authored, “On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews in Baltimore.”

After the rise of the Nazis, Brunn was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Released after two weeks, in1938 he fled to Baltimore with his wife.

With the encouragement of his friends in the Jewish community here, Brunn started his own spice company. He used a spice grinding machine brought with him from Europe. Across the street from his downtown spice shop was the wholesale fish market. Seafood purveyors were some of Brunn’s best customers.

“The people who sold crabs and shrimp, they made up their own spice blends,” said Weiner. Brunn “thought he could do a better blend than the seafood purveyors themselves were coming up with,” said Weiner.

Brunn tweaked the basic recipe that many sellers already used. An antique bottle on display at the Baltimore Museum of Industry lists the ingredients: laurel leaves, mustard, salt, pepper, cardamom, cloves, paprika and ginger.

The concoction was called “Delicious brand shrimp and crab seasoning.”

A friend in advertising suggested something catchier. They used the name of a local steamship line: Old Bay.