top of page
The
LEGACY OF HICKMAN'S
OVER 200 YEARS OF HISTORY
BRYAN HICKMAN
BRIAN TATEM
VINCENT MODESTO
JOSH WINGATE
ANYONE WHO HAS HAD A CONVERSATION
WITH BILL HICKMAN has probably heard the history of HICKMAN'S.
Hickman's dates back to the late 1800's with PAGE HICKMAN, THE FIRST BUTCHER OF THE FAMILY.
Page would go to the local farm in Rockhall Maryland, slaughter a steer, quarter it, and bring it back on his wagon to see who wanted it. Bill (to this day) always wants people to know that all they had were cleavers and knives to cut everything before modern time. ROBERT HICKMAN, THE SECOND GENERATION BUTCHER, whom was Bill's grandfather really made Bill into the meat cutter he is today.
Robert had a passion for meat cutting and as a child Bill remembers standing on a coke box learning how to read scales and the different types of cuts from him. He even taught Bill the difference between meat cutting and being a butcher, which he would say, "about 10$ an hour."
WILLIAM HICKMAN SR., THIRD GENERATION BUTCHER, specialized in the anatomy and was the first to believe quality "prime" beef was the only product to serve to customers, which wasn't the norm in the late 1940's because they didn't even have the prime stamping, but like he would always say, "I see the quality and I won't serve my customers anything but the best."
WILLIAM "BILL" HICKMAN II, FOURTH ENERATION MEAT CUTTER, Owner of Hickman's Meat Market apprenticed by Robert and William Hickman at the age of 14 because his mother would not allow him to handle knives before that. We all know that rule wasn't going to last in this family! Once Bill was through his apprenticeship, including working with some of the best butchers of Delaware, and Maryland he opened up Doc's Meat Market in Wilmington, DE. After selling Doc's Bill went to Wisconsin to work with Abbyland Sausage where he was taught the art of a perfect bratwurst. In 1995, Bill Hickman moved his family to Rehoboth Beach, DE which he could see was an, "up and coming vacation resort town." In 2001, Bill opened up Hickman's Meat Market with the idea of having high quality meats for a high quality consumer.
THIS LEADS US TO TODAY.
BRYAN HICKMAN, FIFTH GENERATION MEAT CUTTER, has been cutting meat since the age of 7 when he would process wild game with his father, learning lessons he would not soon forget. Bill soon discovered Bryan's interest in meat cutting and started teaching him anatomy and all the ins and outs of the meat business. At a young age Bryan was working with his father, and although it was not planned he felt the calling of the Meat business and when it came time he took the reigns of the family business in 2014.
Jennifer Tatem, Office Manager, has been with Bill through it all since Hickman's opened up in 2001. She has helped her father grow the business into what it is today.
Bryan and Jennifer have now taken over the day to day operations of the business, but that is not to say Bill doesn't come in and tell them that something is not to his standards. Bryan and Jenny are still building their story so come back to find out something new about the Hickman family!
THANK YOU,
THE HICKMAN'S
bottom of page