Great-Grandpa's Ahnapee Pop Shop: The First in Two Counties

Great-grandpa owned Ahnapee’s first pop shop. Seventy years later, in the late 1940s, three little girls salivated each time they saw the (then) garage "over home." That garage was famously known among the grandkids as the pop shop. In the ‘40s pop such as Orange Crush, cream soda and root beer came in 7 oz. bottles from Baumeister Bottling in Kewaunee. The little girls knew Great-grandpa made rootbeer and cherry, and they knew about rum and Coca Cola, made popular by the Andrew Sisters' recording of the same name. Their mother was not happy hearing her pre-schoolers running around singing,  "Drinking rum and Cocaaaaa Cola......". They didn’t know anything about other sodas such as Coke - because it was always called Coca Cola - and Pepsi. That came later. The one thing they knew about pop was that they hardly ever had any.

The cherished Orange Crush came in a dark brown bottle and when it was Christmas, or there was a fish boil or other big family event, there was always a bottle of pop that the girls shared. Each carefully examined the juice glasses among which the precious 7 oz. were divided. If one glass held a whisker more, there was bound to be trouble. All because Great-grandpa sold the pop shop. Had he kept it, the girls would have surely gotten more than a little over two tablespoons!

Not long after the establishment of the Ahnapee Brewery, Great Grandpa Magnus and his father-in-law Henry formed a partnership and opened Ahnapee Bottling Works. At the time of its opening, it was the first soft drink factory in Door or Kewaunee counties. Soda water had been invented in England early in the late 1800s and had made its way to the United States. It had made the appearance in Ahnapee too, however it was found in the soda fountains at drug stores or confectioneries. Manufacturing the pop and bottling it allowed consumers to buy it and keep it for home consumption. 

Operations began in April 1876 in factory on the farm that belonged to Magnus, who was living in the village at the time. On April 13, Magnus and Henry began the manufacture of pop and small beer in an old log shed southwest of the Village of Ahnapee on the farm now owned by the family's 5th generation. Following the arrival of the machinery on the Goodrich steamer The DePere on Tuesday, April 11, the business got up and running. The men manufactured, bottled and delivered the pop, though delivery was a job Magnus did not like. The normally affable Magnus  had to enter saloons, something that became increasingly embarrassing. A close relative was generally there and generally drunk. Magnus had no problems making regular deliveries to Sturgeon Bay, and a March 1887 Advocate article mentioned that he was "making visits to our local dealers for the purpose of disposing articles in his line of business."  It might have been easier to say he was selling pop! The Sturgeon Bay market was served long after that place had its own soft drink dealers, speaking highly of Ahnapee's pop as a quality product. As late as December 1890 pop was still being delivered when the Advocate reported that the "Ahnapee Pop Factory came over on runners." The snow must have provided a good base.

Henry had been a farmer whose Civil War injuries made farming all but impossible. Having been a butcher in his native Saxony, he built a shop on the southeast corner of 3rd and Steele and returned to the trade. That was too much for him as well. The pop factory provided an opportunity for making some money and keeping busy, however the work again proved to be too much for the old soldier. In May 1879 he sold his 1/2 interest for $400 to Magnus' step-brother Erdman Zander who felt pop was the healthiest drink there was! Magnus sold the pop factory to Joseph Jirovetz in 1896 and for awhile Jirovetz manufactured on Magnus' farm.  

The pop business had its ups and downs, passing through the hands of a number of owners in its 40 years. After Jirovetz bought the factory from Magnus in September 1896, he manufactured his pop on Magnus' farm, eventually moving the machinery to a building he erected in the 2nd Ward, Ahnapee's west side.  

On June 24, 1898, it was announced that Jirovetz leased Herbert Sibilsky's Mill Street saloon, also called the Sheridan House, (left) for a period of 3 years. In the meantime, in a peculiar twist of events, Frank Austen and Henry Culligan purchased the factory from Jirovetz, also in 1898. It would appear that the purchase was buying into the business rather than buying it from Jirovetz lock, stock and barrel. Austen and Culligan engaged Fred Wulf to move an old building from the Auermiller place in the Town of Ahnapee to Mill Street. Something apparently fell through with the 3-year lease because 6 months later Herbert Sibilsky moved the pop factory to the back of Jirovetz' saloon. It would seem Jirovetz  leased another saloon that was closer to downtown, as Sibilsky put runners on Jirovetz' small building to easily move it over the frozen ground and snow. It remains unclear whether Sibilsky was an employee, whether he had already bought in, or whether he was engaged to move the structure. Business was good though, and Austen and Culligan were making 60 gallons of pop per day. In March 1898 the men dissolved their partnership and Culligan went into business with Herbert Sibilsky. Culligan and Sibilsky began operating the factory in the rear of Jirovetz saloon for about a year when  Culligan sold his interest to Sibilsky.

