Gilded Age retailer Nathan Straus championed pasteurized milk to protect children

Nathan Straus arrived in the United States with his family in the 1850s, eventually becoming a partner and later owner of the Macy’s department store. While his brother Isidor managed internal operations, Nathan handled external affairs and later devoted himself to philanthropy with his wife Lina. In response to the 1893 economic downturn, he created discount depots that sold essentials to the unemployed.

Building on that model, he launched a campaign to provide pasteurized milk to poor neighborhoods, establishing hundreds of stations across dozens of cities and offering the product at below-wholesale rates or free of charge. He promoted the health benefits through multilingual advertising and collaboration with doctors and nurses, and he traveled abroad to encourage similar programs. These initiatives spurred wider adoption of pasteurization by state and local authorities, and health officials noted a dramatic reduction in infant deaths during the early 20th century. Straus’s legacy includes the city of Netanya, named for him, and a model of “retail giving” that shows how focused, practical philanthropy can achieve lasting public-health impact.