Crystal Hot Sauce was started in 1923 by Alvin Baumer who came to New Orleans after the Civil War. Alvin’s future father-in-law gave him a personal loan to buy a sno-ball syrup production company on Tchoupitoulas Street called Mill’s Fruit Products. Inside a drawer at Mill’s, Alvin stumbled upon a hot sauce recipe labeled Crystal Pure. Turns out, it was a recipe for success. Renamed Baumer Foods, Inc., the company grew quickly and moved to a larger plant on Tulane Avenue in Mid-City.