I first posted this piece on 13 Jan 2024 but soon realized that I had not dug deep enough. So this is the original post, plus the additional research.
The original 1934 label. Click to view a color image of this label.
Tuesday was a good day. It was a day when I had confirmation that my writing was reaching people, informing them, and encouraging questions.
Carol from the Stoneware Museum of Monmouth contacted me asking what I might know about the relationship between Hubert Fassbender and the Western Stoneware Pottery company. The Museum is dedicated to preserving the past of the Monmouth, Illinois community and sharing knowledge of stoneware. (Visit them at their website https://monmouthstonewaremuseum.com/ )
What DID I know? Well, Kaukauna Klub cheese has always been packed in crocks. Not the answer she was looking for. I knew I could collect bits and pieces from my research, but what did I know, and what was I missing? Challenge accepted. I created a timeline with accompanying documents, but I now feel compelled to flesh out the facts and take another look.
Kaukauna Klub Cheese is a spreadable natural cheese product, and as Hubert Fassbender, “the originator,” would say, “It is not processed cheese.” I believe it is a variation of the product that he first produced in 1915 for the Anona Cheese Co. in Appleton, Wisconsin. When Anona dissolved in 1931, selling its assets to the Borden company, I believe that Hubert began tinkering with the recipes he had produced many years ago. However, there is also the thought that he never STOPPED tinkering with the product. This idea is supported by comments that state: “Called Kaukauna Klub cheese, it represents the results of 15 years of experiments and development of special equipment.”1 1933 minus 15 equals 1918, which is the year that Hubert started the South Kaukauna Dairy Company and one year after Anona moved their production facility to Chicago, Illinois.
Company lore states that in the winter of 1933, “the lowest point of the depression,” Hubert mixed a small batch of cheese in a mixing bowl in the office of South Kaukauna Dairy. ‘He called in the help and asked people to taste it.’ Everyone liked it. Taking it home, ‘the folks at home liked it too.’2
Appleton Post-Crescent 8 Sep 1933
1918 to 1933. It was in 1918 that Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, passing into law 17 Jan 1920. But now, at the end of 1933 (5 Dec 1933), Prohibition was ending, and Americans could once again legally sell and consume alcohol. A means of distribution was needed.
South Kaukauna Dairy had the refrigeration equipment needed, and so Hubert added a beer depot to his list of offerings, proudly distributing at least two products, Gettelman’s, a Milwaukee beer produced by the A. Gettelman Brewing Co.3 and Knapstein’s, produced by the Knapstein Brewing Company of New London, a beer “more perfect in every way than you’ve ever tasted. It’s the result of a great combination — Purity, Skill, and Proper Aging.”4
In a letter circa 1935, Hubert stated: “KAUKAUNA KLUB was perfected about the time when beer returned with the only object in mind for local taverns. The originator [Hubert] had not thought of nation wide distribution.” “The Conway Hotel in Appleton, Wisc. was the first account. They served it on their bar [as part of what was called their “free lunch]. Traveling men began to buy it and carried it home with them. They in turn showed it to their friends. It soon happened that they began to form clubs of six and sent to the plant for it to be shipped them. From there it spread all over the United States.”5
One of the drivers for this beer distribution route was Hubert’s nephew Arthur Ellenbecker, whom I interviewed when he was 98 years old, and he well remembered the excitement of the club cheese. He was also quick to state that these routes were not his favorite, as with each delivery, he was expected to sit down and enjoy a glass of beer. This not only delayed his deliveries but was too many beers throughout the day.
1934, the Conway Hotel
The first deliveries of the new cheese product to the Conway Hotel Tavern were packed in paper cottage cheese containers, which Hubert labeled simply: Club Cheese, Manufactured by the South Kaukauna Dairy.6
His daughter, Mabel, reported in 1947 that he had not been satisfied with this simple packaging, which “proved unsatisfactory for keeping the cheese,” she went on to say that “Dad wrote to the stoneware company at Monmouth, Ill., and asked about a stone container. They sent us a three-pound jar they had on hand. He liked it and since then has made a number of patented changes in design to make it right for Kaukauna Klub.
‘When we used up what crocks they had on hand, we could not understand why they were not able to give immediate delivery on more. It was the depression, and they were not even in operation,’ she says.
At first only the three pound size was used. A small crock was made up for samples. Now [1947] there are four sizes.”7
In 1934, the company was ready to label its new product, and the time had come to decide upon a name. After much discussion, Hubert is reported as saying: “‘Why don’t we name it after the place where it is made and call it Kaukauna Club.’ Then it was decided to change the ‘C’ of Club to ‘K’ for copyrighting reasons.”8
The 1935 label. Notice the bail style and embossed lid, which is not domed like the 1934 crock.
On February 24, 1934, a label for Kaukauna Klub was submitted to obtain a Wisconsin trademark. The full-color label can be viewed at the Wisconsin Historical Society website – to view, follow the link: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM91275. This label was not used very long as a second label was designed in 1935, and if you visit Kaukauna’s website, Our Story page at: https://www.kaukaunacheese.com/our-story/, you will see yet another old label (in addition to a collection of crocks).
