Bremer Groceries and Saloon

In the first quarter of the twentieth century, members of the Bremer family operated grocery stores in Sandusky. J.D. Bremer was listed as a saloon keeper in the 1880 U.S. Census. In 1902, he ran both a saloon and a grocery store in the 600 block of McDonough Street, and by 1908 had moved his grocery business to the southwest corner of Vine and Monroe Streets (pictured above). He sold staple and fancy groceries and provisions at his grocery store, as well as flour and feed. 

In the early days of telephone service, there were competing phone companies, whose customers could only call other phones connected to the same services; therefore, many businesses subscribed to both services. This was true at the J.D. Bremer store, with the Bell Telephone Company and the Harrison Telephone Company both having phone lines to the store. 

J.D. Bremer ran his grocery store at this location until the early 1920s. Herman Bremer, most likely a brother, also had a grocery store in Sandusky. In 1908, Herman’s store was at the southeast corner of Monroe and Clinton Street. When Herman Bremer died in 1911, the Sandusky Register reported his death on the front page of the March 13, 1911 issue of the paper.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

After Herman Bremer’s death, his sons and wife ran the grocery store until about 1916. Before the automobile age, many neighborhoods had their own small grocery store. The 1921-1922 Sandusky City Directory listed ninety separate grocery stores on pages 475 to 477.

Memorial Day: Memorials to Local Soldiers

 

The archival collections at the Sandusky Library contain a number of items that memorialize soldiers of the United States. The poster above is dedicated to Company I of the Third Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, which was organized in Monroeville.

The paper above gives the order of a ceremony (possibly in 1932) in honor of Spanish American War veterans. George Schiller, who contributed to the program, was the last surviving local veteran of that war by the 1950s. 

In 1945, a temporary memorial to those from Erie County who died in World War II was erected in Washington Park:

These First World War era Boy Scouts have assembled to honor the dead on Memorial Day:

Sandusky's Montgomery Ward Illustrates the Evolution of Retail

The Montgomery Ward company began in 1872 as a mail-order business selling goods from an annual catalog. Facing stiff competition from its catalog sale competitor, Sears Roebuck, it began opening retail stores in 1926, one year after Sears took this step.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, Montgomery Ward had a store in downtown Sandusky on the 200 block of Columbus Avenue, on the west side of the street. In the picture above, taken in 1938, you can see both the Montgomery Ward store and the J.C. Penney store as area residents enjoy the Northwest Territory Celebration parade. 

The postwar trend to suburban style shopping centers was followed in Sandusky. From about 1964 through the 1970s, Montgomery Ward had a catalog store in a shopping center location at 208 East Perkins Avenue. At this store, you could order or pick up orders from the Montgomery Ward catalog.

Household appliances were also sold at the Perkins Avenue store.

Televisions sold in 1968 were not nearly as technologically advanced as the television sets owned by most Americans today.

Our region joined the shopping mall era when the Sandusky Mall opened in 1977, and Montgomery Ward soon followed. From 1979 until about 1984, the Montgomery Ward store was one of the anchor stores of the Sandusky Mall.

But as with several other large retail chains, Wards began to struggle financially, and in 1984 closed their Sandusky Mall Store. By 1986 the Sears store had relocated from the Perkins Plaza to the Sandusky Mall, in the former location of the Montgomery Ward store. 

Ruggiero Ricelli was a “Man of Many Jobs”

Ruggiero Ricelli was born in Italy in 1879, and emigrated to Sandusky around 1893. Beginning in 1895, he operated a fruit and confectionery cart at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street in Sandusky. Later he ran a store in the Cooke building, and eventually he set up shop at 119-121 East Market Street.

In the early twentieth century Mr. Ricelli served as an advisor to local residents of Italian descent. He helped them write letters to family members back in Italy, and aided them in understanding business conditions of their new town. In the Erie County Common Pleas Court, he served as an interpreter whenever knowledge of his native language was needed. He also was a Notary Public, and by 1911, he was an agent for several steamship lines which traveled from New York to Italy. For several years, he was president of the American Fruit Company, which was located on Water Street. 

