by
Marilyn A. Bekker
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HERITAGE VIGNETTES by Marilyn A. Bekker | |
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY Hotels, or “taverns” as they were called, were needed early in Muscatine. The first was the “Iowa House” built by Robert C. Kenney in 1836. He was described as “the first landlord to put up a sign and keep a tavern in our town”. The hotel, 16 x 30 feet, one and a half story frame building was divided into three rooms above and three below. In 1838, John Vanata erected a building at Iowa Avenue and Second Street and rented it to Reed and Bare for a tavern and in 1839 to Josiah Parvin. Parvin needed more room and soon built the Kemble House at Second and Walnut. The third tavern was erected in 1841 on the west corner of Iowa Avenue and Second Street and took the lead in the hotel business by housing stagecoach passengers overnight. This was the American House constructed by T.S. Bartell.
***** The Muscatine Hotel was built at Fourth and Mulberry in about 1840. It was a familiar stopping place for visitors arriving by steamboat or horse drawn vehicles and many a traveling man and prominent visitor spent a night or two there. The building was unique because the original two story building was made by adding a floor to the bottom, not the top. When Mulberry Avenue and the Court House square were graded, it left the hotel six or more feet above the street. The owner solved the problem by excavating a bit more and adding an under-story. In 1949, the property was purchased by Harold Ogilvie and razed to make way for the construction of a modern super-market.
***** Newspapers came early in the history of Muscatine. The first to be published here was the Iowa Standard. It was issued on October 23, 1840. Early the next year, however, the Standard was moved to Iowa City, which was then assuming prominence as the State Capitol. One week after the publication of the Standard came the first issue of the Bloomington Herald, later to become the Muscatine Journal. The Democratic Enquirer entered the scene from July, 1848 until 1860. In that year the Review was published as a daily. In 1861, the name changed to the Courier and continued to 1873. The Telegraph lasted about six months, when it merged with the Tribune and a year later the Tribune and Courier were consolidated. It was published as the Daily Tribune. Other papers appeared on the scene for short periods of time, including the German language paper, Zeitung, in 1857.
***** In the 1840’s and 1850’s, when barrels were needed for the shipment of flour, cooper shops were an important Muscatine industry. Bennett Mill alone needed 500 or more barrels each day. In 1854-55, 17,000 hogs were packed, all being shipped from Muscatine in barrels. In addition, 125,000 barrels of flour were shipped in 1855. One of the first shops was opened on the south side of Third Street, east of Iowa Avenue. Coe and Wells ran a shop and stave factory near Mad Creek and Second Street, James Bunker’s Cooperage stood on the alley west of the Court House. Clear pine logs were considered the best material and were usually obtained from logs rafted down the Mississippi. While the best carpenters earned $1.25 per day, the coopers were paid $2 to $2.25.
***** Wooden products headed the list of items manufactured in Muscatine in 1854. Flour barrels numbered 29,515; 2,900 bedsteads; 1,433,100 plastering laths; 50,000 broom handles, 1,126,500 shingles; 2,263,900 feet pine lumber and 100,000 window sash. In addition, their cooperage facilities produced 9,800 pork barrels; 56,300 flour barrels and 550 whiskey barrels. Situated on a bend of the river, Muscatine was favorable located to command the trade of a large section of the country.
***** A coroner’s jury cited a defective boiler as the cause of an explosion at the Chamber’s Mill on the corner of Front and Spring Streets on October 13, 1869. John Garrett and Louis Schlosser were scalded by the collapsing flues of a boiler. Both died later that day. A third man, Seivers, was seriously injured. The equipment, manufactured in Rock Island, had been in service only 16 months when the accident occurred. The jury determined that the boiler was defective with some areas of the plates measuring only 3/16 of an inch thick. No blame was placed by the jury.
***** Every early Midwestern city needed a livery stable. In 1864, one Muscatine’s was operated by L.V. Skinkle and Co. It was the City Livery and Sale Stable opposite the Eichelberger Hotel. They advertised that they had on hand one of the largest livery stocks in the State – anything from the best saddle horse to the most magnificent coach, team and harness in the county; also carriages, top and open buggies, cutters and sleighs. If the public needed a hearse they were advised that City Livery and Sale Stable could supply them with a good a funeral turnout and liberal terms as could be found in the City.