If there is one common denominator that we can attribute to how a Fassbender does business, it is this: They view a good business relationship as a partnership and expect the same from the people they do business with. The crock contract with the Western Stoneware Company was no different. Each Labor Day, the company hosted a weekend event, advertising for visitors to stop at the Monmouth Pottery Show Room and Gardens, where, starting in 1935, “…the Kaukauna Klub Cheese organization…will demonstrate their Cheese Products on both days. Their Cheese is fine and you should get acquainted with it.”9 The last year that Kaukauna participated in the event (or at least was advertised to have been in attendance) was 1939, when “The Kaukauna Club Cheese will be here again demonstrating their products and purchases can be made.”10
A 1937 Advertisement showcasing the 1935 label.
As the sturdy crocks that held the Kaukauna Klub Cheese could be reused, a program was set up so that they could be returned for credit. The Kuebler Grocery Company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, included the return value for each size in an ad they placed in The Oshkosh Northwestern on 2 Mar 1934. The ad tells us that In 1934,11 a 3-lb jar cost 95 cents, with a return value of 15 cents. The 24-oz jar cost 65 cents, and the 13-oz jar 45 cents. Both sizes had a return value of 10 cents.
I got curious and turned to the Inflation Calculator12 to see what the price would be today. The 13-oz crock of Kaukauna Klub cheese would cost $10.23, with a crock return value of $2.27. I looked at walmart.com to see what a tub of Kaukauna would cost today and learned that to purchase two 6.5 oz tubs, equalling 13 oz. of cheese I would pay $12.47.
The Kuebler ad also reported the sale price of two pounds of peanut butter was 21 cents ($4.78), you would pay 26 cents for a pound of butter ($5.91), and a dozen eggs cost 17 cents ($3.87).
Earl Mollet, an “employe” of South Kaukauna Dairy, was invited to speak at a Kaukauna Rotary luncheon. In his talk, he shared that only 2% of the crocks were returned. He went on to say about the crocks that were returned, “It seems that people get the jars confused in their homes and return the wrong ones. When they do, the boys at the plant have a little treat.” He stated, “…once we got one back full of mince meat, another full of salted fish, and some with pickles or candy in them.”13
The fact that only 2% of the crocks were returned indicates to me that Kaukauna Klub was prized not only for what came inside the crock but also for the crock itself. Young’s Market Company ad told readers that the cheese “…comes in cunning stone jars which may be returned for credit if you wish…but you’ll want to keep yours…”14 In 1939, the R. C. Wallace Co. of Helena, Montana, Kaukauna Klub advertisement even stated that the product was “Packed in Oven-Tested Earthen Jars!”15
While Hubert continued to expand the size and shape of Kaukauna Klub, the product continued to be packaged in stone jars for many more years. In 1954, a plastic lid was introduced. “This new lid makes it easier to store in your refrigerator or to stack the jars for display purposes.”16
Braniff International Airways crockThe reverse sideA plastic lid with the KK Logo
In the 1960s, the company partnered with Braniff International Airways to create a small crock of cheese to be served to the airline’s first-class passengers. While I have yet to find any written confirmation as to this partnership, examples of this small crock still exist.
By 1963, a brown crock had been added.17 In 1969, the cheese food caught the attention of a restaurant owner in Anaheim, California. The Aladdin Restaurant began serving the cheese as part of their appetizer offerings. “When each person is seated for dinner a wooden tray with an unusual cheese and crackers is brought to the table. The cheese is a good sharp soft (for easy spreading) Kaukauna Klub. It comes in an attractive brown crock–and it is a good appetizer with cocktails.”18
A crock with an early font, but the newer style of bailcirca 1959 – 1962circa 1975
The plastic tub was introduced following the sale of the company to International Multi-Foods in 1971.19 In 1975, recognizing the continued popularity of the original crock, International Multi-foods began to offer crock refills to their mix of products.20
International Multi-foods label
More research will need to be done to determine who manufactured these later crocks, including taking a hard look at the shape of the lid and the style of the bail. Not to mention what the bottom looks like, as this, too, is indicative of the manufacturer. SHUCKS, more parts to study.
To honor Hubert Fassbender’s achievement, in December 1947, the Kaukauna Common Council approved the appropriation of $1,301.50 for the purchase of a stone monument, a replica of the crock that is now synonymous with Kaukauna Klub. They granted Appleton Marble and Granite Works of Appleton the contract to create the monument of “polished granite with a stainless steel handle and clamp, and rough-cut granite base.”21 The Kaukauna Rotary donated the bronze plaque that reads: ‘Dedicated to the memory of Hubert Fassbender (1875-1947), the originator of the Kaukauna Klub, a dairy product which has made the city of Kaukauna known throughout the country.”22 The monument was dedicated on 8 Nov 1948 by his daughter, Mabel, along with L. C. Smith, master of ceremonies, Mayor Joseph Bayorgeon, and Kaukauna Rotary Club president, James Bamberry.
2023 – Fassbender Park, Kaukauna
If you visit Kaukauna today, you can head to Fassbender Park, next to the Associated Bank building, which sits on the site of the original South Kaukauna Dairy plant. Here, at the triangle of Crooks Avenue, Quinney Avenue, and E 4th Street, you will find a replica of the Western Stoneware crock that made both the product and the city famous.
I would like to end with one last crock story. In 2015 I received an email sharing details of a very large Kaukauna Klub crock. According to the story, Hubert had a large replica crock made for his daughters. His daughters, Mabel and Gertrude, did not want the crock, so it was given to an employee. Later the crock, standing about waist high, made its way back to Kaukauna Klub and was used in the cheese store as a sample table. The factory cheese store is now closed, and the location of the crock is not known.
