Town of Carlton, World War l. and Student Nurse Anna Mae Kocmich

At 21 years old, Anna Mae Kocmich made history in Kewaunee County. That was over 100 years ago. Although  her life was so short, she made an impact, doing what no other County woman did. Until that time.

It was World War l, a time when the Spanish Influenza was encircling the globe as is COVID 19 just over 100 years later. When Anna Mae died at Camp Greenleaf at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, on January 19, 1919, she died of that flu, Kewaunee County’s lone woman giving her life for the War effort. At the time, Anna Mae was the county’s only woman to enter government service, a mere eight weeks before her death.

During September 1918, articles outlining the need for more nurses appeared in the newspapers. The requested applicants weren’t young single women, but rather the wives of soldiers who had been sent abroad. Accepted women were required to be  between 21 and 40, of good moral character and in good physical condition. Open to the women was serving as a hospital assistant, aiding nurses in work that did not require training beyond a six-week course in first aid, hygiene, and dietetics if the woman had not earlier completed Red Cross courses.

The hospital assistants were sent to military hospitals where time between convalescence and recovery was expected to be lengthy. It was said that every invalid soldier would be given full share of the attention necessary to meet his needs. Single women were considered as assistants only if they were under 35. It was felt women whose husbands were overseas were “free” to give such service. 

Between 1917 and 1919, the Red Cross recruited about 22,000 nurses, 10,000 of whom served on the Western Front. Initially, those in authority wanted to keep women away from the Front, but when it was realized how many more men could be saved with nursing, that changed, and the Student Nurse Reserve Corps was born. In late November 1918, the U.S. was looking for applications to the new Student Nurse Reserve.

At the Armistice, it was felt the women nurses would no longer be needed, but as the wounded returned and the pandemic had not abated, the women nurses remained in demand. At the call for Student Nurses, Anna Mae Kocmich wanted to serve and volunteered. Six other county women volunteered, however Anna Mae was the first to be called.

By August 10^th, the county had enrolled 6 of the 10 of the quota to be met on August 11. Kewaunee’s Vera Lockwood, in September 1918, was the first County resident to enroll as an Army nurse. Vera had graduated from Two Rivers high school and was employed by Dr. W.M. Wochos in Kewaunee. She was followed by Hannah Cadigan* of Casco, Clara Koller and Anna Mae Kocmich of Carlton and Lucille Wodsedalek** of Algoma. After Mary Shestock’s enrollment was accepted, there were no more eligible volunteers. It was said that exacting standards made finding qualified women difficult. It was further said that women saw Army hospitals as being more honorable places to serve. That too affected recruitment.

There was a quota system, and only half – 723 - of Wisconsin’s original 1,500-quota had been met. One problem was the high educational standards met by only three states. Applicants were expected to have at least 2 years of high school and could choose between civilian and Army training. If women  nursing programs operated by religious groups, that preference was considered. Women accepted to a program were promised government-paid transportation and when she was ordered to report, she was sent orders and a Pullman car ticket. Expenses enroute were refunded to her.

Anna Mae Kocmich was born in the Town of West Kewaunee on June 2, 1897 and grew up in Carlton. After attending rural school in Carlton and graduating from Kewaunee High School in 1915, Anna Mae attended Oshkosh Normal School for a year and began to teach at Wayside School, District #4 in Carlton. The Enterprise said she was an excellent teacher whose services were in demand.

At her death, a military escort was provided to act as an honor guard, and following Anna Mae’s funeral  at her parents’ Carlton home, internment was in Forest Hill Cemetery. The esteem in which Anna Mae was held was evident in the number of those whose friendship she made at Oshkosh Normal School. The women came from around Wisconsin. Her high school classmates told of her high qualities, strong character and the happy disposition that was most endearing. A week after Anna Mae’s funeral, the paper said the greater part of the pupils in the school district in Carlton attended the funeral, contributing flowers as an outpouring of sympathy.

During the following August, the Enterprise ran a list of Kewaunee County servicemen who gave their lives. Some were killed on the battlefield while others died of the pandemic either abroad or in camp. The very bottom of the article says, “and Anna Mae Kocmich, Army Nurse.” County Clerk Joseph G. Lazansky said in each case a 10-karat star Honor Medal would be awarded to the next of kin.

