by Jack Puterbaugh
We are in the midst of the 2010 Yuletide Season.
It is a time of year most everyone looks forward to, since it is a time for families to get together to celebrate an important religious holiday.
Those of us who attended one-room schools probably have special memories of this time of the year. This is the time of year when one-room school students put on the annual Christmas program. The program was attended, not only by parents of the students, but also by friends and neighbors from the community.
In the one-room school I attended, District 17, a portable stage was constructed in the front of the room. There was a curtain that parted in the middle that was opened and closed by two students pulling it back and forth. The students had diligently rehearsed the skits, songs and other numbers that were on the program, and all of the numbers were enthusiastically received by the audience. It should be noted the age of the performers ranged from six to 14, and the program reflected that age spread.
One year I memorized the well-known “Twas the Night Before Christmas” poem that was written be Clement Moore on Christmas Eve in 1822. Even today, whenever I hear that poem, I’m reminded of that time long ago when I recited it from memory.
When the program ended and the applause had died, all of the student performers were treated to a bag of candy and an apple courtesy of the school board. The people who had come to listen to the student performers had a chance to visit over a cup of coffee and a piece of cake. The evening was really a chance for the community to get together and share in an event that involved the students of the community.
Does that same sense of community exist today? Anyway, this is to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and may it be a most enjoyable and meaningful time of year.
by Jack Puterbaugh
Recently there was an insert in the News that recounted the last 40 years of Cambridge-Isanti High School football. Of course, football at the high school has been around much longer than that.
For example, the 1943 team, coached by Bill Adam, were the District 16 Champions that year. That achievement was celebrated at a banquet, sponsored by the Cambridge Business Association, on Nov. 29, 1943. The featured speaker was Hubert H. Humphrey, a professor of political science, at Macalester College in Saint Paul. The very same person who later was the vice president of the United States and a candidate for president. Humphrey was an eloquent speaker, and the address he made on Civil Rights at the 1948 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia is considered by many to be the most significant political speech of the 20th Century.
A number of members of that 1943 football team continued to call Cambridge their home, and contributed along the way to make it a good place to live. For example, George Johnson, a co-captain of the team, has been a civic leader for all these many years. Others who fall in this category include Ray Treichel, Ronald Fredlund, Robert Becklin and Jerry Fredlund. Other team members spread far and wide where they made their own mark.
Football has always been an important sport at the Cambridge High school, and I am sure that tradition will continue in the future. Incidentally, the Homecoming Game in 1943 was played against Mora, and the cost of student admission was $.25.
Printed in the Wednesday, Nov. 17 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
Recently some of the members of my high school class got together for lunch. Since we graduated on June 4, 1943 it means we are now in our mid-eighties.
There were 78 of us who left CHS (Cambridge High School) with a diploma in hand that June day. More than half of us still get up in the morning, but every so often that number decreases.
Since we graduated in the midst of World War II, most of the boys headed off for service in the military. Luckily, only one of our classmates was killed while in the service, and only one was severely injured. When the size of the class at 78, you get to know each member of the class, which means friendships are made that isn’t possible with a larger class. The largest class up to our time was the class of 1942 which had 104 graduates. Class numbers dropped after that time until the late 1940s. Each high school class has its own characteristics, and our class was no exception.
Our class of ‘43 had a fair number of teachers and nurses. There were a couple of entrepreneurs and engineers, but no doctors or lawyers. And while a number had grown up on farms, only a few followed a career in agriculture. When we were youngsters a trip to the “cities” was a big deal, but in our older years we managed to visit many places around the world.
While many of us spent our working years far from Isanti County—including places like India, Japan, Australia, and Argentina—a number of us have returned to the place where we grew up.
One of the ads in the 1943 yearbook, the Nugget, is from the Cambridge State Bank that outlines youth’s responsibilities. It reads as follows, “Millions of dollars and millions of lives are being spent to give you a world that is fit to live in. Your job in school is to study to make yourself fit to play a worthy part in it. You must help to relieve human misery, to erase poverty, to stamp out war, to stand off death with the new and shining weapons of science, to use the power of your knowledge for the good of mankind, not for its destruction.” Those words still apply, and I hope that over the years the class of 43 has tried to do their part.