An oversized replica
SOURCES
“Get New Pleasure From Cheese Made By Kaukauna Firm” Appleton Post-Crescent, 21 Apr 1934, Saturday, p. 18, col. 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Sep 2018). ↩︎
Newspaper Clipping, The Kaukauna Times, 18 Jun 1947 (guesstimate); South Kaukauna Dairy Company History; privately held by Susan Sternitzky Fassbender, 2012. “Hubert Fassbender and New Cheese Product Made Kaukauna Famous.” Bernard and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
“H. Fassbender for Gettelman’s Beer,” Advertisement, Appleton Post-Crescent, 12 Jul 1933, Wednesday Evening, p. 3, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 6 Sep 2018). ↩︎
“H. Fassbender for Knapstein’s Beer,” Advertisement, Appleton Post-Crescent, 6 Oct 1933, Friday, p. 14, col. 5; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 6 Sep 2018). ↩︎
Letter, written by Hubert Fassbender on South Kaukauna Dairy Company letterhead, ca 1935; South Kaukauna Dairy Company History; privately held by Susan C. Sternitzky Fassbender, 2012. ↩︎
Newspaper Clipping, The Kaukauna Times, 18 Jun 1947 (guesstimate); South Kaukauna Dairy Company History; privately held by Susan C. Sternitzky Fassbender, 2012. “Hubert Fassbender and New Cheese Product Made Kaukauna Famous.” Bernard and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
“Visit the Monmouth Pottery Show Room and Gardens” Advertisement, The Rock Island Argus, 29 Aug 1935, Thursday, p. 5, col. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Monmouth Pottery” Advertisement, The Rock Island Argus, 1 Sep 1939, Friday, p. 22, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Kuebler Grocery Co. Look! At This,” Advertisement, The Oshkosh Northwestern, 2 Nov 1934, Friday, p. 16, col. 5; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Cheese Jars Sometimes Come Back With Pickles,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 5 Aug 1937, Thursday Evening, p. 18, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Feb 2018). ↩︎
“Young’s Market Company,” Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar 1938, Tuesday Morning, Part II, p. 5, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Kaukauna Klub,” Advertisement, The Helena Daily Independent, 24 Jun 1939, Saturday, p. 3, col. 7; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Has New Plastic Lid. Kaukauna Klub Begins New Advertising Campaign” The Appleton Post-Crescent, 16 Oct 1954, Saturday, p. 9, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Beechners,” Advertisement, The Lincoln Star, 13 Dec 1963, Friday, p. 10, col. 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Food and Fun,” The Santa Ana Register, 19 Sep 1969, Friday, p. D, col. 6: digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 Jan 2024); Marilyn Nelson. ↩︎
“Firm Buys Kaukauna Dairy Co.,” The Post-Crescent, 2 Mar 1971, Tuesday, p. B12, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Kaukauna Klub” Advertisement, The Chicago Tribune, 20 Nov 1975, Thursday, Section 6, Food Guide, p. 4, col. 4; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 Jan 2024). ↩︎
“Memorial to Be Erected For Fassbender,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 17 Dec 1947, Wednesday, p. 10, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 Sep 2018). ↩︎
Newspaper Clipping, The Kaukauna Times, 19 Dec 1947; South Kaukauna Dairy Company History; privately held by Susan C. Sternitzky Fassbender, 2012. “$1,301.50 Appropriated for Hubert Fassbender Memorial.” Bernard and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
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In January of 1915, Hubert Fassbender’s cheese factories in the Town of Ellington, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, were running at full capacity. His wife Anna was about four months pregnant with their fourth child, their first-born, a son they named Clemens, was born on August 10, 1904, but sadly passed away just eight days later, and was buried in the St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Greenville. Living at home were eight-year-old Mabel, born May 24, 1906, and five-year-old Gertrude, born July 28, 1909.
Bluhill Cheese Package
It was around this time that Hubert was approached with a business proposition. He met with Appleton resident John L. Jacquot whom he had known for several years. Jacquot who had moved to Appleton in 1903,1 owned and operated a cold storage and distribution depot on College Avenue, which moved local cheese all over the country. At the Jacquot facility in 1910, the first “Big Cheese,” a 4,000-pound American cheese, was constructed for the National Dairy Show, held in Chicago, from October 20th through the 29th.2
Hubert was invited to join Jacquot, who had partnered with the Ingersoll Packing Company of Ottawa, Canada, and the Martin Brothers and Company of Denver, Colorado in a new business venture, the business to be called The Bluhill Cheese Company would manufacture Anona Cheese for distribution west of the Mississippi.
410 W. Prospect Ave.
In preparation for this new phase in life, on March 20, 1915, Hubert purchased a home in Appleton on Prospect Street from Flank Slattery.3 The home which was located at 930 Prospect Street, was renumbered in 1925 to its current address, 410 West Prospect Avenue. Hubert would live in this home until his death in 1947, and it was here that he and Anna welcomed their son, Hubert Peter, on July 27, 1915.
