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Wells Shoe Company
If Shod with “Wells Shoes,” you
are “Well Shod”
Wolfram Shoe Company
107-115 North Water Street
1904
Factory started in 1904 with 37 employees WG
1908 New Home for Wells Shoe Co. Last week Friday evening the Watertown Realty
Co. let the contract for the remodeling of the Woodard-Stone
plant on North Water Street, which when completed will be occupied by the
Wells Shoe Co. and the working force thereof will be-greatly increased. The cost of remodeling will be about $5000. August Hoefs will
do the mason work; H. Willenbockel the carpenter work
and W. G. Pritzlaff the tinning. The plumbing and heating contract will be let
on Saturday. This new enterprise has
been brought about by the officers of the Advancement Association, and they deserve
the thanks and appreciation of the public in general. When the present plant of the Wells Co. is
vacated, which has proven too small for its business, the Advancement
Association says it will have no trouble in securing a manufacturing concern to
occupy it.
08 14 Otto Biefeld & Co.
secured contract for installing the steam heating apparatus for the M. D. Wells
Shoe Co., who will occupy the old Woodard Stone
factory. They were chosen from three
bidders. WG
01 15 Factory employs 178 and capacity could
double WG
07
23 The old Woodard & Stone Co building on N Water
Street, which was fitted up for rental for the M. D. Wells Shoe Co is owned by
the company. A dividend of five per cent
was declared on the stock subscribed for the
building. WG
1910
1911
10 05 WOLFRAM SHOE COMPANY
Let the Busy Bee Hum
The employees of the Wolfram Shoe
Co., in the old Woodard & Stone factory, did not observe the Saturday
afternoon off on Saturday last, and the way things hum in and about the
building reminds us of old times when Woodard & Stone were filling orders
for the superior trade. WG
1911 The Wolfram Shoe Company was
incorporated April 28, 1911, under the laws of Wisconsin for the manufacturing
of shoes. The incorporators were Edward
C. Wolfram, Henry J. Schaub, and Otto V. Knaak.
Upon the organization of the corporation, Edward C. Wolfram was elected
President /and Treasurer, Henry J. Schaub, Vice-President, and Otto V. Knaak,
Secretary.
The directorate and official management
of the company has continued in the same personnel with the exception of Mr.
Knaak, who disposed of his interest in the firm the latter part of the year
1919 and who was succeeded by Herbert E. Wolfram as Secretary and Director.
The inception of the organization
was on the dissolution of the M. D. Wells Co. also a shoe manufacturing firm
located in the building formerly owned and occupied by the Woodard & Stone Co., which was engaged in
the manufacture of crackers and candies.
This building, now the property of the Watertown Improvement Co., is
leased by the Wolfram Shoe Company.
The floor space of this three
story building and basement is entirely used for the manufacture of shoes.
The Cutting Rooms and Stitching
Room are located on the third floor; the employees are supervised by Foremen
Hugo J. Mueller, Otto Lindemann, and Forelady Miss Ida Eckner.
The second floor is divided
between the Turn and McKay Lasting Rooms in charge of Foreman J. G. Weihert and
the Bottoming Room in charge of Foreman Arthur M. Behling.
The first floor is composed of
three departments, the Finishing Department supervised by Foreman Arthur
Erdman, the Treeing Department supervised by Forelady Miss Nell Rinehart, and
the Packing and Shipping Department supervised by Foreman Albert H. Hoppe.
The basement, in charge of
Foreman Gerhard Fendt, contains the Sole and Heel manufacturing departments.
Machinist William F. Arndt (see
obit under Cross References) devotes
all his time to the repair and maintenance of the machinery and equipment. The
factory as a whole is under the direct supervision of Superintendent Arthur F.
Mueller.
The product of the factory is
Women's, Misses' and Children's shoes of numerous styles and leathers. The sale
of these shoes is made through wholesalers and jobbers at Chicago and
Pittsburg, while the distribution to retail trade is country wide and even
foreign.
