Garment Care in Sandusky

The 1896 Sandusky City Directory lists a variety of businesses which advertised services that helped area residents maintain their clothing. While we not know the specifics of what types of renovation were offered, four individuals were listed as "Clothing Renovators": John Conley, Louis Dietz, John M. Fox, and Mrs. Otto Peter.  Businesses which offered to dye clothing in 1896 were: Burt Moskovits, C. F. Rathke, and Waibel & Knoebel. Three laundries appeared in the 1896 City Directory: Beilstein & Pfanner, Henny Frank, and Till & Wagner. Ten merchant tailors and dozens of dressmakers were also included in the 1896 Sandusky City Directory.

By 1919, C.A. Rathke had expanded his business to a dry cleaning and dyeing works. Mr. Rathke also made suits to order. Mr. Rathke was a tailor in Sandusky for many years.

In 1906 Henry Beilstein and Philip Pfanner were the proprietors of the Beilstein Steam Laundry at 630 Market Street. In later years, there were Dry Cleaning establishments owned separately by the Beilstein and Pfanner families.

The people in the photograph below are not identified, but notes on the back of the photo state that some of the last names of the people pictured are: McLaughlin, Ryan, McCann, and Conley. The Sandusky Dyeing and Cleaning Works was on East Park Street in the 1890s.

By the 1950’s, there were several dry cleaners in Sandusky. The Sun Way Dry Cleaners offered “One Hour Martinizing” at its East Market Street location in the Hubbard block.

There were many more laundries and dry cleaners in Sandusky for which we do not have photographs. The Mahala Steam Laundry operated in Sandusky for many years, with various owners and locations. Visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library to view historical city directories. The historical city and county directories will provide information about the citizens and the businesses of Sandusky and Erie County dating back to the nineteenth century.

When the Auditor’s Office Issued Bicycle Licenses

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, bicycle licenses were issued in Ohio, to provide funds for the construction and repair of bicycle paths. This blank bicycle license was issued by the Erie County Auditor’s Office for the fee of one dollar (about $30 in today's money). In the late nineteenth century, bicycles became popular for both transportation and recreational purposes. 

Below is a picture of a young man named Lloyd Gaa, standing with a penny-farthing bicycle at the Lloyd Studio in Sandusky in 1882.

We are unsure if the bicycle in front of the Beilstein Laundry belonged to an employee or a customer.

These young men are getting ready for a local bicycle race in 1919:

         

Here is a copy of the Bicycle Laws that were passed by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio on April 21, 1898:

And if you want to know about today's bicycling rules, follow the link for a column from the Ohio Bar Association that discusses current guidelines about the Law of Riding a Bicycle in Ohio.

Mahala Laundry was in Sandusky for Seventy Five Years

The Mahala Steam Laundry was founded in 1901 by Charles A. Yochem and Lewis Feick. This advertisment from the Sandusky Daily Star of December 7, 1901, suggests that if you took your laundry to be done at the Mahala Laundry, you would have no wash day!

The Mahala Steam Laundry got its name from its location in the Mahala Block on Washington Row between Columbus Avenue  and Wayne Street. The four story building had been constructed for William T. West in 1892, and was given the name of his wife’s middle name.

A massive fire destroyed the Mahala Laundry and several other businesses in 1909. After the fire, the Mahala Laundry relocated to Jackson Street. This advertisement appeared in the 1925 Fram.

It is interesting to note that in 1939, the Mahala Laundry and Beilstein Laundry were both located on the same block of Jackson Street, between the Star Journal newspaper building and the Presbyterian Church, seen below on a Sanborn Map from June of that year.

Both companies would later branch out into dry cleaning. In 1946 Lewis Feick and Alden Feick took over the Mahala Laundry. An article in the February 24, 1961 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that the Mahala Laundry had been purchased by the Peerless Laundry and Dry Cleaning Company of Elyria, Ohio. For seventy-five years, the Mahala Laundry cared for the garments of area residents, and provided jobs for many individuals, many of whom were single females.

Beilstein Steam Laundry

From the late 1890s until about 1909, the Beilstein Steam Laundry did business at 630 Market Street. The proprietors in 1898 were Henry J. Beilstein and John Pfanner, but in 1900, they were Henry J. Beilstein and Philip J. Pfanner. In the picture above, you can see that some customers arrived at the Beilstein Laundry by horse driven vehicles, and others by bicycle. The inside of the laundry is pictured below. Both males and females were employed at the Beilstein Steam Laundry.

In an advertisement which appeared in the October 27, 1904 issue of the Sandusky Star, the proprietors of the Beilstein Steam Laundry stated that that they could get dress clothes in order for the weddings and parties of the for the fall and winter season.

The 1910 Sandusky City Directory listed the business as the Beilstein-Pfanner Laundry, still located at 630 Market Street. By 1915, the Beilstein Laundry and the Philip J. Pfanner’s Dry Cleaning and Dyeing businesses were at separate locations. The Beilstein Laundry had moved to the 200 block of Jackson Street, and Mr. Pfanner’s business was located at 318 Washington Street. In the twentieth century, the Beilstein and Pfanner families both operated dry cleaning businesses for many years.

Labor Day

In honor of Labor Day, we would like to share some images of workers, from the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Lay Brothers, 1905

Sandusky Tool Company, circa 1880

Beilsten Steam Laundry, circa 1895. Note the child laborers.

Another example of women at work: Jackson Underwear factory, 1906

The men who built the Jackson Underwear factory, 1899

A meeting of the Bartenders' Union, 1940