Printed in the Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
Today it is customary to head for the grocery store at least once a week—for the most part to a super market that stocks thousands of items.
As Americans we spend on food a lower percentage of our income than almost any country in the world. When transportation was by horse and buggy, going to the store was done much closer to home.
There were grocery stores scattered throughout the county where groceries, and sometimes other commodities could be purchased.
Some of the places where groceries could be purchased included Dalbo, Day (today famous for lutefisk), Blomford, Bodum, Bradford, Stanchfield, Grandy, Springvale, Elm Park, Oxlip, Weber and Crown.
Some of these places also had a creamery where farmers could bring their cream.
Dalbo, for example, once had a car dealership and a bank. Today you can still sip a beer at the Dusty Eagle and mail a letter at the post office, but you can’t buy groceries. Grandy still has the Brass Rail (best coleslaw ever), but no groceries. Some of these former enterprises no longer exist as the buildings that housed them have been torn down. In other cases, the buildings are still standing, but have been converted to other uses.
I remember quite well the store at Oxlip. The store building at Oxlip was two stories. There was a meeting hall on the second floor, and I recall attending political meetings that were held there.
At one time there were a lot of navy beans grown in Isanti County. During the winter months there were a number of machines at the store that were pedal operated, and were used to remove foreign objects and material from the beans as they moved along a conveyor belt.
The Oxlip store had another feature—an ice-house. During the winter chunks of ice would be harvested from a nearby lake. The ice would be sawed into rather large chunks, which would then be transported to the ice house, sawed into smaller chunks and then packed in saw dust where it would be available for later use. The ice was used to keep things cool in an ice box (the fore runner of the refrigerator).
In our case, Saturday evening was the time we went to get a chunk of ice for our ice-box. There was an honor system for the people who came to get ice (were people more honest at an earlier time?).
Anyway, when you head out to buy groceries this week, remember you once went to a rather small place to restock the larder. Incidentally, don’t forget your discount coupons.
The column originally appeared in the Aug. 26, 2010 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
It’s sweet corn time.
I just bought some that was grown locally. The price was $.40 an ear, which works out to $4.80 a dozen. I was reminded of how it was in the past.
My dad used to plant an acre of Yellow Bantam sweet corn that produced ears that were about two-thirds the size of the ears we see today.
Today, there are multiple varieties of sweet corn that have differing maturity dates that prolong the sweet corn season.
When our acre of sweet corn was ready to harvest, we supplied Olsens Store in Isanti, and Russ Elofsons Fairway Market in Cambridge with fresh sweet corn. We also sold the crop in another way.
My dad had a 1937 Chrysler Royal four-door sedan. If the back seat was removed, it was possible to load the back and trunk with some 100 dozen ears of corn. This was done late in the afternoon.
The next day after the morning chores had been attended to, my dad, my brother and I would head off to Minneapolis. The trip was much simpler then.
The so-called Metro Area didn’t start until you reached 40th and Central. Of course MN Hwy. 65 was only two lanes and the first stop and go light was at 40th and Central.
We would usually continue down to Central and Lowry, and then look for a residential area on either side of Central.
After parking the car my dad and I would load up shoulder packs with ears of corn—maybe four dozen. My dad would take one side of the street, while I took the other. We would then go door to door peddling our wares. The price was $.10 a dozen or three-dozen for a $.25.
While we were going door to door, my brother would keep watch over the car. We usually sold out in something like an hour and a half. For our efforts the total take was somewhat near $10.
After all of the corn had been sold, our reward was a visit to the Band Box on Central Avenue where hamburgers were three for a dime. Then it was back to the farm to wait for more of the ears to ripen.
Today when I buy sweet corn—I mutter, “three-dozen for a quarter.” Times do change don’t they?
This originally appeared in the Isanti County News on Aug. 4, 2010.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
Many of us remember our first car. In my case it was a 1929 Ford Model A two-door.