The company at the time of
organization employed about 100 persons. During the year just recently closed,
the employees numbered 220. The average output was 1,000 pair of shoes (per day
assumed) that netted gross annual sales of $730,000.00. The annual payroll
amounted to $185,000.00.
When they were associated with
the M. D. Wells Co., many of the employees of the Wolfram Shoe Company were
subordinate to E. C. Wolfram as Superintendent and H. J. Schaub as Cutting Room
Foreman. They have continued their services without interruption with their
present employer.
On February 1, 1917, the Wolfram
Shoe Company purchased the Badger State Shoe Company of Madison, Wis., a long
established concern which manufactured Women's, Misses' and Children's shoes.
The daily average output of this factory is 1,500 pair, a gross sales per year
of approximately a million dollars and an annual pay-roll of $250,000.00. This
factory is under direct supervision of Superintendent Chas. A. Kohn, a native
of Watertown and formerly employed in a supervisory capacity at the Wolfram
Shoe Company plant.
E. C. Wolfram is also President
of the Lake Mills Shoe Company, in which venture he is associated with others,
and the factory management policy is under his direction. While the factory at
Lake Mills, Wisconsin, manufactures Infant's shoes only, the Waterloo factory
manufactures a Women's Comfort shoe.
During the year 1920, the
Waterloo Shoe Company was incorporated and commenced business on July 5th. E.
C. Wolfram is President of this company, H. J. Schaub, Vice-President, and the
associate stockholders are employees of the Wolfram Shoe Company, the Badger
State Shoe Company, and the Waterloo Shoe Company. The factory is under the
supervision of Walter E. Weihert, a former foreman in the employ of the Wolfram
Shoe Company.
These four manufacturing ventures
give to the owners an avenue for disposition of all materials by minimizing
waste in cuttings to a small percentage. Purchases are made in quantities to
supply all factories, and every economical feature in the saving of costs and
the conserving of materials is employed. Through the years of operation, the
Wolfram Shoe Company, from a modest venture at its beginning, has enjoyed a
satisfactory progress. 1921 Watertown High School Orbit
1912
03 14 NEW MACHINERY RECEIVED
The Wolfram Shoe Co. in
the old Woodard & Stone
building in North Water Street has just received a
large amount of new machinery and it is said the company will shortly occupy
the entire building for their business.
This new company did not ask for any bonus, free rent or cash, but the
proprietors took their coats off and went to work and the old factory has taken
on an air of thrift and industry seldom seen in any inland town in our state. WG
c.1915
SELZ ROYAL BLUE SHOES
Signage on ice house
Selz Royal Blue Shoes were manufactured by
the Wolfram Shoe Co., established in 1911 in the old Woodard & Stone
building, located along the river at 107-115 North Water St.
1916
-- -- DISTANT VIEW
1918
INTERIOR VIEWS
LAKE MILLS VENTURE
In 1918 Ed Wolfram (owner of a
shoe factory in Watertown) inquired about opening a shoe factory in Lake
Mills. During this time there was
consideration to turn the vacant Rock Lake Hotel on West Lake Street into a
shoe factory but WWI erased these ventures.
In 1919 the Lake Mills Businessmen’s Association asked Wolfram again and
he started the shoe factory in the former Hotel Central building on South Main
Street. Lake
Mills Leader article
1963
05 07 The North Water Street
building, formerly owned by the Brandt Automatic Cashier Co., has been sold to
Harvey Properties, Inc., according to a deed filed in the office of the
register of deeds at Jefferson. The
price is listed at $20,000. The building
was originally the home of the Woodard and
Stone Bakeries, makers of crackers and confections which operated there for
many years. Later the business was sold
to the National Biscuit Co. which, after some years, discontinued the
plant. Still later it housed the Wolfram
Shoe Co. factory and office. The last
owner to utilize it as a plant was the Brandt
Automatic Cashier Co., which used it for part of its manufacturing
operations until it completed its new South Twelfth Street plant.
Cross References:
William F. Arndt
(1873-1944) for many years had been maintenance man at the Wolfram Shoe Co.
1909, Shoe factory, postcard, M. D. Wells
Shoe Co.,
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin