THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

April 23, 1992

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            According to the Waupaca County Post, May 21, 1931, “A new lunch stand is to be erected on South Main Street.  The two billboards between the Service Grovery and Behnke’s Homstor, on the West side of Main Street are being torn down and re-located in order to make space for a lunch room, which is to be erected on that site.

            “The two billboards are being placed at an angle near the Homstor, leaving a space next to the Service Grocery (which is now Simpson’s), in which the new stand will be erected by Everett T. Webb, of Fond du Lac.  Construction will start as soon as the lot can be cleaned out.  I have heard people saying that they had looked through the cracks in the boards, and seeing the lot overgrown by weeds.”

            Everett T. Webb leased this location for a term of five years from Herbert E. Miles, in the spring of 1931.  The Waupaca County Post, July 9, 1931, reported the hot dog stand “is in operation, and it gives Waupaca’s Main Street a new spick and span, new white building.”  E.T. Webb, the proprietor of the new business, told the Post that he would serve hot and fast refreshments to both the tourist and local patrons.

            On March 28, 1934, Everett T. Webb leased the whole lot form Herbert E. Miles.

            On August 1, 1942, Maurice and Alfred Behnke purchased the entire lot from the First National Bank of Madison, and on July 9, 1945, the Behnkes sold the north three-quarters of the lot to Adlers Trio, Inc. who built the Rosa Theatre on this location.  A land contract was made December 1, 1943 whereby, Alice Webb leased her restaurant location from the Behnkes, until August 1, 1945, when she bought it.

            The Waupaca County Post, October 16, 1947, reported that Bratwurst Restaurant, operated by E.T. Webb, was undergoing remodeling.  “Construction is now underway to increase the size of the establishment.  Present plans include a horseshoe counter which will seat 45.”

            Do you remember the days when the grill was by the front window and the straight counter?  The Post went on to say that the new kitchen would have the latest equipment and a special floor constructed of a metal cement.  There was to be a full basement with the bakery located there for the making of pies and pastry for the restaurant.

            The dining room part was to be furnished with enameled tile and indirect fluorescent lighting, the floor constructed of plexo-tile, and the entire interior of the dining room constructed of plastics.  The entire building was to be 70 feet long and the exterior having a finish corresponding to that part of the Palace Theatre, but I am sure that they meant the Rosa Theatre, and not the Palace.  The remodeling was to be completed by April 1, 1948.

            The Waupaca County Post, April 8, 1948:  “The new Bratwurst Eat Shop, one of the finest in the state, held its grand opening last Tuesday (April 6), with roses for the ladies and cigars for the men.  The Bratwurst boats of all new equipment in its stainless steel kitchen.  Food is prepared in the basement kitchen and sent via dumbwaiter to the main floor.  Homemade pies and rolls are a feature of the Bratwurst cuisine.”

            The only flaw of the grand opening occurred during the transporting of food from the lower kitchen to the main floor.  Mrs. Alice Webb, wife of the owner, sent the first batch of homemade pies up the dumbwaiter, only to have several of them turn upside down before reaching the upper kitchen.

            This same dumbwaiter is still being used today, in Katie’s Restaurant.

            On July 20, 1961, Kathryn Gresen purchased Webb’s Bratwurst Restaurant from Mrs. Alice Webb.

            The sign in the window may say Katie’s Restaurant, but there is still the big red, lighted sign on the top of the building, “Bratwurst.”  Katie serves a good home-cooked meal, reasonably priced, and where you can still get a good cup of hot coffee for 35¢, and on Wednesdays her special homemade lemon pie.

            The following is taken from the obituary of E.T. Webb, who died December 11, 1958, of a heart attack at the Waupaca Riverside Hospital.  Mr. and Mrs. Webb operated the Webb’s Bratwurst Restaurant on Main Street in Waupaca for 27 years, and at one time Webb’s drive-in at Chady’s corners, just west of the city.

            Everett T. Webb was the first president of the Waupaca Industrial Development Corp. (WIDC), which was organized in 1953.  He initiated three debenture bond drives which financed industrial expansion in Waupaca.  The first one brought the Woody’s Cheese Company to the city, and the other two made it possible for the Waupaca Foundry, Inc.

            Everett Thomas Webb had been born in Fond du Lac, on July 4, 1901, a son of John and Mary Dwyre Webb, and was married to Alice Nettekoven in Fond du Lac on July 9, 1928. They had two children, Neil and Nancy.  Mr. E.T. Webb was laid to rest in St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Cemetery in the city of Waupaca.

 

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Because of a telephone call, I would like to make an addition to my article of “When Then Was Now” in the March 26 issue of the Waupaca County Post.

            I had written that Frances Nelson had married Fred H. “Ted” Smith, and they had three sons and three daughters.  This was copied from Mr. Smith’s obituary. Whoever made out his obituary failed to mention that he had been preceded in death by a son, Gerald.

            Mr. and Mrs. Ted Smith received a telegram from the war department, telling them of the death of their son, Pvt. Gerald E. Smith, who died June 30, 1944, in France, while with the infantry commandoes.

            Gerald Everett Smith was born in the Town of Waupaca, November 5,1919.  He was inducted into the Army in January 1941.  In November of 1942, he was in Africa where he saw active service.  In 1943 he was in England.  He was survived by his wife, the former Mae Bennet in London, England and a son, Gerald, whom his father never saw.  Gerald Smith now lives in Waupaca.