The Unique And Stylish Way Tombstone Pizzas Were First Delivered

There are so many brands with frozen pizzas on the market, but every supermarket frozen pizza had to get its start somewhere. For Tombstone, that beginning was humble and incredibly cool. In the early 1960s, if you were a bar owner who ordered a couple of frozen pizzas, they'd be delivered in a 1959 Cadillac, packed in dry ice to keep them cold. For the creators of Tombstone pizzas, Ronald and Joseph "Pep" Simek, the Caddy was a sign of growth and the start of an incredible ride for the brothers' pizza business.

Originally, the Simek brothers owned and operated a tavern, Tombstone Tap, out of Medford, Wisconsin. The macabre name was chosen because of the tavern's location near a cemetery. In 1962, Pep Simek broke his leg and found creative ways to pass the time when he wasn't serving up beers at $0.10 each. One way he did this was by perfecting his pizza recipe. The brothers sold the pizza at their own tavern and eventually to other taverns in the area as frozen pizzas that could be cooked when needed. The pizza demand escalated, and the brothers worked around the clock to fulfill orders, with no choice but to expand if they didn't want to call it quits. By 1966, the masses wanted Tombstone pizzas so badly that the 1959 Cadillac didn't have the space for all the orders coming in. The Simek brothers purchased their first refrigerated truck for $5,600, which could hold up to 1,800 frozen pizzas – but this growth was only beginning.

The Simek brothers outgrew the kitchen in their tavern and built a manufacturing facility in 1968. They continued to expand the facility as the need for more space grew, and eventually, Tombstone pizza was a full-blown direct-to-store delivery service. Employees would pick up frozen pizzas from the production facility, take them to stores, and load them right onto the shelves. 

In 1986, after years of success, the brothers sold Tombstone to Kraft and left the company. While many of us now fancy up a frozen pizza by adding stuff after it comes out of the oven, Kraft introduced new varieties of pizza to the Tombstone brand and, of course, switched to Kraft cheese as a topping. The company is also responsible for the famous "What do you want on your Tombstone?" commercials that imprinted the brand in the minds of Americans across the nation.

It wasn't until 2010 that the company would be sold again. Nestle purchased the company when Kraft sold its frozen pizza division. While there are a number of once-popular pizza styles that are slowly disappearing, the demand for frozen pizza continues. The flavors have changed quite a bit since the 1960s, with offerings including French Fry-Style Crust and Loaded Bacon Cheddar, but at this point, the Tombstone name appears to be etched in stone.