Jefferson County Online A part of the IAGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects The 'Madegood Family' Carl F. Meyer

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Fairfield, Iowa
Monday, May 4, 1925
Front Page and Page 4

NO. 7--CARL F. MEYER

Yeh, the gentleman seems a bit twisted in the picture. But we hasten to inform you that this is an impressionistic picture of this chap who is so constantly on the move that most of us are never sure whether he's coming or going. In other words, we are moved to explain, "There he goes, coming back."

But c'mon up stairs and meet Carl Meyer. Yes, upstairs--that's where his store is. If we don't find him in we'll probably meet him coming down or going up. Y'see, 'twixt a new house and a new baby, and skipping down to St. Louis every few days for a few carloads of shoes, there are really times when Carl homself doesn't know exactly whether he's coming or going--and he goes so fast he often meets himself on his own stairway. Rather an active chap, is Carl. His life is a continual round of ups and downs--getting shoes up his stairway and getting them down, getting people up and get ing (sic) them down, getting the quality of his shoes up and the prices down. No wonder Carl is a bit rattled sometimes in trying to maintain an equilibrium, and finds that his feet are carrying him upstairs while his head is taking him down.

As a member of Fairfield's Madegood family Carl Meyer is eligible by unanimous vote, for he came to Fairfield with a shoestring and has run it up to a shoe store. And hasn't taken him long either. That's a trait of his--whatever he does, he does quick. The speed with which he can fit you out with a pair of shoes, get your money and shoot you on down stairs will make you dizzy.

'Twas down at Keokuk Carl became convinced that he could sell shoes. He'd worked for several years there in the Huiskamp shoe factory, then got a job as a clerk in a shoe store. Carl had an idea he could sell his own shoes just as well as those belonging to some one else, so he opened a store at Ottumwa. Little while later he came over to Fairfield, gave the old town the once over, and decided the people looked sufficiently vigorous to be able and willing to climb up a few steps to buy shoes, provided they found something at the top of the stair worth their trouble and effort.

People rather smiled when Carl Meyer started his upstairs shoe store in Fairfield.

"To bad," they said. "Seems to be a nice young fellow and quite a hustler, but we ain't going to climb no stairways just to buy shoes of him."

For a while Carl believed them for there wasn't anything like what you would call a mad rush up his stairway. Then Carl invoked the power of the press and began firing printer's ink. It is possible that you may have noticed that he has an occasional advertisement in the newspapers. If 'twasn't for having you think we're boosting our own business we'd call your attention to the fact that he finds it necessary to advertise.

"Cutting down overhead expense" is the one thing which occupies the mid of Carl when he has time for thinking of it. That was the idea back of the upstairs store originally. He didn't need much room for the stock he had, and he had no need of any clerks. Stayed on the job himself and brought his lunch with him wropped (sic) in a paper napkin. Got so he had to have a little help, and now he's got a store full of clerks. "Too much overhead," reflected Carl. So he went to the owner of the building a while back with a scheme for removing the roof, to be replaced in rainy weather, and thus doing away altogether with overhead. Owner couldn't seem to see it. So Carl's still figuring.

As stated in the beginning, it's sometimes a bit confusing, even to Carl himself, as to whether he's coming or going. But the prevalent opinion seems to be that's the coming--and that he has just about arrived.