website  watertownhistory.org

    ebook  History of Watertown, Wisconsin

 

Alton F Gritzner

Fats Gritzner

 

1904 - 1968

 

1931

05 21       MAPLE LEAF BAR-B-Q OPENS

The, which Alton F. Gritzner has had erected on S. Third Street, will open for business Saturday evening, 5/23/31.

 

For the past 3 weeks men have been at work putting up the structure which is built along the lines of an oriental tea garden.

 

Bar-B-Q sandwiches will be served there.  They will be made in true western style, roasted before an open fire which gives them a real and rare flavor. 

 

There will be tables on the lawn for those who wish to eat at the place.  There will also be a curb service whereby patrons who drive up in cars may be served in their automobiles.

 

In addition to his own service, Mr. Gritzner will be in a position to roast meats for parties, weddings and both large and small social affairs.  He is planning to place a delivery service for sandwiches for parties or other gatherings.

 

The Maple Leaf Bar-B-Q will use all Watertown products.

 

This is the first Bar-B-Q in Watertown and no doubt will be a successful venture, since similar establishments are meeting with great favor in other communities.

 

1941

12 09       ALTON F. GRITZNER PLAYING SANTA AT MILWAUKEE STORE

 

          Fourth Year On Job In Same Place; Tells Of His Experiences

 

Alton F. Gritzner, who doubles as Nova the Mystic and as Santa Claus, is once more playing the role of the jolly, red garbed man of Christmas at a downtown store in Milwaukee [ the Boston Store] .

 

It is his fourth year as Santa Claus in that store and he is daily meeting thousands of children and their parents who drop into the toy department to meet Santa.

 

This particular Santa is the heftiest one in the business [as] a Milwaukee news reporter discovered the other day when he interviewed Mr. Gritzner.  Santa Gritzner stands 6'3" and weighs 313 lbs.  He looks and talks like Edward Arnold of the movies.  He needs no padding, having a generous midriff.

 

Gritzner is 35, married and has 3 children.  A magician by profession, Gritzner has been a Santa for the past 14 yuletides.  Gritzner was interviewed in his tiny dressing room, which almost fits him like a cloak.  He pulled off his warm cap.  His broad friendly face glistened with perspiration.  He sat down and stretched out and sighed a long grateful "Ahhhh."

 

"The trouble with this business," said Santa Gritzner, "is that the grownups look at me and say, 'Gosh there is a fellow who earns his living easy.'  But being Santa is the toughest job in the world and I'm not kidding.  Why I got to get up at 6 every morning.  The first thing I do is shave.  Then I go over to a costume shop and they put on my beard.  They use ether and mastic gum to fasten it. Believe me, after a shave that burns like the devil.  It takes about an hour and a half to get on my make up and costume.  By then it is time to report at the store.  At night I have to take off my make up with alcohol and cold cream.  When I'm on the job. I've got to be on my toes all the time.  I must never promise anything.  When the kids ask for baby brothers or sisters, I sidestep and say, 'Santa will try to give you your wish.'  The kids ask for anything from goldfish to live bombs.  Honestly, the other day a kid wanted a real bomb.  He insisted on it.  What did I do?  I just said, 'Santa will remember you' and how!"

 

12 10       Found:  A SANTA CLAUS HEAVIER THAN ALTON F. GRITZNER

It is Roy G. Sell who tips the scales at 330 lbs.  Mr. Sell is appearing here at the store of the D & F Kusel Company.  He will be there Saturday and every evening next week.

 

1953

12 17       SANTA CLAUS HAILS FROM WATERTOWN

Wisconsin's best known, most popular and most photographed Santa Claus hails from Watertown.

 

He is Alton F. Gritzner, 900 South Third Street.

 

This season, for the 15th year, Mr. Gritzner is portraying Santa Claus in the toy department of the Boston Store in Milwaukee. In the years that he has been there he has greeted more youngsters and their parents than any other Santa Claus in the state or perhaps in the nation, for he has been at it longer than most men who portray the jolly red-clad character at Christmastime.

 

Mr. Gritzner this year has an assistant, so that the chair of Santa Claus is occupied at all times during the store hours.

 

1968

GRITZNER, ALTON F., b. Jul 16, 1904, d. Sep 24, 1968  / East Gate Inn

 

Alton F Gritzner, 64, East Gate Drive, route 3, Watertown, passed away suddenly this morning at the Watertown Memorial Hospital although he had been in ill health.

 

He was born July 16, 1904 in Reeseville, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gritzner. On Oct. 25, 1923 he married Irma Erdmann.

 

Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Mrs. Donald Hake, New Berlin; Mrs. Herbert Sterwald, Watertown; one son, Lynn Gritzner, Watertown; 11 grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Angelo Torres, Watertown; one brother, Harvey Gritzner, Watertown; nieces and nephews.

 

Mr. Gritzner was owner and operator of the East Gate Inn and for many years had operated Fat’s Barbeque on [900] South Third Street.  He was active in the Watertown Musicians Association Local 439, A.F.M. and at present was serving as sergeant at arms, an honorary member of the Turners, and a member of the Jefferson County Tavern League.