 

Clarence Mickleson’s involvement in the business is curious. He had been active in the pop manufacturing business for some time, possibly because he was an in-demand mechanic. Being related to Magnus through marriage, he was willing to offer assistance. Mickleson knew a great deal about the pop business and its machinery and by May 1902 Mickleson had a factory pop factory on the lake on 4th near the Kelsey's first brilliantine factory, roughly about 1255 4^th today.  When Mickleson put in new machinery and new bottles in 1907, he said the pop was better than ever.

As a brakeman for the Ahnapee and Western, Mickleson was well-known along the line so when others were mentioning his prosperous soft drink company in 1903, he was wished well. And when there was misfortune, it was also well-known. Mickleson's young son nearly lost his life in the spring of 1903, and probably because of pop. The youngster had picked up a bottle containing a mixture of turpentine and other strong liquids and drank part of it. Fortunately a doctor was nearby and the child was saved. Ironically, the same thing happened to one of Magnus' great-grandchildren a little over 40 years later.

As the exceptional mechanic he was, Mickleson was in demand well before he went into business. Michelson, the expert, traveled to Wausauke with Frank Srnka who was opening a pop factory there.  In March 1902 Joe Langer, a member of the Langer-Mach brewing company, wanted to open a pop factory in Kewaunee, and came to Algoma to secure Michkeson’s advice on machinery. A month later, Mickleson installed Langer’s machinery.

Herbert Sibilsky remained involved in the pop business until January 1909 when Louis Garot  bought it. Garot leased Telesphore Charles' building on the southwest corner of 2nd and Steele where he put in a new basement floor before adding new machinery. John Peot appeared to be in business with Sibilsky and in 1908 sold his interest to the Garots. Louis Garot moved from Green Bay into Sibilsky's home on Mill. His brother Frank was in charge of Luxemburg Bottling and Frank came to Algoma several times a week to assist Louis. Garot's business increased to the point where Peter Jager came in as a partner. The Garots felt manufacturing in Algoma was much cheaper than hauling product from Luxemburg.

When in 1914 Rufus Fowles became the pop factory's sole owner, he changed the name to Algoma Bottling Works and increased patronage. In a September 1916 Record interview, Fowles said his most popular beverages were Lemon Sour, Raspberry Wine, Cherry Cider, Iron Brew, El Porto Grape and Grapal and Cream Beer, flavors that have mostly faded away. Lemon Sour was manufactured by other firms trademarking the sodas as Squirt, Sun-Drop, 7-Up and so on, becoming quite popular as a mixer in adult beverages. During its 50-year history, the factory produced over 30 flavors including many such as Grape Cream Beer and Atlas Brew that are unfamiliar in today's markets.

Luxemburg Bottling Works was organized after 1900 and Kewaunee Bottling Co. - the largest and best remembered company - was organized in 1919 by Henry and Julia Baumeister. A year later, their first building was sold and the business was moved to the northwest corner of Harrison and Dodge Streets, the place remembered by most of today’s residents.

Burmeisters had little money but their enthusiasm and determination made the business a success. Henry Baumeister did most of the remodeling and repairs to the 1920 building himself with the after school help of Julia’s brothers, Ed and Loddie Schultz who lived with the couple until they themselves married. Gilbert Baumeister ran the company after Henry, and Gene Baumeister followed his father Gilbert. From its beginning, Kewaunee Bottling Co. grew in size and reputation. Distribution area included all of northeast Wisconsin and upper Michigan.

Pop manufacturing went beyond the factories. During the Depression, many made their own root beer, putting a raisin in the bottle before corking. The raisin "worked" and gave the pop its fizz. If one decided to speed up the process adding another raisin, there was a little too much fizz. Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson were in the news. There were always reports of them being in Wisconsin. Then there was John Dillinger at Little Bohemia in 1934. On a moonless winter night just after Little Bohemia, the kids were doing homework at the dining room table when the raisins started working a little too much, blowing off the pop bottle caps into the basement walls and ceiling. The screaming kids knew they were under fire and that Chicago gangsters were attacking the farm!

If Great-grandpa had only hung on to that root beer........

Note: The photos of Baumeister's sodas comes from the Baumeister website. Find out more about Baumeister's history at www.baumeistersoda.com.

Sources: Algoma and Sturgeon Bay newspapers; An-An-api-sebe: Where is the River?, c. 2001; Commercial History of Algoma, Wisconsin, c. 2006 & 2012; In From the Fields, c. 1995, the blogger's family history and postcard collection.