Every once in a while, one comes across some kind of interesting “distraction” while flipping through the pages of an old newspaper. This aforementioned “distraction,” which is sometimes not intended to provide us with details of a defining event, but engages in the way it makes us think, “Hmm, I never knew that.”
Several months ago I came across an article published in the May 28, 1928 issue of the Manistee News Advocate that discussed the removal of delivery cars from the Hornkohl Bakery, formerly located at 300-302 First St.
I guess in essence I never gave much thought to one bakery delivering baked goods to every neighborhood, but after reading the following article it certainly would have made sense.
With that said, the following item doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it does show the subtle changes that have taken place within the area and what those changes meant to the way people lived their daily lives:
“For 61 years, the sound of their gongs has called housewives out of their kitchens to buy bread, cakes and other baked goods from the Hornkohl Bakery wagons. But today the bells are silent. The horses sit idle in their stables and the old carts remain in the yard where they will remain until a new disposition is made for them.
“The Ward Company, which operates Hornkohl Bakery, this week withdrew its wagons from its retail routes in the city. This service to housewives will definitely be abandoned. It is a nod to changing times, a sign of modernity, as was the abandonment of the old milk routes where drivers measured milk into a quart and poured it onto customers’ plates.
From the Museum’s Archives is a weekly section of local history columns written by the Manistee County Historical Museum.
file graphic“When Daniel Hornkohl founded the bakery on its current site in 1867, he started a delivery service in town. As the city grew this continued. The housewives were waiting for the ‘bread delivery man’ and heard his bell in the street. Boys and girls came running with pennies to buy dainty cookies or cakes. Occasionally, hungry workers would invest in a cake for immediate consumption.
“Recently two wagons have operated every day on the streets of Manistee selling Hornkohl’s products. But the management decided to sell only to shopkeepers and shopkeepers. They decided it was unfair to sell in competition with the regularly established shopkeepers who were also their customers. They also had sanitation and wholesomeness of their products in mind.
“Hornkohl Bakery will keep two wagons busy delivering bulk orders. One of these will be for bread and the other for cakes and pastries. The company is introducing a new line of wrapped cakes to compete with a nationally known cake distributor. These pies, made in Manistee, are of superior quality and can come in quite a variety. They will be handled by virtually all shopkeepers.
“Hornkohl’s Bakery now employs about 15 people at their bakery, in addition to drivers and others.”
Mark Fedder is the executive director of the Manistee County Historical Museum. He can be reached by email at [email protected], or by phone at 231-723-5531.