What do Albert Einstein, Henry Ford and Abraham Lincoln have in common? They have all achieved a level of greatness that will not be easily surpassed. With a little help, inanimate objects can do the same, the former Wooden Shoe Brewing Company of Minster, Ohio, can be placed into this category.
The city of Minster was named after Minster, Westphalen, Germany. Ask anyone in this West-Central Ohio community about the brewery and you should be prepared to pack a lunch; as there are so many enjoyable stories to be heard. The brewery brings back vivid memories to everyone who lived in the area at the time. This was more than a small local brewery, it was a way of life for the residents who lived in the vicinity. The Wooden Shoe brewery was the major employer in the Minster area, and from 1933 until approximately 1943, the tax money from the brewery met the entire operating expenses of the town.
Operating this brewery was not all fun and games, though. The business experienced many hardships, such as a complete loss by fire, the death of the manager, Prohibition, the passing of the Brewmaster, a shortage of materials, and finally, stiff competition from the large national breweries. Let's go back and take a brief look at the history and legacy of the local brewery.
Origin of the Minster Brewery
The Wooden Shoe Brewing Company began in 1869 when Franz Lange constructing a brewery using stone and brick. It was modeled after a lager beer brewery in Piqua, Ohio, (which would later be purchased by the Lange family and named after them). Two other breweries were operating in Minster at the time; one company was owned by George Luckman, and the other by Bernard H. Nienberg. However, they both produced a "brown beer," that was not to the liking of the townspeople. By 1870, a new beer was introduced, and Lange's brewery did well as the local brew was well received by the residents. Peter Mittler became Lange's brewmaster in 1875 and would hold that position 23 years until leaving in 1898. He would eventually sell his ownership share to J.B. Meyer in 1899.
In 1883, the brewery was sold to the Steineman brothers. It was the same time, when 18-year old German native, Joe Brinkman, immigrated to United States to complete a course in wine making at the Wahl Henius Institute, of Chicago. He would serve an apprenticeship at the Wiedemann brewery in Newport, Kentucky before coming to Minster as a cellarman. He would eventually become brewmaster in 1898 and play a key role of the business for the next 44 years.
Business went well until a fire leveled the brewery on June 28, 1888. It was rebuilt in 1890, and was once again sold on November 5, 1890. The five men forming the new company were: Peter Mittler, Matt Goeke, A.W. Gerwals, Ben Frierott, and Frank Herkenhoff. Over the next 13 years, there was a period of modernization, including the installation of a new beer cooling system and some expansion. Bottles were filled and capped by hand as late as 1892, but this method was discarded the following year as modern machine that washed, filled and capped faster and better than before, was put into service.
In 1895, there was a complete renovation, and the main building was expanded with the addition of a 40 x 80 foot cellar on the east side. Upon Peter Mittlers' departure in 1898, Joe Brinkman took over as brewmaster. He had the respect and admiration of everyone who knew him. His reign would last until his death in 1942. There was a constant upgrade of equipment. On October 31, 1901, management bought a new ice machine and installed a 100 hp steam engine.
A dramatic turn of events took place on May 26, 1903, when manager Ben Frierott Sr. died. The decision was made to disband the old company, and form a new one with new management. The name of the brewery was changed to the Star Brewing Company on July 1, 1903. J.B. Meyer sold his interest to Frank Herkenhoff. The mem-bers of the Board of Directors were: Matt Goeke - President, Frank Herkenhoff Sr. - Vice President, Charles Herken-hoff - Secretary/ Treasurer & Manager, A.W. Gerwals & George Van Oss served as Directors. In March, 1906, Star Brewing Company purchased Henry Lais brewery in Norwalk, Ohio for $50,000. The Star Brewing Company kept the Henry Lais brewery operating as the "Lais Brewing Company" until it closed in 1912.
In July of 1907, Van Oss stepped down, and was replaced by Anton Frierott. At this time, the Star Brewing Company was a leading brewer with an annual output of 15,000 barrels per year. The incorporated company had started with $1,000 worth of capital, and consisted of the brewery, several buildings, ponds, ice house, and a warehouse in at least eight surrounding communities. A 100 hp and a 20 hp steam engine were installed to process grain. Two artesian wells were drilled to supply the needed water, and a generator took care of the electric needs of 60 lights in the entire plant. This was one of the most modern breweries in the country. It was also one of the tallest buildings in Minster, and was very efficient because the brewing process started at the top with the grinding of the grain, and continued downward with the help of gravity. The various ingredients were added along the way. There was no need for pumps or other elaborate equipment.