***** The Star Creamery was owned by B. Hershey. The imposing two-story building was constructed beginning October, 1877. A gold cow placed on the cupola stood 95 feet above the sill. The milk-room and four milk pans, each with a capacity of 60 gallons and produced 100 to 120 pounds of butter in a batch. The butter, packed in tubs, was shipped to Chicago and New York. The creamery building’s second floor was used for feed bins and contained a mill room where corn and oats were ground. All power for the operation was supplied by steam. Star Creamery was located near the site of Valley View Manor.
***** “Friends Oat” was a famous product of Muscatine. The mill started business in December, 1879, when several oatmeal mills were doing business, mostly by the barrel. Their capacity was 60 barrels a day. By 1900, the two-pound package of Friends Oats had revolutionized the business. 240 people were employed in the packaging department alone with a capacity of 60,000 packages each 24 hours. A carload of lumber was needed daily for boxes and another carload of labels and stock was used each week. In 1887, Friends Oats was awarded a gold medal for quality by the International Exposition in Brussels, Belgium. The mill closed in Muscatine in 1903, transferring all operations to Cedar Rapids, which then became the cereal center of Iowa. In December, 1880, National Bell telephone of Iowa agreed to establish a telephone exchange system in Muscatine, provided that 30 telephones were ordered before work began. The cost for businesses was $48 per year, for a home, $36 per year. There was no other expense, the telephones were provided by the company as well as the wire. An attendant, a man, would be on duty at the Central Office both day and night. The public was assured that their messages would be confidential, heard only by the party they had called. The telephones were expected to be in service no later than January 1.
***** The street fairs of the 1890’s displayed the imagination of Muscatine’s merchants as each tried to outdo the other with booths and displays of their wares. In October, 1899, McQuesten and Sawyer Company Hardware Store had one of the most unique booths on the street. It was supported by pillars of galvanized pipe, lined with shining sheets of tin and zinc and hung with tin cups and pots. Inside was a display of all kinds of stoves handled by the store. The Cadets of Temperance had a free ice water booth in front of Welch and Knapp Tailor Shop. Colorful bunting added bright touches to booths which drew large crowds to the five block shopping area.
***** In early October, 1898, a passerby might have been amazed to see huge piles of watermelons containing as many as 100 wagonloads, stacked on the island form of M.H. Smith and Son. These melons were waiting to be chopped up, then dumped into barrels and the seeds extracted. These seeds were spread on large drying aprons. After thorough drying or curing, they were barreled and stored for the market. Smith had large sales in the Eastern markets for these watermelon seeds. The selling price in 1898 was $200 per ton. All the perfect melons left after the season ended were saved and processed for the seed.
***** Many early trades and industries which flourished in Muscatine’s past are now virtually extinct. One of these is the manufacture of cigars, once made by hand in small shops and homes or any suitable place. At one time, during the late 1800’s, more than 50 independently owned shops and “Buckeyes” were operated in Muscatine. The term “Buckeye” was used to designate a manufacturer on a small scale, usually operating in his home. The average output of a single cigar maker was approximately 1,500 cigars per day. Some prominent early cigar makers were: George and Charlie Eichenauer, Frank Gottbrecht, Herman Gremmel, Don Fogarty, John Hahn and Jack Asthalter. One of the earliest cigar making plants was operated by Ferdinand Kaufman and later by Adolph Kaufman.
***** The Lightning Medicine Company was started in Muscatine in 1896, the company formed by George Gruber and Everett E. Mull. The company plodded along slowly until people became aware of the health restoring remedies being manufactured In Muscatine. Orders for large quantities began to arrive so rapidly that in 1898 a stock company was formed with Col. H.W. Willis as president. Mull’s Lighting Pain Killer and Mull’s Pioneer Cure rapidly became household remedies with a world-wide reputation. A dollar draft was placed in every dollar box of Mull’s Remedies which could be cashed at any bank providing the remedy failed. During 1900, only one draft was cashed for every 1,000 packages sold.
***** Muscatine shipped a half-million eggs each week according to a report on May 6, 1899. The immense increase in the egg business was credited to the establishment of a branch house of the W.W. Whipple Company of Providence, Rhode Island. In terms more easily comprehended, a half-million eggs required three and a half cars and 400 cases were shipped in each car. The eggs were sent to the East Coast where prices were highest. There they were put into storage for sale during the fall and winter months. The eggs came from local commission houses and grocers in Muscatine as well as Grandview, Wapello and towns along the line of the Muscatine Western Railroad and points in Illinois.