Six days before to the birth of his son, on July 21st, Hubert joined John Jacquot and Fred V. Heinemann in the office of George T. Richard at the Outagamie Loan and Title Co. to execute the new firm’s Articles of Organization.4
Two days later on July 29th, The BluHill Cheese Company, was incorporated with a capital stock of $30,000, three stockholders, and three hundred shares valued at one hundred dollars each. The stated purpose of the company was to “Manufacture, Buy, Sell, Store, Ship and deal in Cheese, Dairy Products and Food Products and to conduct such business incident thereto.”
The new company planned on opening on October 1st on West College Avenue next to John Jacquot’s cold storage facility at 1102 College Avenue.5 The building was just across Locust Street “where the Ruhsam Grocery store” was located. The address was 1086 College Avenue,6 and the building was situated on the west side of the block with College on the south, Richmond Street on the east, North Locust Street on the west, and West Washington Street on the north. Walgreens is currently (May 2023) the only building on this block, numbered 700 West College Avenue. The Ruhsam grocery building was to be the temporary location for the new company, as plans were being made for a new “factory, modern in every respect” which they planned to build in 1916.7
O. J. Ruhsam announced on August 18 that he had secured a new location, and Monday, August 23rd he would be open for business in the “old Maurer brick store at the corner of College avenue and Cherry street, near the C. & N. W. tracks.”8
While the newspaper does not announce the opening of the Bluhill plant, we can assume that it occurred on schedule as on December 10th an amendment to the articles of incorporation was filed, changing the name to the Anona Cheese Co., with C. C. L. Wilson of Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada as president, and J. L. Jacquot, secretary and treasurer.9
1917 Appleton Map overlay onto Google Earth. Star on the right is the location of the current plant, the Square is the location for the proposed building, and the Star is Godfirnon Grocery Store.
By January 1916 the factory was in full operation, and there was a curiosity about this new product that “looks like a cross between cheese and butter,” which “can be spread over bread the same as butter” with one “brand” containing green chili. “It is very appetizing, and from an economical standpoint is a good product. Butter at present is worth about thirty-eight cents, while [a pound of] Anona Cheese sell for ten and fifteen cents.” “One package of the Anona cheese would go as far as one pound of butter.”
The Appleton Evening Crescent reported that “Hobart [sic] Fassbender, Maker is Closely Guarded During the Mixing Process—Cream Cheese and Other Ingredients Unknown to Public Used in Manufacturing.” “…he is closely guarded, because be it known, he alone knows the process by which Anona Cheese is made, and his employers are very desirous that this knowledge remain where it belongs, in the factory on the west end of College avenue.”10
Hubert was “enclosed by a big cage of wood, within which he is again caged in a steel enclosure, where he does the mixing that produces the Anona cheese, made from the best cream cheese and other ingredients unknown to the public in general…the secret of the process remains with him alone. Day after day he enters the cage, works all alone and emerges after the day’s work, conversing with no one except at meal time and evenings. Lonely work, but important.”11
The cheese used in Anona cheese was all made in Outagamie County from “summer made cheese.” While there was no retail outlet for the cheese, a “number of local concerns” were selling the product which was first placed on the market the last week in December 1915.12
It must have been heartbreaking to see the error on his headstone.
Wednesday, January 12, 1916, may have dawned bright but soon darkened. While working in the plant Hubert “suffered a broken arm when he was caught in a belt.”13 Arriving home after his arm had been set, he learned that his five-month-old son who had the flu, was not getting better.14 Hubert Peter Fassbender passed away that evening at 6:00 p.m., “after a severe attack of convulsions.” He was buried two days later on Friday in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.15
In May plans to build a state-of-the-art facility were well underway, with the Appleton architectural firm DeLong and Son in charge of the design. The location chosen for the new building was on “the north side of the ravine, near the Maurer tailor shop, but across the ravine from it”16 and “opposite the Godfirnon Grocery store, adjoining the Haussmann property on the north side of the avenue.”17 The location? Where the Viking Theater would be built in 1941.
The building was to be eight stories tall, and the three below ground would be used as a cold storage facility, principally for Anona Cheese, and the Simon Cheese company, with room for other industries. The Appleton Ford Company would occupy the ground floor, and other industries and offices utilizing the rest of the space. Estimated to cost $100,000, the building would be “the most imposing structure on College avenue, the front to be of enameled terra cotta…[with a] frontage of 100 feet, and a depth of 150 feet.”18 The building will be of heavy construction, reinforced concrete, suitable for manufacturing purposes. Two elevators will afford transit accommodations for the building tenants.19
In 1942, at the time the Bahcall Building’s Viking Theater was built, the Appleton Post-Crescent described the ravine property this way: the property was “once a deep ravine in which rubbish and snow removed from city streets was dumped…Residents of Appleton who have forgotten the depth of the ravine, and since the filling in have lost their conception of the building’s [the Bahcall Building] depth under the ground level, will be amazed at the floor space in the basement and sub-basement. Not only are they tremendous in size, but both are 16 feet in height with the exception of the portion under the theater which varies from 10 to 16 feet because of the auditorium’s sloping floor…”20 The perfect space to house cold storage.
The proposed building designed by DeLong & Son
On June 21st for $2,500, the Appleton Ford Company purchased two tracts of land adjoining the land for the new building. This T-shaped piece of property would presumably have been a car lot, with the showroom located on the ground floor of the new building.21
The location of the building was chosen not only for the benefit of the ravine but theproximity to the railway lines. Surveys were run “for the trackage, which will reach the building on the north and west sides,” and the company now awaited “sanction of the city council before going ahead with the actual construction” of the building.22 The plan was to have two Chicago & Northwestern railway tracks “one running along the north side of the building, the other on the west side. Besides these, there will be team tracks on the west side. If the tracks are laid as outlined, one of the cement sheds near the market on Walnut street will have to be removed.” “Mayor Knuppel said…that no decision would be given relative to running the track through the stock fair grounds until an engineer has shown them just what was desired.”23
It is not known whether the city did not approve the petition for a new sidetrack from the C. & N.W. Railway, or the fact that the Chicago and Northwestern Railway failed to build a “much heralded” new freight depot. The new depot had been promised by the railroad for more than two years and was to have been constructed in 1916.24
Whatever the reason, the Anona stockholders decided not to go ahead with the proposed building on College Avenue. Instead, they reversed course and made the decision to move the company to Chicago citing “poor shipping facilities” as the reason for the move and they “expected that better shipping facilities will greatly aid business.”25 Interestingly enough, the Appleton Evening Crescent published an article directly above the Anona announcement titled: “New Freight Depot Now A Certainty” which reported that the plans for the new freight depot were ready, and work would start in the spring.
His young family was settling into life in Appleton, and Hubert decided not to move with the company to Chicago, sending a letter on February 10, 1917, to C. C. Martin in Denver stating his decision and inquiring about disposing of his stock. Martin responded on February 17th, stating that he had forwarded Hubert’s request and decision to the Ingersoll Packing Co. in Canada. He went on to say that the company would prefer the stock be held by the original incorporators, but if not, at the “proper time” it would be “absorbed by those remaining in the company.” Hubert agreed to stay with the company to assist with preparing for the move, which Martin expected to occur “about the last week in March.”26
By the middle of March the new facilities near the Fulton markets, were ready, and the packing of the machinery was completed, ready for the three-day journey to Chicago. Work had already begun in tearing down the plant on West College Avenue.27
On April 18, 1917, following a special meeting of the stockholders, “the articles of said corporation be so amended so as to increase the capital stock of said Anona Cheese Co. from three hundred (300) shares of one hundred ($100) dollars each, to five hundred (500) shares at one hundred ($100) dollars each, so that the authorized capital stock of the corporation shall be fifty thousand ($50,000) dollars; and that the said articles be further amended empowering the said corporation to do business both within and without the state of Wisconsin.” The change was signed by C. C. L. Wilson, President, and J. L. Jacquot, Secretary and Treasurer.28
April 1935 Advertisement
With Anona leaving Appleton for Chicago, Hubert was left without a job. His whole life having been spent in the dairy industry, it is no surprise that 10 months later, in early February 1918, Hubert, his wife, Anna, and Peter Ulmen signed incorporation documents for the South Kaukauna Dairy. The new factory was located in South Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, and was incorporated with a capital stock of $10,000.29
Hubert never forgot his short time with Anona. He loved to talk about his years in the milk and creamery business, and area Rotary Clubs were eager to invite him to speak. In April 1929, speaking at the Kaukauna Rotary business meeting, he had this to say: “At [sic] the honor of making the first Anona cheese. This still is being made by that company in Chicago.”30
Two years later on March 2, 1931, Borden Company acquired “the entire assets and business of the Anona Cheese Company of Chicago…”31 The dissolution of the company occurred at a stockholder meeting held in Madison, Dane, Wisconsin. “The firm had 1,000 shares of stock and all voted in favor of the dissolution. Officers of the company were: C. C. Martin, president; and J. F. Tines, secretary.”3233
And two years after the dissolution of the Anona Cheese Co., Hubert introduced a natural cheese product that “Spreads Like Butter.” He created four flavors: Plain, Chili, Pimento, and Limburger. Coincidence? I personally don’t think so. But that is a story for another day.