Anna Mae was survived by her brothers who apparently named their daughters after their sister. The name Anna Mae Kocmich shows up in Kewaunee County for many years following her death.

*Cadigan, as Anna Mae, attended Door-Kewaunee County Training School in Algoma. The school became Door-Kewaunee County Teachers’ College which closed in 1970. The City of Algoma purchased the buildings which now served as Algoma Public Library and the municipal offices.

**Wodsedalek volunteered to nurse Influenza patients and continued nursing after the war.

Sources: Algoma Record Herald; Kewaunee Enterprise; An Honor Roll: Containing a Pictorial  Record of the Gallant and Courageous. Photos: Find a Grave, nurse poster is online.

Everything Old is New Again: Grocery Delivery

The words in Peter Allen’s song title Everything Old is New Again tells it like it is. In his Colorado Kid, author Stephen King used the same line when he wrote, ”Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” The song and the book have nothing to do with each other, except that Allen and King are right. Over time, much comes full circle, prompting some to shrug and say the wheel continues to be reinvented. Again. And again.

It’s even true with something as innocuous grocery delivery, which is coming back into vogue. Here and there in recent years, big city grocery stores offered grocery delivery, however it was COVID 19 that brought those stores to light. The idea spread. Arranging for someone else to do the shopping is easy for those online. One simply submits a grocery list, credit card information for payment, adds delivery instructions, and then selects a date and time for delivery. Voila! The groceries show up. Or, one can find products on Amazon, and have them delivered by mail.

Algoma grocery deliveries can be documented to just after 1900 when merchant Rudolph Pauly ran the meat market on the southeast corner of 4^th and Clark. It was before World War l when Pauly made big news ordering a tricycle. A tricycle? Pauly didn’t have a toy section in his market, and although it might be hard to believe, the tricycle was for business purposes. During May 1902, Algoma’s bicycle dealer, Julius Meyer, ordered a trike for Pauly who planned to use it for meat deliveries. The tricycle was said to be strong, but simple, having a box between the rear wheels. It was said the bicycle could be powered by a small boy even though the box was built to hold at least 150 pounds. The machine ran as light as a bicycle, prompting the Record to say if the machine proved as satisfactory as Pauly thought, more of the businessmen might use them. Businessmen did. One hundred years later such tricycles are used by the ice cream vendors in cities.

RFD mail carrier leaving Ellisville about 1910

At the end of November 1904, Kewaunee County was fully served by Rural Free Delivery, RFD. It meant mail was delivered to rural areas finally offering country folk access to what their city cousins enjoyed. RFD brought catalogues such as Sears-Roebuck, Speigle, and Montgomery Ward, whetting appetites beyond what was satisfied by area merchants. Whatever folks wanted to order -  whether a bride’s trousseau or baby chicks - the mail carrier made sure it was delivered.

By 1908, Congress was in the midst of establishing rural parcel post offering special postage rates for food stuffs, dry goods, drugs, books and other merchandise. Postage began at 5 cents for the first pound and 2 cents for each additional pound.

On the cusp of U.S. entry into World War l, Milwaukee Daily News, in February 1917, ran an article about grocery delivery and the costs the American housewife failed to appreciate when she called to have a 5-cent cake of year delivered. The News pointed out the costs in maintaining delivery horses or the motor trucks, and the costs of paying deliverymen. The paper estimated that the cost of delivery was 8% of the price of the item, which meant that a grocer who didn’t deliver could sell the same goods for 8% lower than the grocer who had equipment to maintain.

Milwaukee Daily News went on to say that delivery was high class service that resulted in higher living costs. A woman who picked out her own groceries got better quality and saved money by paying cash. The paper advocated “cash and carry” to help eliminate some of the high costs of living. By 1923 Wisconsin Department of Markets was investigating cash and carry versus delivery stores.