***** Muscatine residents were always on the lookout for new business opportunities. In 1900, the Antiseptic Egg Company, a new wholesale establishment of the city manufacturing next eggs, was booming and promised to become one of the most important wholesale concerns of the city. Their quarters were in the Hill Grocery Building, where they turned out thousands of eggs, having become one of the foremost competitors in the line. In 1910, an experiment in peanut growing on Muscatine Island ended successfully. A Mr. Hintermeister planted one pound of Belle of Wakefield peanuts on his farm. The pound of nuts produced eight bushels of goobers at harvest time.
***** The Eclipse Naptha Soap Company filed articles of incorporation on October 31, 1905. The factory was located in what was known as the Blanchard Building at Isett Avenue and Bidwell road near the Pickle Factory. Sample bars of the proposed Eclipse Naptha soap had been made in Chicago and sent here for trial. The test made by housewives in the city found the soap very satisfactory and the cleaning quality of Eclipse Soap was called “first-class”. Some machinery had already been installed by the end of October and the soap factory was expected to be in production by mid-December, 1905.
***** The idea of the shell supply being exhausted in Muscatine was unbelievable in 1897. C.A. Griffin, a fish merchant with long time experience of the river, and then engaged in the business of buying and selling shells, believed there was no danger. He said the supply of shells would not give out in a thousand years. He believed mussel shells multiplied even more rapidly than fish and reached their maturity more quickly. He also said that the best button shells came from the Mississippi between the two rapids. He reported that $400 worth of shells could be taken from a ten foot square patch and in a few days the patch would be refilled. At the time the best shells were selling for $2 per hundred pounds.
***** Edward F. Johnson, a pearl buyer from Lyons, visited Muscatine in December 1905. He had come to buy pearls from the local clammers. He stated pearl buying was not what it used to be. Not so many years before it had been possible to get a valuable pearl for very little because the owners did not know the value. He recalled when the pearl hunting fever had struck. It was just like the Klondike rush – everyone went wild with the idea of finding a fortune in the clam shells and many rigged up clamming outfits. It did not last long: it was harder work than they realized and every shell did not have a pearl in it.
***** On August 1, 1907, the government Fresh Water Clam Commission, which had recently been appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, arrived in the City after spending a day investigating the life of the clam. They stopped every five of six miles to secure information on the food supply, water conditions, temperature and spawning seasons. Members of the commission felt conditions were better near Muscatine than any place they had stopped. They reported a noticeable decrease in the muscle supply in the Upper Mississippi.
***** September 22, 1908 was the end of the Summer Colony which was established near Oregon, Illinois, during the summer by a large number of Muscatine shellers who were employed by the clamming industry along the Rock River. Only a few tents remained of the community. The reopening of school caused many families to return to the city. Others returned to seek positions in factories for the fall and winter. The shellers were disappointed in the shelling along the Rock River in 1908. The shell beds were limited and the supply short. This, plus the long distance necessary to ship the shells made it an unprofitable season.
***** The new button carding machinery ordered by a local button company was being installed in November, 1912. When it was first announced that a carding machine had been perfected, it was believed that it would only be a short time before the practice of sewing buttons in the home would be discontinued. However, the hand sewing continued until the early 1940’a. The carding machine stapled 12 buttons to the card at one time. The manufacturer of the carding machine claimed it would reduce the cost of carding and allow carders to earn more than could be accomplished by hand.
***** Arthur Holder, president of the Federation o labor for the State of Iowa, spoke in Muscatine in February, 1902, before the clerk’s mass meeting. He pointed out that there were 315 manufacturing firms in Muscatine County. 2,390 men, 366 women and 164 children under the age of 16 were employed in these factories. Statistics he quoted showed that if a family consisted of a man, his wife, and a working child under 16, the average income of that family would amount to $15.06 per week. The average man’s wage was $7.91 per week, while the average wage for a woman was $4.18 each week.
***** On May 7, 1909, East Hill boasted of a unique factory. L.G. Young of Scott Street, who had been manufacturing steel stamps for nearly five years, was enlarging his plant. The factory was not well known but Young made steel stamps for several of the largest houses in the United States. In 1908, the business amounted to over $3,000. The new building was a brick structure, 30 x 16 feet. When completed the force of employees was increased. Besides making steel stamps, Young also manufactured all kinds of steel letters, stock markers and key checks. All of the work was done by hand, but plans were being made to put in machinery.