There were no tractor trailers or route trucks to deliver beer in the early 1900s, but instead there were five wagons and teams of horses. They were busy year round. There were twenty-five employees back then, with a monthly payroll of $1,000- $1,500.
The brewing came to a screeching halt when Prohibition was enacted in 1919, and Star Brewing Co. was forced to lay off some employees. However, eight to ten remained and kept the business running with a new line of soft drinks and near beer. The brewery also sold ice that they cut from their ponds, and did anything to keep the doors open. A home malt tonic was also introduced which claimed to be of use to nursing mothers, frail children, convalescents, the elderly, and for all who were run down or had nervous conditions. One can imagine an old bearded man with a top hat, standing on his soap box, giving the big sales pitch! Local residents and former employees reported that the low alcoholic beverage was the same brew as made during pre-Prohibition. Maybe this accounts for the raid by F.B.I. agents in December 1921, when the beer was discovered to have an alcohol content of 3.33 percent, when the legal limit was less than 1 percent.
During Prohibition, the company's name had changed to the Star Beverage Company. It survived Prohibition by manufacturing soft drinks, and when Repeal came along in 1933, the brewery took off again. The return of beer created a big demand for real beer and the company found it necessary to enlarge its capacity. A new brew house, new stock house and new fermenting cellar were built in 1933, furnished entirely by Littleford Brothers of Cincinnati.
When the Star brewery saw this demand for real beer it revived its "Wooden Shoe" beer, a trade name the company first used since July 1, 1913. In August 1933, Star Brewing Company placed its new brew house in operation. The new brewhouse was a compact 100-barrel brewhouse and other improvements made in the plant increase its capacity from 200 to 600 barrels a day. By 1935, the brewery doubled its floor space, and production went up accordingly. Star Beverage Co. was the first union shop in town, and also was the first in town to strike. Despite the strike, the brewery's management enjoyed a rapid sales increase, and once again business was booming. The beer from the small brewery was shipped throughout most of the United States, either by rail or truck, and in later years, by a distributor network. There were approximately 50 distributors in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia.
Wooden Shoe Brewmaster Honored at German Day
The small town of Minster, Ohio whose population was largely of German descent, had an annual celebration during mid-August called "German Day." A prominent part in the celebration was always taken by the Star Beverage Co. When German Day was celebrated on August 15, 1935, Brewmaster Joseph Brinkman was honored as "King of the Day," and Minster, Ohio was his kingdom. Crowned as "King Gambrinus" and attended by an escort wearing Dutch costumes, he occupied the throne on the elaborated float built by the Star brewery.
In 1940, the company's name was changed again to the Wooden Shoe Brewing Company. Anton Frierott served as General Manager for many years, and upon leaving, was succeeded by his son Harold. In 1942, longtime brewmaster Joe Brinkman passed away, and was followed by Mike Hartman. Hartman had been superintendent since 1903, and one of his responsibilities was to take care of the boilers. In later years, Hartman was replaced by Richard Frierott, another son of Anton.
City Takes Advantage of Brewery
The Wooden Shoe Brewing Co. had its own waste disposal plant long before the town had one of its own. When Minster built its disposal system, city council asked the Wooden Shoe brewery to hook up to the town's plant because the brewery had large amounts of mostly clear, uncontaminated waste water that the town needed. They initially hooked up at no charge, but later the town started charging the brewery a fee for disposal. Eventually, the brewery was paying over half the cost of the whole town's disposal. Feeling that this amount was a bit excessive, brewery management talked to other breweries like Anheuser-Busch, to see what they were paying. Most other breweries were paying in the neighborhood of $1,000 per year, while Wooden Shoe was assessed for around $500 per month. This did not help the situation that would soon follow.
Prior to World War II, the larger national breweries had expanded; but due to the war, there was a shortage of ingredients. The rationing
of these ingredients kept the large breweries from coming into the Minster area. The Wooden Shoe brewery even reused bottle caps because metal and cork were in short supply as well. They experienced a lot of leakers due to the cork deteriorating. When the war was over, the Frierott family saw the writing on the wall. They knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be overrun by the competitors. The Wooden Shoe brewery had lost much of their distributor network, because they could not supply the volume that the customers demanded during the war.