I owned the car along with my good friend Stuart Skoglund. We had purchased the car from another friend, Vernal From, for $75. The car had a rather interesting history. It had been owned by an uncle of Vernal, and it had not been driven for a number of years. Vernal had rehabbed the car, including reupholstering the interior. It looked pretty classy. Vernal sold it since he was going into the Army.
The time was the early summer of 1943, and if you were 18-years old Uncle Sam wanted you. After all it was right in the midst of WW II. Stuart and I decided we would overhaul the engine.
We ground the valves, put in new rings, and replaced the spark plugs and gaskets. When all of this had been completed, we took it out for a test drive. We discovered we had not installed the oil pump properly, so we had to correct that. Once that was done it ran like a Swiss Watch.
Sadly, shortly after, Stuart got orders to report for duty in the Navy, where he went on to become a pilot. I bought out Stuart, and became the sole owner of the 29 Model A. Since I was soon headed for the Army Air Corps, I painted Air Corps symbols on the doors. It wasn’t too long until I trooped off to the Air Corps, and the car was sold to a local resident. When I returned from the service in late 1945 I would occasionally catch a glimpse of my Model A, complete with the Air Corps symbols.
During the summer of 1943 a couple of the tires need to be replaced. Since we supplied sweet corn to grocery stores in Isanti and Cambridge, my dad convinced the Rationing Board to allow us to buy two new tires.
One of the interesting features of the Model A was the location of the gas tank. It was under the hood right in front of the windshield. Not very safe should you be involved in an accident. Over the years I’ve owned a number of vehicles, but that 29 Model A was a very special means of transportation.
This originally appeared in the July 21, 2010 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
Recent news items indicate that students will find summer jobs hard to come by this year. That’s too bad!!
At an earlier time if you lived on a farm you had a ready-made summer job helping out on the farm. Of course, that type of job did not have a weekly paycheck.
I do recall that one of my high school classmates had a janitorial job at the Arlington Hotel. Another one had a similar job at the local telephone office. Yet another one was a cashier and ticket seller at the Cozy Theatre. In the summer of 1942, Vernal From, a classmate, and I left to find our fortune in Minneapolis.
As I look back, my parents must have had a lot of trust in me as I was only 16 years-old. Anyway, when we arrived in Minneapolis we found a place to stay on 39th Ave South. The rent for a sleeping room was three fifty a week.
As for a job, Vernal got a job as a dish washer at the Hasty Tasty on 36th and Lyndale that paid twelve dollars a week. I found a job as a bus boy at Carlson’s Restaurant on 27th and Lake that paid ten dollars a week. Those jobs lasted a couple of weeks when we hit it rich.
We both got jobs as construction laborers. Vernal ended up working on a defense plant under construction in Rosemount. I ended up on a job in Hastings where a new lock on the Mississippi river was under construction. These jobs paid ninety two and a half cents per hour, and we joined the Construction Laborers Union.
Luckily, we both found rides to the job site from other employees. We worked six days a week, which meant that we earned overtime pay on Saturday. The weekly pay check was $50.48—a lot of money. Incidentally, the union wage for carpenters in those days was $1.37 per hour. I saved enough money that summer, that I had spending money for my senior year in high school. We were joined later that summer by Floyd Pearson, another classmate, who got a job baking cookies at Griggs Cooper in Saint Paul.
I hope students today have as fun as we did when we landed one of our first jobs.
This originally appeared in the July 14, 2010 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
The Stanchfield Baptist Church has a most unique and interesting history.
The church was established in 1866, and many of the early members were from the Swedish village of Orsa (pronounced Or sha). What set these immigrants apart is that in Sweden they were Baptists.
In Sweden, until quite recent, the official State Church was Lutheran. In the mid-1800s not being a part of the State Church was frowned on. In fact, action was taken against many persons who differed from the official State Religion. They were called to appear before the Bishop to explain their errant ways.
M.A. Peterson—an early member of the Stanchfield Church, and while still in Sweden—served 28 days in jail as a result of his being a Baptist.