Sources
Thomas H. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief, History of Outagamie County Wisconsin: Being a General Survey of Outagamie County History including a History of the Cities, Towns and Villages throughout the County, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Chicago, Illinois: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911), p. 946-947. ↩︎
“To Make 4,000 Pound Cheese,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 9 Sep 1910, Friday, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 Jun 2023). ↩︎
“Real Estate,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 20 Mar 1915, Saturday, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Sep 2018). ↩︎
Anona Cheese Company, Corporation Documents, 1915-1931; File no. A 001286, Box no. 0022; Domestic Corporation; Outagamie County, Corporations Index; Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Dane, Wisconsin, United States. ↩︎
Anona Cheese is Now Being Made in City,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 5 Jan 1916, Wednesday, p. 1, col. 7; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Sep 2018). ↩︎
“$30,000 Cheese Industry Is To Be Opened Here,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 31 Jul 1915, Saturday, p. 1, col. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Sep 2018). ↩︎
“Ruhsam to Occupy New Grocery Quarters,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 18 Aug 1915, Wednesday, p. 1, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 May 2023). ↩︎
”Bluhill Cheese Company Has Changed Its Name,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 16 Dec 1915, Thursday, p. 3, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 Jan 2020). ↩︎
“Looking Backward. 10 Years Ago,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 13 Jan 1926, Wednesday, p. 4, col. 3; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 2 Feb 2005). ↩︎
Wisconsin, “Deaths,” 1916, vol. 12, p. 76, Hubert Fassbender, 12 Jan 1916; Register of Deeds, Outagamie County Courthouse, Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. ↩︎
“Hubert Fossbender Dies of Convulsions Last Night,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 13 Jan 1916, Thursday, p. 1, col. 3. ↩︎
“Eight Story Building in Ravine a Go,” EXTRA, Appleton Evening Crescent, 5 May 1916, Friday, p. 1, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 May 2023). ↩︎
“Start Survey of the Track For New Building,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 6 May 1916, Saturday, p. 1, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 Sep 2018). ↩︎
“Proposed $100,000 Eight Story Building For College Avenue,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 11 May 1916, Thursday, p. 1, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 May 2023). ↩︎
“Start Survey of Track for New Building,” Saturday, p. 1, col. 5. ↩︎
“1 2-3 Acres of Space on 4 Floors of Bahcall Building,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 28 Jan 1942, Wednesday, p. 21; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 27 May 2023). ↩︎
Ford Company Buys Ravine Property,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 21 Jun 1916, Wednesday, p. 4, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 May 2023). ↩︎
“Proposed $100,000 Eight Story Building For College Avenue,” Thursday, p. 1, col. 4. ↩︎
“Start Survey of Track for New Building,” Saturday, p. 1, col. 5. ↩︎
“City Impatient at Long Delay,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 19 Jul 1916, Wednesday, p. 1, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 1 Jul 2023). ↩︎
“Anona Cheese Co. Moves to Chicago,” Appleton Evening Crescent, 16 Mar 1917, Friday, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Sep 2018). ↩︎
Letter, Fassbender Memorabilia; privately held by Susan Sternitzky Fassbender, 2012. C. C. Martin to Mr. H. F. Fassbender, 17 Feb 1917. Bernard and Marie Fassbender Family Archives. ↩︎
“Anona Cheese Co. Moves to Chicago,” Friday, p. 5, col. 5. ↩︎
“Cheese Men Incorporate,” The Sheboygan Press, 8 Feb 1918, Friday, p. 8, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 Nov 2017). ↩︎
“Rotary Club Hears Talk on Creamy Business,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 18 Apr 1929, Thursday Evening, p. 19, col. 2. ↩︎
“Borden Company Lists Capital Stock Increase,” Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 13 Mar 1931, Friday, p. 9, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 Sep 2018). ↩︎
“Anona Cheese Co. Quits Business,” Appleton Post-Crescent, 18 Mar 1931, Wednesday Evening, p. 2, col. 1; digital images, NewspaperARCHIVE (www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 9 Dec 2006). ↩︎
Every so often I enter “White Clover Dairy, Hollandtown” into a search engine just to see what will pop up. This time I got a surprise.
Dairy Foods Magazine’s James Carper wrote an article about Arla Foods which was published on March 8, 2017.1 I cannot comment on the accuracy of the article as it pertains to Arla’s cheese production, but I can, and will comment on his opening statement.
About 1923. The photographer is standing on County Road D, looking west.
I have written before as to my feelings about how Arla has wiped the Fassbender family from the history of the property and the plant. And this article is no exception.
Carper opens the article with this statement: “To see how White Clover Dairy grew up [GREW UP!!!?] to become Arla Foods, it helps to look at a series of aerial photos hung in the entrance hallway to this cheese plant in Hollandtown, Wis.” [HOW did Arla get these images? Minus the one were “the house is gone,” these images are in our families possession]. He continues: “In the first image there is a farmhouse near the original plant. Later images show how expansions to the plant crept closer and closer to the house. Eventually, the plant completely surrounds the farmhouse, and in the last image, the house is gone…”
View from Henry and Ida’s front porch, looking toward County Road D.
If Carper had chosen to enter “White Clover Dairy, Hollandtown” into a search engine, he would have quickly discovered that this “farmhouse” was the original owner and cheesemaker’s home.
The house built in 1916 was not a farmhouse, never hosted thrashers, and the nearest cows belonged to the farm across the street from both the house and the factory. The closest that Ida Fassbender came to feeding farmhands, was when she would feed lunch to factory workers. But these men and women did not come in from the fields, but at noon walked next door for a home-cooked meal.
Henry Fassbender purchased White Clover in 1905, and it is because of his leadership, his vision, and his passion, all of which he passed down to his children, that there was a factory in Hollandtown for Arla to purchase. I am proud of this legacy, and will continue to work to keep it alive.
Yesterday was National Grilled Cheese Day – who thinks of these things? So I am bit behind with a cheese story, it’s a big one! And the Fassbender family was involved.