 

At one time he was active in politics and served here as an alderman for the first ward.  He had also been a candidate for mayor.

 

Mr. Gritzner had become widely known for his magic acts in which he was billed as “Nova, the Mystic.”  He also portrayed Santa Claus on many occasions and year after year was the official Santa Claus at the Boston Store in Milwaukee where he greeted thousands upon thousands of children during the Christmas shopping season year after year.  Officials of the store said “He was one of the finest Santa Claus characters we had ever engaged” and they sought his services year after year.

 

Mr. Gritzner was a showman and never lost his love for the stage and entertainment.

 

He was a man of many fine qualities and enjoyed being with people. He enjoyed his role as Santa Claus almost more than anything.

 

Services will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Hafemeister Funeral Home, the Rev. H. C. Milius officiating.  Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery.

 

Friends may pay their respects at the funeral home on Wednesday from 3 to 9 p.m. and Thursday up to the time of services.

 

Members of the Watertown Musicians Association Local 469, A.F.M. and of the Turners are asked to meet at the funeral home at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening to pay their respects.

 

The East Gate Inn will be closed as of today and through Thursday.

 

 

 

1968

Children Lose a Friend         Abstracted from the Milwaukee Journal, 09 25 1968

 

Santa Claus died Tuesday, along with Nova the Magician and the southeastern Wisconsin charleston champion of 1926. They were all wrapped up in the ample frame of Alton Gritzner, who once ran for alderman in Watertown on the platform; "If you want harmony in the city council, you can get 365 pounds of it by electing me."

 

Until he opened the East Gate Inn in Watertown in 1954, Mr. Gritzner spent his Decembers playing Santa Claus at the Boston Store, where he become known to a multitude of children and their parents.  He once estimated that he lifted 10 tons of children to his lap daily, at an average of 40 pounds a child.

 

He was not the usual stand-in for Santa.  For one thing, he needed no padding or pillow to fill out his red suit.  For another, he brought with him no air of forced jollity — he considered the job mostly fun.

 

"I get a big kick out of playing Santa Claus,°he said.  "It's not done for the pay alone.  Santa Claus wants all the kids to get what they ask for because he didn’t always when he was a kid — my folks were poor.” 

 

While he was still a boy, Mr. Gritzner organized a dance band and continued it for some years as the “Casino Rhythm Kings.”  The leader played a banjo.

 

In those days he weighed only 280 and was an enthusiastic dancer. After winning the 1929 charleston contest in Oconomowoc, he competed in others around the midwest.

 

Mr. Gritzner branched out into magic after watching an inept practitioner of the art and deciding that he could do better.  In recent years, he sometimes combined his Nova the Magician act with a Santa Claus suit at company Christmas parties, where those attending were too old to be satisfied with promises of Christmas toys.

 

Mr. Gritzner served as alderman in Watertown for eight years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor and sheriff.  He often wore a derby hat and smoked big cigars.  A diamond stickpin flashed in his necktie.

 

Some years ago, a reporter described his appearance as a cross between Hollywood’s version of a hotel detective and President Howard A. Taft.  In recent years, he joined the trend toward facial adornment by adding a handsome goatee.

 

2002

12 27       Santa Claus is fading from memory for another year following his annual visit, but one of his biggest helpers is remembered by his daughters.  The late Alton “Fats” Gritzner was one of the best known Santas in the state, and didn’t need any padding to prove it, according to Myrna Sterwald of Watertown, who always remembers her dad in a special way at Christmas.  Gritzner died Sept. 24, 1968, leaving behind many memories of his years of playing Santa and also accomplishing many other feats.  He was a businessman, professional magician, politician, musician and dancer.  Weighing in at well over 300 pounds, Gritzner was asked more than once how he could navigate a chimney but he always managed to give children some sort of plausible answer.

______________________________________

 

Cross References:

 

WDTimes article on “Fats”:  http://www.wdtimes.com/features/in_times_square/article_ee713436-cc2c-11e5-8923-3f3ab22fa9d3.html  

 

“Grew up on Clyman St.  One block away on 3rd St. was a small restaurant owned by the Gritzner family.  It was called FATS.  They had the best barb-b-q recipe I have ever tasted.  It was a very popular place for many years.  Everyone loved the sandwiches they sold.  I have never tasted anything even close to their secret recipe.  Is there anyway the Watertown Historical Society could find out some information that might lead to getting that recipe again.  I just want it for my own satisfaction.  I’m hungry to bring that flavor back to my taste buds!  Any info at all would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.”

 

Ah, Fats Gritzner's place, known as the Maple-Leaf Barbeque.  I remember it well.  Their hot beef was sublime, but it was the relish that truly made it a special dish.

 

The only people privy to that recipe are his children and grandchildren and they will not give up the recipe for love nor money.  Many have tried to get it, but no one has succeeded.

 

I wish there was some way to help you out, but short of marrying into the family there isn't a ghost of a chance.

 

Bill Jannke

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

History of Watertown, Wisconsin

Index