Bay View Wine Company

According to records on file with the Ohio Secretary of State, the Bay View Wine Company was incorporated on February 23, 1905. The plant was on the 300 block of Putnam Street, and the office was at 807 Water Street. The officers of the company in 1908 were Allen H. Porter, president; James A. Sawyer, vice president; and Jacob Bookerman, treasurer. By 1915, Mr. Sawyer was the president of the company, which produced native wines, champagnes, and brandies, and dealt in a variety of liquors and whiskies. One of the wines compounded at the Bay View Wine Company was the Golden Eagle Brand, promoted on the top of this receipt from 1909.

An advertisement from the September 13, 1905 issue of the Star Journal stated that the Bay View Wine Company was the resident agent for Green River, “the whisky without a headache.” At this time the company also sold unfermented grape juice for fifty cents a quart. In 1911, the company sold Olden English Ale for $1.75 a case.

By January of 1919, the Bay View Wine Company had dissolved. During Prohibition, Sweet Valley Products produced non-alcoholic beverages at the Putnam Street plant. The site is now occupied by Amvets Post No.17.  Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the historic wineries in Sandusky and the Lake Erie Islands region.

Patriotic Young Ladies

This photograph of eighteen young ladies in a patriotic scene featuring several American flags was taken shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. The only persons identified are Florence Bookerman and Ethel Mae Barber, who are in the back row. (Notes on the back of the photo do not specify the exact location of Florence and Ethel Mae.) The photograph was a gift from Jack Doller, the son of Ethel Mae Barber Doller.


Most of the girls are wearing a small diamond shaped badge that says “Who are you?” It also appears to say "Maccabee Rally" and something else that is not readable. The Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization and insurance society that had a chapter in Sandusky.

With only the slightest hint of smiles, the young ladies are wearing lovely white dresses, and some have white bows in their hair.

Ethel Mae Barber would eventually marry Howard V. Doller, from a family with ties to Put in Bay.

Ethel Mae Doller was active in the Sandusky Sailing Club, First Presbyterian Church, Business Women’s Club, and the Eastern Star. She died in March of 1966, while her husband died tragically in an accident while he was in Madison, Indiana in 1943. Florence Bookerman never married. She was the daughter of Jacob and Mary Bookerman, and worked at the American Crayon Company.

If anyone knows the names of any of the other young ladies in the picture, please leave a message in the Comments section of the blog post.