Quoted from A Snapshot: Peter Joseph Hubert Fassbender[1] “…in 1911, plans were well under way for Nicholas Simon of Appleton to attempt to beat his own record for creating a giant cheese. In 1910 he had built a 4,000 pound cheese for the National Dairy Show in Chicago. For the 1911 National Dairy Show, to be held October 26-November 4, he was awarded the contract by the National Dairy Show Association to build a 12,000 lb. Wisconsin white cheese [cheddar]. The cheese was not to be made as a money-making proposition, but for educational purposes. On July 26, 1911, preliminary work began on the construction of the hoop and platform to hold the cheese. The giant hoop of galvanized iron was eight feet in diameter, and five feet high. ‘Twelve heavy steel bands, 24 feet long, were placed around the hoop to make it withstand the enormous pressure obtained by the immense jack-screws placed on the ends, or “followers,” and pressing agains the frame. Four heavy oak timbers below the hoop and as many above, bound together by twenty heavy steel bolts five feet long, formed the frame that was built upon the lines of the old style upright screw press. The “followers” or ends, were four thicknesses of two-inch oak boards, or eight inches thick. The hoop alone weighed 3,000 pounds.” [2]
Both Hubert [Fassbender] and Henry [Fassbender] played a role in creating this cheese, which occurred on Tuesday, August 15, 1911. Henry was one of the 18 expert cheesemakers, who with the assistance of 22 experienced helpers manufactured the cheese, and Hubert is credited with being one of the dairies supplying the milk. ‘…All the milk from over 8,000 cows for one day, and furnished by over 1,300 farmers of Outagamie county, went into the giant cheese. The curd was furnished by thirty-two of the most up-to-date and sanitary cheese factories…it took over 1,600 meant to do the milking, and 144,100 pounds of milk, over seventy-two tons or over 18,000 gallons of the richest and purest milk obtainable from the finest registered Holstein, Guernsey and other breed cows in the country, was put into the cheese or was required to produce the curd.’ ‘In addition…it took over 480 pounds of Wyandotte salt and thirty-one pounds of Marschall rennet extract to produce the curd, but not an ounce of coloring was placed in the cheese.’ [3] The 8,000 cows all ‘had to be milked at the same hour. The milk had to be cooled at the same temperature, and the…factories which manufactured the curd had to follow the same process to make the curd uniform.’ [4]
On October 30, 1911, President William Howard Taft attended the National Dairy Show where he gave a ‘pleasant speech’ and toured the exhibits. Upon reaching the ‘immense cheese which [was] a feature of the show he was given a huge knife and invited to have a slice. He accepted laughingly, cut off a sample of the cheese and at it with relish.’ [5] After tasting the cheese he said ‘I would like to meet the man who made it.’ Upon being introduced to Nicholas Simon, he complimented him by saying he had never tasted better cream cheese. The giant cheese which cost an estimated $5,0000-$6,000 to produce, was sold to the Fair Store in Chicago, where it was sold at retail, Nicholas Simon receiving thirty cents per pound, or $3,7089.10. [6] Ten pounds of the cheese was shipped to President Taft, arriving in time for Thanksgiving dinner, a gift from Nicholas Simon.” [7]
The Largest Cheese in the World! It is Eight Feet in Diameter and Weighs Over Five Tons. Henry Fassbender is the second man from the left. Location is unknown, possibly 741 Pacific Street.
The November 1911 issue of Popular Mechanics, p. 650-651, had this to say about the cheese:
“No building in Appleton was large enough for the manufacture and care of the cheese and it was made in the open air. The hoop was placed on a platform in front of six big vats, 15 feet long, 4 1/2 feet wide and 22 1/2 feet deep, in which the curd was washed and mixed.
Under the supervision of the State Dairy and Food Commissioner, 2 3/4 pounds of salt were used to each 100 pounds of curd, and when the salt was thoroughly mixed with the curd it was carried in pails to the form or hoop, where it was packed with heavy iron tampers, which were wrapped with [40 yards of] cheesecloth.
It took five hours to manufacture the cheese after the curd was delivered, and so solidly had it been packed that it pressed down but a few inches under the enormous pressure. Two days later the cheese was trimmed, the bandage of heavy cotton cheese cloth, which fitted the form like a glove was carried over the top and the gigantic cheese was moved into a warehouse by a house mover…it was impossible to find a cold-storage plant…in which it could be stored to ‘cure,’ and itwas necessary to build a special refrigerator, 12 by 15 feet, about [the cheese.] A specially equipped flat car was provided to ship it to Chicago.”
This was not the last giant cheese that Nicholas Simon produced, but it is his most famous.
Sources:
Susan C. Fassbender, A Snapshot: Peter Joseph Hubert Fassbender (Appleton, WI: self published, 2007): 26-28.
Popular Mechanics, “Giant Cheese Weighs Over Five Tons,” November 1911, 650-651.
The Kaukauna Times, Kaukauna, Wisconsin, “A Mammoth Cheese. Seventy Tons of Milk Used in Making a 12,000 Pounder.” 18 August 1911.
The Kaukauna Times, ” caption: “The Worlds Largest Cheese,” 20 October 1911, front page.
The Evening Telegram, Elyria, Ohio, “President Visits Dairy Show, Makes a Speech, Cuts Big Cheese, and Afterward Lays Cornerstone of Hamilton Club.” 30 October 1911, 2.
Appleton Evening Crescent, Appleton, Wisconsin, “Extra: ‘This Cheese is Great,’ says Taft.” 30 October 1911.
The Kaukauna Times, “Cheese for Dinner.” 1 December 1911.
Hubert and Henry are the youngest sons of Peter and Elizabeth (Nettekoven) Fassbender, and it would be their youngest sons who would embrace the cheese industry, making it their life work. The boys were just 12 and seven in 1887, the year that Peter began making cheese, and so you could say that they “grew up in the business.” [NOTE: It is now known he built his first factory in 1872].