There is another early member of the Stanchfield Church who was prosecuted in Sweden for his religious beliefs. This person was Olaf Larsson Flack.
Flack was his army name—the use of an army name was quite common. Flack was born in 1816, and joined the Swedish Army in 1833. He was married in 1840, and they had three children.
Flack continued to serve in the Swedish Army, a time when he became a Baptist. Military Personnel were required to attend the Sunday Lutheran Church service. Flack refused to attend, and this resulted in his being court marshalled in 1859. It was claimed that he was “insane,” but after a full consideration of the charges he was acquitted and given an honorable discharge. In 1869 the Flack family emigrated to America where they settled on a farm in Maple Ridge Township.
Olaf Flack became an early member of the Stanchfield Baptist Church. Unfortunately, within a short few years after arriving in America he died after being stricken with small-pox.
Just remember, the freedom to practice your Religious Beliefs, is a very precious right.
This story originally appeared in the June 2, 2010 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
We are all urged to recycle. As a result we save newspapers, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and other items that can be used again.
However, did you ever give thought to the idea that a building could be recycled?
If you drive south on Main Street in Cambridge, there is a building that has a rather interesting history.
That building now sits on the Bow Ties used car lot. At an earlier time that building was located between the Scotsman/Isanti County News and the Bible Book Store.
Of course the Scotsman building was once a Chrysler Auto dealer, and the book store housed Viotti’s, a ladies dress shop. The building were looking at was once a Minneapolis Moline farm implement business.
After that use it became an early form of a fast food outlet, that featured the California Burger, a hamburger with a tomato slice and a bit of lettuce.
Somewhere along the way the building was moved to its present location on south Main Street where it was known as the “Doodle Bug,” a restaurant. When it was the “Doodle Bug” the sheriff suspected the owner was selling liquor without a license.
This was at a time when Isanti County was a dry county, and alcohol was not allowed to be sold. At the request of the sheriff, agents from the State Liquor Commissioner’s Office investigated to see if the sheriff’s suspicions were true.
Sorry to say the agents were never able to make an illegal buy. Now if your looking to buy a used car, the deal can be closed in a building that has been around for a long time and has served many purposes. So just remember newspapers aren’t the only items that can be recycled.
This story originally appeared in the May 26 Isanti County News.
By Jack Puterbaugh
Isanti County resident, local historian
In Cambridge in the south west corner of the intersection of Main Street and Hwy. 95 is the building that once housed the Lewis Department Store.
The founder and original owner of the store was Jack Lewis, one of the county’s more unique and colorful citizens.
He was born in Eastern Europe, and arrived in Cambridge in 1894 at the age of 19. Since he was Jewish he was indeed in a minority. However, this never stopped him doing what he chose to do.
Early on he was a farm to farm salesman, using a horse and buggy to peddle his merchandise in the mostly northern townships of the county.
Since most of the people in that part of the county were Swedes, the language of choice in almost all households was Swedish. Jack Lewis was wise—he learned to converse in Swedish, and in the process made lots of friends who would invite him in for a meal or to stay the night. In the early 1900s he opened a retail store in downtown Cambridge, and in 1910 he moved to the building on Main Street that became the Lewis Department Store. In its day this store may have been the largest department store between the Twin Cities and Duluth.
Jack Lewis was keenly attuned to his customers, and I remember him staying close to the entrance so that he could give a personal greeting to everyone who entered the store.
In addition to the store, Jack Lewis was active in the civic affairs of the city and community. Jack Lewis passed away suddenly in 1942, and the operation of the store was turned over to his daughter and son-in-law, Art and Evelyn Bornstein. The Bornsteins continued to operate the store until 1967.
At that time the store was sold to John Carlson of Braham. The name remained the same when John Carlson owned the store until 1976, when it was again sold and the new owner decided to change the name.
For over 75 years the Lewis Department Store was a most important part of Downtown Cambridge. Is it not somewhat ironic that Jack Lewis started out his career in Isanti County by using a horse and buggy, and that the current occupant of the building is a Tack Store?
This story originally appeared in the April 16, 2010 Isanti County News.
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