Mr. Ricelli’s first wife was Arcangela Carapetta; they had a son, Orlando C. Ricelli. Dr. O.C. Ricelli was one of the founders of the first Memorial Hospital in Sandusky, along with Dr. Lester Mylander and Dr. Carle Koehler. (Note: in later years, Dr. Orlando C. Ricelli changed the spelling of his surname to Ricely.)  Arcangela Carapetta Ricelli died in 1920 at the age of 32. In 1922, Ruggiero  Ricelli married Minnie Augusta Barnett, and they had two children, John and Jeanne.

Ruggiero  Ricelli died at the age of 66 on September 26, 1945. An obituary for Mr. Ricelli, sometimes spelled Riccelli, appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News on September 26, 1945.

“A Hero in Rags” Presented by the Social Footlight Club

In May of 1909 the Social Footlight Club presented a play entitled “A Hero in Rags” at the Sidley Memorial Hall in Saints Peter and Paul school. Victor W. Brown was the leading man in the play. Other cast members were: William A. Brune, Carl Swigert, Archie Blainey, Norma Heir, Pearl Roesch, and Ethel Herman. Charles C. Corell served as the musical director for the performance. Special acts were also performed by “The Elmores” and Byer and Moos, an acrobatic team. 

The Social Footlight Club was a theatrical club begun by a group of young men in Sandusky in 1906, with Chester Weis as its first president. Victor W. Brown was connected with a variety of amateur theatrical events in the 1900s to the 1920s

Samuel C. Wheeler, Sandusky Attorney

 

When Samuel C. Wheeler died at age 79 on February 21, 1908, he was the oldest member of the Erie County Bar Association. For many years, he practiced law in the Cooke Block in downtown Sandusky.

Before the Civil War, Mr. Wheeler was a member of Bay City Guards, a local militia company. During the Civil War, he enlisted in Company E of the 7^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he rose to the rank of Sergeant. 

On the occasion of Mr. Wheeler’s seventy-seventh birthday, several of his friends had a celebration. Cyrus B. Winters gave a speech, and a special poster was presented to him. On a large piece of cardboard was a picture of Samuel C. Wheeler and on each side of the poster was a numeral seven, made from the tags of Battle Ax plug tobacco.  

Mr. Wheeler suffered an injury when he fell on the icy sidewalk as he left his office two months prior to his death, and his health failed after the accident. Funeral services were held at his home on Madison Street in Sandusky, under the auspices of Science Lodge, No. 50, F. & A.M. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery. In an obituary which appeared in the February 22, 1908 issue of the Sandusky Register, it was reported that no man “was better known throughout the city and county than he was.”

Fred Kranz, Sandusky Businessman

Fred Kranz was born in Nassau, Germany in 1841; in 1848 he came to the United States with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Balthasar Kranz. The Kranz family settled in Perkins Township of Erie County, Ohio.  Fred was raised on the family farm, and at the age of fifteen he was trained in the tinner’s trade. 

In the 1860s, he worked for Flood, Geasen and Company, tinsmiths in Sandusky. By 1884, he was the senior partner in the company. The advertisement for F. Kranz below appeared in the 1884 edition of the R. L. Polk & Company’s Marine Directory of the Great Lakes.

A biographical sketch about Fred Kranz, which appeared in History of Erie County, Ohio, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, stated that Mr. Kranz had an extensive and well-equipped establishment, and he specialized in lime kiln work. In 1894, he had the contract for Faultless Furman boilers. also that year he installed a heating system in the Edward Jarecki residence on Central Avenue. Before that, in 1884, he installed a heating system at Holy Angels Church. There were two supply coils, and one-half coils under each seat, in a system which was devised by Mr. Kranz. 

By 1896 Fred Kranz was the proprietor of the Sandusky Metal Works.

The advertisement from the 1896 Sandusky City Directory indicated by F. Kranz was a wholesale and retail dealer in plumbers’ supplies; gas and steam fitter; and also did tin, copper, and sheet iron work. he seemed to adapt his skills as the needs of his customers evolved through the years. 

On May 5, 1899, Fred Kranz died at his residence at the age of 55. He left behind a wife, the former Caroline Traub, and four children. An obituary which appeared in the Sandusky Star of May 6, 1899, read in part, “During his long residence in Sandusky Mr. Kranz had won the esteem and respect of all who knew him. His private life and business methods had made many friends who will learn of his death with sorrow.”  To read more about the Kranz family and other Sandusky residents of German origin, see the book Sandusky Then and Now,  housed with the genealogy books at the Sandusky Library.