Bach Mercantile, on the northwest corner of 4^th and Steele, advertised itself as a cash and carry store in the late 1930s. A few years earlier, Bach touted delivery and charging groceries to one’s account. In 1949, the new Fotey store on the northwest corner of Division and Jefferson offered cash and carry prices, and as late as 1956, Algoma’s Gamble Store was advertising Philco radios at the cash and carry price of $14.00. Gamble’s carried groceries earlier.

In a move to meet competition from chain stores, merchants in some areas organized to place their businesses on a strictly cash basis.  Stores had carried customers “on account.” Periodically, the charged accounts were settled. The Depression, however, put a huge burden on the shoulders of merchants often unable to collect on the accounts for those they generously floated. Deliveries kept on.

1933 Record Herald ad

In 1934 newspaper ads, P.J. Dart, manager of Algoma’s branch of Wisconsin Telephone Co. pointed toward emergencies a reason for telephone service, but added food for thought: it would lighten the housewife’s role if she just had a phone for ordering her groceries. As access to telephones grew in Algoma, grocery stores offered delivery service.

By World War ll, just about every store in town had a delivery vehicle. It was a time when gas was rationed and women were joining the paid workforce, taking the places of men who were drafted. These women worked for hire while juggling  families, meals. gardens and all the things it took to run a 1940s household when there were few labor-saving devices.

Barely a month following U.s entry to World War ll, grocery delivery became a “defense need.” Foretold was how local housewives could call a store at any time during the day and expect groceries within a few hours. Recognizing the need for conservation of resources, all 10 of Algoma’s grocers and meat markets met to organize. Cooperating in the delivery effort were Ahrndt Food Market, Algoma Farmer’s Co-op, Cashway, Earl’s I.G.A., Horak’s, Katch’s, Kashik’s, Nell’s Schaida’s and Sedivy’s. It was decided two deliveries would be made each morning. Within time, the schedule was reduced. There were inconveniences but such things were contributions to the war effort. 

There was no online capability in 1942 when grocery orders were phoned in to the store. A clerk put the order together, noted the total on the purchaser’s account, and the delivery boy got the groceries out as quickly as he could. Grocery delivery made a difference.

Katch's 1953, Record Herald photo

Katch’s delivered around town even into the 1960s when this blogger was a teen-ager with a part-time weekend checkout job. Hoogie and Jerry were the popular “delivery boys” who took the van out to deliver as little as a pound of butter or a bottle of vanilla. Although there was no charge for the delivery, on a good day the boys might luck out with a 10 cent tip!  By then, delivery in Algoma had been taking place for at least 60 years.

Deliveries didn’t stop with the grocery stores. During World War ll and for at least 15 years later, Mrs. Silver, a Green Bay fashion saleswoman, stopped at farms across the county with samples of the latest in dresses and hats. Women could try on the merchandise and order in a size to fit them. Garments would be delivered and paid for on a subsequent visit. When in October 1936, Algoma Hospital let it be known that it needed a sewing machine, it was Mrs. Silver who donated one. In the mid-1950s when so many residents were getting tv sets, the Red Buttons’ show was a favorite among Silver’s customers. Her son Joe was associated with the program and New York tv. Heady stuff in a small town.

Record Herald ad, 1938

There were other product deliveries. Watkins’ merchandise was in demand and Kewaunee’s Mr. Sevcik had a route as did the Fuller Brush man who brought cleaning items. A little later, the Avon lady made appearances and brought beauty products to the privacy of one’s home. Mauer’s Grocery encouraged residents to phone in their beer requests. Such deliveries also offered a little privacy for those whose habits were judged by others

A computer crash, or hack, means no ordering today, sending the blood pressure up for those who never thought of Plan B. It happened with telephones too but nobody became “unglued.” There were strikes after World War ll, one of which was a nation-wide walk out by telephone workers in April 1947. Grocery delivery was still on the Wednesday-and-Saturday-only wartime basis, but Algoma area women knew exactly what to do. As the Record Herald pointed out, area women learned long ago how to shop and when the phones were down, there was no sudden congestion in stores or at meat counters. Algoma women were prepared.

Everything old is new again, including groceries deliveries.

Sources: Algoma Record Herald. The painting is from NLJohnson Art. Other graphics are from Algoma Record Herald.