I am always looking for such items, which spur me to do some research and reveal the results to you, my readers. This week I’m featuring an old saloon bottle from the first decade of the 20th century.
John Wochholz (1865-1925) was part of a prominent Germany family-clan that was engaged in various enterprises here in the early 20th century. There was the Wochholz & Gress Coal Yard and Grocery, the Wochholz & Deyoe Grocery, the Wochholz & Baader cigar manufacturers, the Wochholz clothing store, the Wochholz Brothers Saloon, and John Wochholz tavern. The latter’s establishment was called The Midway, and was located a 309 S. Superior St. If you have a hard time spelling the family surname, remember, it contains TWO” h’s,” and only ONE “c.” It’s easy to spell when you remember that.
The 1897 Albion Directory lists John as a molder at the Gale Manufacturing Company. He was only in the tavern business beginning around 1906 to around 1910. A 1907 advertisement states “The Midway, John Wochholz, Proprietor. Wines, liquors, Cigars. Telephone No. 436. 309 S. Superior St.” John sold his business to Herman Stark who continued to operate it in the early 1910s. Stark subsequently added a partner, Frank Reichow, who eventually purchased and ran the business at that site until Prohibition was instituted locally.
John Wochholz subsequently took up selling life insurance for the Michigan State Life Insurance Company. He died suddenly on March 11, 1925 of a heart attack while turning on water to take a bath. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery.
There are two collectible items to remember John Wochholz by. The first is a beverage bottle, made of thick, clear glass. The bottom of the bottle has a diameter of about 3 ¼ inches, and the bottle is just a little over 11 ½ inches tall. The raised glass lettering at the bottom of the bottle reads, “JOHN WOCHHOLZ ALBION, MICH.” No other markings are found anywhere else on the bottle. The second item is an aluminum token which reads, “J.W. ALBION MICH” on the obverse, and “GOOD FOR 5¢ IN TRADE.”
From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photo of the bottom of the bottle, and the John Wochholz token. How many of our readers have such collectible items from Albion’s history?
