Sheboygan Tales of the Tragic and Bizarre
Page 11
During the winter months, when the roads were covered with snow, the City of Sheboygan would close city streets located on hills to accommodate children sled riding.
In 1912, the 1600 block of North Fifth Street was honored as the first concrete street in the city, and a small marker was erected. The street is now covered with asphalt; however, the marker is still there.
What may have been the world’s first snowmobile was a strange-looking device that resembled an open car body with wooden skis on the front, propelled by a large screw at the rear and powered by a four-cylinder engine that was built by Falls Motors of Sheboygan Falls. Built for use in Alaska, it was known as the 1913 Burch Autosleigh.
The population of Wisconsin during World War I was so predominately German that it was feared that men drafted into the army would defect and go over to the German side once they arrived in Europe; not one ever did. Wisconsin units, in fact, fought with great bravery in World War I.
In the year 1919, the Sheboygan Merchants played the newly formed Green Bay Packers. The score: Green Bay 89, Merchants 0.
The Sheboygan Merchants Football team about 1919. Courtesy Sheboygan County Historic Research Center.
Many of the one-room schoolhouses had almost poetic names, such as the Bonnie View School and the Welcome School. And wouldn’t it have been fun to go to the Starlight School?
In the year 1921, Wisconsin was the first state to pass a law eliminating all discrimination against women.
When the morning recess at a country school was over, the children would be summoned back to school by the teacher ringing a small handheld bell out the front door. Mischievous students at times would hide the bell so as to lengthen the recess period. This prank usually resulted in the child being severely scolded and sometimes enduring a trip to the woodshed.
By 1925, radio was becoming extremely popular, and it was about this time that “portable” radios began to appear. The first portables were huge contraptions with a large spider web–like antenna that had to be set up. Two heavy batteries, which weighed thirty pounds or more, were used to power these portables.
Police records from 1927 show that a young Sheboygan man who was arrested for “loafing on a public street” was found guilty and sentenced to jail for five days. One would hope the miscreant was not allowed to “loaf” while he served his sentence!
During the Roaring Twenties, Al Capone, the infamous Chicago gangster, was said to have passed through Sheboygan several times on his way to his north woods hideout. The main highway to northern Wisconsin in those days ran right down Eighth Street.
With Prohibition well underway an ad in the October 23, 1928 Sheboygan Press read, “188 proof alcohol, at only 59 cents a gallon can be purchased at the H.C. Prange Company.”
In 1929, many homes in Sheboygan had a chicken coop in the backyard. Many instances of chickens being stolen were experienced. An alert police officer on foot patrol late one evening apprehended a culprit whom he caught in the act. The thief was taken into custody and hauled off to the police station. But the well-fed chicken thief was never charged, as he was a large, mixed-breed, black dog!
In the early days of Sheboygan radio station WHBL, one popular announcer, Tom Thomas, received what was then considered a large salary: the exorbitant sum of twelve dollars a week.
In October 1936, thieves broke into the warehouse of a local oil company and discovered that the company’s safe had a small slot in the top through which money could be dropped without opening the door. The enterprising burglars bent the handle of a fly swatter in such a manner that they could fish out over $510 (over $7,000 in today’s money) out of the safe. To this day, the fly swatter–wielding bandits have never been caught.
Armed with Tommy guns, Sheboygan police officers pose in front of the department’s armored car, warning “criminals stay out of Sheboygan.” Author’s collection.
Radio Station WHBL’s Concert Orchestra during the 1930s. Courtesy Sheboygan County Historic Research Center.
On October 11, 1937, over five thousand people turned out to witness a flight of twelve military planes land at a field on the south side of Sheboygan. The mayor, aldermen and the Central High band all welcomed the fliers.
During the years of World War II, Sheboygan area industry turned out glider wings, shoes and boots, shell casings, brooms, clothing, canteens, mess kits and torpedo tubes for submarines. The Plymouth cheese factories manufactured cheese by the ton to feed hungry troops.
In 1956, there were twelve shoe repair shops in the city; today there are two. In many cases, shoes are a throwaway item, something that would never have been considered years ago.
The movie screen at the Star Dusk Theater was just over eighty feet high and fifty feet wide, making it one of the largest structures in the county.
In 1962, Wisconsin was the first state in the Union to require seat belts in all new cars sold in the state, beginning with the 1962 model year.
On Sunday mornings, radio station WHBL would broadcast the Lutheran Hour. In 1963, they decided to upgrade the station with new and more powerful equipment. Once the new equipment had been installed, the station engineer felt that a Sunday morning would be the best time to test it. On the morning of the test, the priest at Holy Name Catholic Church was in the pulpit about to start his sermon. The good father reached down, switched on the loudspeaker system and both he and his parishioners were startled to hear, “We now bring you the Lutheran Hour.” It seems that the new and more powerful equipment at the radio station had overpowered the church public address system. The bug was quickly repaired. The story was picked up by the national media and also reported by Paul Harvey and Reader’s Digest.
The 99 Hall fully engulfed in flames. Courtesy Sheboygan County Historic Research Center.
On May 27, 1988, the 99 Hall was destroyed by fire. This building was the last remnant of Born’s Park, a one-block-square entertainment complex that covered the area between Michigan Avenue to St. Clair Avenue and North Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets.
Weather records indicate that only about 30 percent of our Christmases are white.
The Sheboygan Marsh, which for eons was a favorite camping and hunting ground of local Indians, covers over ten thousand acres.
The most often asked question I get is, “Where does the name Sheboygan come from?” There are several explanations; the one I favor is “where the waters meet”—in other words, where the Sheboygan River runs into the lake.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Wangemann is a lifelong resident of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. From early on, he developed a strong interest in local history, especially the history of the Great Lakes. Bill is a twenty-eight-year veteran of the Sheboygan Police Department, where he served as a patrolman, emergency medical technician, crime scene photographer, police artist and crime scene reconstruction specialist. Bill is a board member of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center in Sheboygan Falls and is also on the board of directors at the Sheboygan County Historical Society Museum. He is also a past member of the board of directors at the Mead Public Library. He has written three books that were published by the Research Center and has written over 360 columns on local history for various local newspapers. Bill also holds a seat on the Sheboygan Common Council as an alderman and has done so since 1999. In 1986, by act of the common council, Bill was appointed city historian, a position he still holds today. Bill is married and has three children, two stepchildren, eleven grandchildren, one great-grandson, three dogs and four cats. His hobbies are woodworking, model building, photography and drawing and painting.
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