As I have mulled over the “how” of telling their story, I have decided that I will try to run their experiences in a parallel manner, year to year. The reason is that because their stories intertwine, even in the early years before they were successful business men operating factories just 7 miles apart. Hubert owning and operating the South Kaukauna Dairy Co., and Henry, owning and operating White Clover Dairy. The problem? Their preference for using their initials instead of their full names. Granted, most often Henry would include his middle initial “J” going by H. J. Fassbender, while Hubert would use H. Fassbender, there was still confusion.
Early in my research I was lucky enough to have gotten to know Hubert and Henry’s nephew, Arthur Ellenbecker. Arthur passed away shortly after his 100th birthday in 2003, having shared many stories with me, but leaving me wanting to know more. Arthur is the son of Elizabeth (Fassbender) Ellenbecker Tatro. Elizabeth was the middle sister of Hubert and Henry having been born in 1877, and the three were close as siblings and friends. Arthur admired his uncles “Hoobert” and “Henery,” and he also worked for Hubert in the 1930s. His life story is a part of this story that I will attempt to tell.
This will not be a definitive work, as I have not yet gone to Madison and gone through the incorporation documents, and other items that may be filed with the company records. It is on my list of To Dos, but I do not think that the story will be any less for not knowing these details. As for details, the life of Henry will appear to be more rich with information, but that is because the Hollandtown community section, or what I like to call the “gossip” column, which frequently reported on his comings and goings. Whereas Hubert lived a much more quiet life in the larger community of Appleton. But I have plenty of information for my tale.
I was wrong. I thought that because I had been researching this topic since 1998, that it would be a SNAP to write the story up to oh, say 1918. I was wrong, because even during these early years there is this strange entwining of names, and the question of which man is this story referring to? But to continue the tale.
Peter Joseph Hubert Fassbender was born and raised in Oedekoven, Rhine Province, Germany. In 1856 at the age of 18, he emigrated to Wisconsin, settling with his mother and step-father in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin. In 1862 he married the “girl next door” Elizabeth Nettekoven, the Nettekoven’s having settled on the land adjacent to Peter’s family. During their first year of marriage, Peter and Elizabeth lived on a rented farm in the Milwaukee area before packing their ox-cart and making their way north to Outagamie County. When I first read about their five day journey, I had what I thought was an insane image of them walking up Highway 41, but looking at this David Rumsey map of Wisconsin dated 1855, I see I was not too far off.
Foote, C. M. 1849-1899. (Charles M.); Brown, Walter S. / Plat book of Outagamie County, Wisconsin (1889)
They made the decision to settle in the town of Ellington, Outagamie County, and on November 12, 1863, Peter purchased a sixty acre plat for $950.00 in Section 25. [1] Peter worked hard cultivating the land so that it would be in good condition for his crops. In 1868 he added an adjoining 40 acres of Section 26 to the original 60, and in 1883 purchased an additional 40 acres in Section 24, creating a total of 140 acres of good rich farm land. [2]
Peter and Elizabeth were blessed with nine children. Anna born in 1865, John Mathias 1866, Joseph Peter 1868, Conrad Henry 1869, Mary Francis 1871, Hubert 1875, Elizabeth Mary 1877, Henry John 1880, and Maggie, who was born in 1882. Six lived to adulthood as they lost Conrad in 1869, Mary Francis in 1871, and their youngest daughter, Maggie, the summer of 1900.
As Peter decided to add cheese manufacturing to his mix of business, he enlisted all four of his surviving sons to work with him in the factory, and this allowed him to expand until he was running three factories as part of his family business. His eldest son, John, began working at age 16 as a laborer for other cheese factories in the area. He returned home in 1887 to work for his father, remaining with him till 1890 when he “embarked on the business himself, conducting a factory for five years.” In 1895 John married and soon moved to Appleton “where the next five years were spent in various occupations” until 1902 when he returned to farming, purchasing land in Black Creek, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin. [3] While John lived in Appleton for those five years, I believe he must have retained ownership of the factory, as I find him listed as “John Fastbinder” in the Biennial Report of the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Wisconsin, as owning and operating an unnamed cheese factory in Greenville, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin in 1899. [4]
Peter’s second son, Joseph’s first love was for the land, and although he spent time working in the factories, he soon returned to farming. He “always remained on the home place, of which he took charge at the age of thirty years, and three years later he bought the land.” [5] He married in 1902, and remained on the family farm for the remainder of his life.
Peter’s youngest sons were Hubert and Henry John. Funny, I have yet to find a middle name for Hubert, although I have found reference to the letter “F” being used. Hubert and Henry literally grew up with their father making cheese in addition to farming, and the cheese industry became their chosen profession, both men owning and operating successful factories in the Fox River Valley. This is their story.
SOURCES;
“Wisconsin, Outagamie County Records, 1825-1980,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-22093-43526-77?cc=1463639 : accessed 01 Apr 2014), Land and Property > Deed record, 1863-1864, vol. 16 > image 416 of 609; citing Outagamie County Courthouse, Appleton.
Thomas H. Ryan, History of Outagamie County Wisconsin (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911), 767.
Thomas H. Ryan, History of Outagamie County Wisconsin. (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911), 764-765.
Wisconsin. Dairy and Food Commission, Biennial Report of the Dairy and Food Commissioner of Wisconsin. (Michigan: University of Michigan, 1899) www.books.google.com : accessed 26 Mar. 2014.