***** The delegates who attended the state meeting of the Royal Arch Masons in Davenport in October, 1909, wore a Muscatine, product, a badge made by the Lowe Jewelry Company, 1001 Hershey Avenue. the badge consisted of a pearl keystone centered with the emblem of the Royal Arch Masons attached to a short red ribbon bearing the date and place, fastened to a bar pin. The company was at work on a design for a badge to be worn at the General Grand Chapters. This badge would be almost the same with the exception of the bar pin which was to be of pearl, bearing the name of Iowa across the center. Lowe and Company manufactured pearl and enamel jewelry novelties. In 909 the demand for pearl jewelry was greater than the supply.
***** In 1912, the VanNostrand Saddlery, located at 215-217 East Front Street, had the distinction of being the oldest saddler concern in the State of Iowa. The firm was established in 1854, when J. Rubelman came to Muscatine and began a saddler, leather and shoe finding business. In 1858, William VanNostrand joined the firm, then known as J. Rubelman and Company, and several years later they were joined by Richard VanNostrand. August Othmer joined the firm in 1874 and under his direction, the name was changed to the VanNostrand Saddlery Company. The growth of the business finally made it necessary to open a branch plant at Sioux City.
***** The most widely seen element on the levee is usually sand, but in November of 1912, the area between Iowa Avenue and Chestnut Street was piled high with over 300 loads of gravel at the west end of the Bristol Fisheries. Barge loads were still due to arrive before the ice formed on the Mississippi. The gravel was being brought up from four miles downstream while a boat sucked up pure sand just south of the City. the gravel would be used for concrete work and the high grade of sand for plastering and the many concrete blocks to be manufactured for the coming season.
***** H.J. Heinz Company ended the season on November 26, 1912, with the last of the second cutting of sauerkraut. The cutting nearly filled the entire storage room of the plant and brought to a close the most successful season the local branch had ever had to date. The final carload of cabbage for the second cutting arrived the evening of the 25th and cutting began the next morning. By the end of the day the work of the 1912 season of canning and storing was completed. The packing space for ketchup and pickles was also filled to overflowing. The Muscatine pant had experience a record run.
***** A shortage of fuel became a reality in November, 1919, due to a strike of bituminous coal miners. After checking their inventory and reviewing the national situation, Muscatine coal dealers voluntarily made coal rationing rules more stringent. No coal was to be delivered to any person or firm who had a week or 10 day supply of coal on hand. Drivers were instructed not to unload any coal they were delivering if, in their judgment, the person had enough coal to last more than a week. Muscatine industrial plants all reported at least a 30 to 90 day supply on hand and were not immediately affected by the coal strike.
***** Candy making was by no means a new industry in Muscatine. In November, 1921, Roy Gravel, proprietor of Candy Land on East Second Street, claimed to be a pioneer in establishing a manufacturing plant which turned out the confection by the ton. He reported that he had already secured orders for four and one-half tons of candies for the Christmas trade. The Gravel candy plant claimed to be the only establishment on East Second Street to be turning out “satin finished” candy. This was the trade name for the glossy surfaced candies which were usually sold in small bottles, jars and other containers. Stick candy was another specialty of this candy manufacturing plant.
***** The Chocolate Shop formally opened at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, December 6, 1914. The Sirpis Brothers had spared no expense and the parlor was very elegant. The soda fountain was built of onyx of beautiful color and myriads of electric lights were used in trimming. French beveled mirrors and woodwork of mahogany created a parlor of beauty. In the front were located the fountain, candy cases and the cashier’s desk. In the rear was the parlor proper with a large number of marble topped tables. The Chocolate Shop was advertised as “the most beautiful and costly candy store and thirst shop west of Chicago”.
***** In 1914 Norman Baker returned to Muscatine and under the name of the Tangley Company began the manufacture of the calliaphone. He continued into the 1930’s. The instrument was a version of the older steam operated calliope used in the 19th Century circuses. It operated off compressed air and was an instantaneous success with carnival and show people. Various models were made, including one for churches and homes. Calliaphones could be mounted on a ton truck chasis for outdoor advertising. It was advertised as “The First New Tone in 40 Years.”
***** March 2, 1916, was the opening day of the first auto show to be held in Muscatine. Thirty of the latest model autos were on display at the Armory including Buicks, Fords, a Cole 8, Studebakers, Overlands, a Willys-Knight, Chalmers, Chevrolet, Hudson Super-Six, Cadillac, Paige, Saxon, Reos, Maxwells, Dodges, and a Mitchell Six. Also exhibiting was Ed Volger, the vulcanizer, with a line of tires and accessories. Smally and Halling exhibited electrical appliances, electric starting and lighting systems. Thousands of Muscatine residents and hundreds of 08t-of-town visitors attended. Musical entertainment was provided for the pleasure of the crowds attending the three day auto show.