New Ownership
Financier Ulreh Vogt approached the Wooden Shoe brewery about selling. He needed beer for his wholesale business back in Chicago. Seemed like a good idea, the Frierotts sold the brewery on August 16, 1946 for $1 million to Vogt. Management and personnel was unchanged except Harold B. Frierott became General Manager and his father A.W. Frierott, served as an advisor.
In 1947, Vogt made a big push including a large advertising blitz. The Wooden Shoe brewery spent thousands of dollars for newspaper ads in the area. The advertising budget was one dollar per barrel of beer sold. Vogt put up billboards, placed ads on radio, and even sponsored a minor league baseball team called the Dayton Ducks. In 1949, the Wooden Shoe brewery sponsored the Dayton Indians, a Class A minor league team. All 70 home baseball games were televised during the spring and summer of 1949 over station WLW-D in Dayton. The Dayton Indians was the first Class A team in the United States to have its home games televised. Wayne Osborne, well known throughout the Chicago area for his broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs' games (1944-1947) and the White Sox 1948 games gave the play by play. The Dayton Indians eventually folded sometime during the mid 1950s.
In 1947, the brewery was operating at a capacity of 100,000 barrels annually. Ulreh Vogt needed to increase the brewery's capacity by an additional 35, 000 to 50,000 barrels a year. On May 16, 1947, 30,000 shares of stock were made available to the public, as part of the company's re-capitalization and expansion plan. On September 14, 1948, the first stockholder's meeting took place. The value of the stock was approximately $10 per share.
By 1948, sales topped $1,781,000 and there were 77 employees. Maximum capacity was 150,000 barrels per year. Still feeling the effects from the shortage of grain, Vogt introduced some substitute ingredients like ManiocŪ to boost production. The beer became unstable and did not sit very well with customers. The Wooden Shoe brewery had always maintained the highest quality standards, but with the latest product becoming "skunky," a decrease of business soon followed. It was difficult to get the distributors back, because they had developed new relationships with some of the larger brewers like Hudepohl, Miller, Schoenling, Wiedemann, etc. The other brewers were not hurt as much by the rationing, because their allocation of ingredients was higher. They could provide more beer than a smaller Minster brewery. As the effects of World War II wore off, and shortages were over, the Wooden Shoe brewery had recovered some of their distributors, but could not be compared to the number prior to the war.
Vogt, who also owned Consumers Brewery in Newark, Ohio, poured $125,000 into his venture to cover deficits, but the brewery continued to experience a steady decline. By 1950, the brewery had weakened considerably. Harold Frierott left the business in 1950, along with his brother Richard, to start up their own distributorship. Harold was replaced by B. Harrison Neuman, who was then replaced by Frank Piening in 1952.
Vogt had contacted several larger brewers to see if they were interested in the brewery, including Anheuser-Busch. There was no interest. The company was placed into receivership on August 20, 1953, with Frank Piening being named as Receiver by federal district court in Toledo. On November 17, 1953, the court ordered the brewery to cease operations. Vogt was to come up with a plan of reorganization, and present it in detail at a hearing on February 15, 1954. He was not ready, and therefore an extension was given until March 4, 1954. The extra time allowed had no results, and therefore a meeting of the creditors was held on March 25, 1954. There was an auction planned for June 24, 1954 in which a full-page ad for the auction was placed in the June, 1954 issue of the Brewers Digest. It was reported that the building and equipment brought only $50,000.
Brewing Ends in Minster, Ohio
The man that bought the building was a junk dealer, and you guessed it - he completely gutted the brewery. The beautiful copper and brass railings, vats and lines were all removed. Anything of value was taken out. What else were they to do with a building that had become obsolete? It really makes a person dream today. It would have been a perfect place for a micro brewery and a restaurant.
After the brewery was sold again, it was converted into a cannery. In later years it was used as a warehouse by several different companies. Another sale took place in the Spring of 1990, and on May 24, the new owner razed the structure. A large metal building now stands where the brewery once stood. Memories are all that remain, including the goldfish pond out front, underage kids sneaking in and getting beer, the wedding receptions in the rathskeller, the employees spiking the kegs of beer for their own use during Prohibition, and much, much more.
Fortunately for collectors today, there was a lot of Wooden Shoe advertising made, and new examples of this turn up from time to time. With Mr. Vogt passing away a number of years ago, we will never know how much advertisement was made, but that is what makes collecting breweriana fun!