***** Dr. J.L. Kein and Dr. A.J. Weaver announced plans for enlarging and remodeling Bellevue Hospital in September of 1919. The James Wise home at 709 West Third had been purchased by the hospital board and would be used exclusively as a nurse’s home. It was planned to accommodate 25 nurses. The third floor of the hospital, which formerly housed the nurses, would be converted to use as a hospital ward while the first and second floors would be used as private rooms. Other improvements were planned to make Bellevue one or the most modern and best equipped hospitals in the area.
***** “An unusual opportunity for persons to convert miscellaneous articles into ready cash” is the way Fred Schreurs described the public auctions held each Saturday at the Schreurs and Freers sale pavilion at the foot of Orange Street. An average of 2,000 persons attended the sale each week. Sixty-five persons consigned articles for the sale on one Saturday consisting of livestock, household goods, farm machinery and miscellaneous items. In addition to the benefits to the buyers and seller, it was considered advantageous to the City as the Saturday auction attracted many persons from the surrounding towns and the rural district. Owners of restaurants and cares reported a marked increase in business following the opening of the sale pavilion on January 5, 1912.
***** In March of 1920, Herman Samuels was making plans to open his brick yard at 964 Roscoe Avenue in just a few more weeks. Samuels planned to increase his production if the necessary labor could be secured. The previous year all kilns had to be operated shorthanded. Gustav Maeglin, who also operated a yard at 992 Fulliam Avenue, announced that he might not open for business in 1920 due to the difficulty in obtaining help during the year before. Extensive building contracts had been let for new factories and public buildings and the demand for brick would be great during the construction season.
***** Poor old Jiggs; always mistreated by his wife, Maggie, in the comic strips was now blamed by a Muscatine Commission merchant for the increase in cabbage prices. Jiggs, in the comic strip “Bringing Up Father” was in a constant fight with Maggie, his wife, to have corned beef and cabbage for dinner. On March 31, 1920, the merchant declared that when the public read the strip, nine out of ten became hungry for the dish. The day following the cartoon in which it was mentioned brought an increase in the sale of cabbage in the markets of Muscatine and, therefore, an increase in price.
***** The first independent oil station was established in Muscatine in May, 1922, by J.M. Roth. In 1928, a one-stop station was developed at the Roth Service Station at Third and Cedar Streets. The universal use of the automobile for faster and more efficient service demanded that modern equipment be installed. Power washing equipment, a comparatively new departure, was incorporated. Hydraulic lifts, grease guns and experienced personnel were available to service any motor car needing attention. A special washing machine to clean crank cases was an outstanding feature of the new, one-stop, Roth Service Station.
***** Each year from 1916 to 1937 thousand of peonies in shades varying from deep red to pure white would burst into bloom at the Braunworth Nursery at 1103 East Front Street. The first weekend of June in the 1920’s hundreds of visitors from the Tri-Cities and throughout the County arrived to view the gardens which also featured oriental poppies and irises. Charles Braunworth, the owner, presented each visitor at the annual show with a flower from the more than 10,000 in bloom. During the show, Braunworth gave special instruction, especially to school children, on the planting, pollenization and care of the plants.
***** Littlemac made quite an impression on the automotive world. Littlemac, manufactured by the Thompson Motor Corporation of Muscatine, was Muscatine’s entry in the car industry. After 14 years of development, 12 of the vehicles rolled off the assembly line. Two models were built; a two-passenger coupe selling for $350 and truckette selling for $500 F.O.B. Muscatine. Littlemac was powered by a four cylinder Continental Red Seal motor generating 18 horsepower. The builders claimed the car had a normal speed of 55 miles per hour and could operate at 75. The car gained considerable interest in the trade magazines and orders far exceeded production; however, the company closed in 1931, a victim of the depression.
***** On January 5, 1947, Radio Station KWPC began broadcasting services to Muscatine and the surrounding communities, on the air from sunrise to sunset. In 1949, it was joined by KWPC-FM, which in the spring of 1970 became KFMH. The two stations provide music, news sports and public service broadcasts to nearly one million people living in a radius of 75 to 1000 miles around Muscatine. During emergencies, such as the flood of 1965, the station remains on the air around-the-clock to provide the concerned public with important information from the police, sheriff, schools, fire department and Civil Defense.
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