STRAUSS SKATES, INC.:
An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical
Society
Manuscripts Collection
| | |
| Creator: |
Strauss Skates, inc.
(Saint Paul, Minn.).
|
| Title: | Company
records. |
| Dates: | 1854-1998
(bulk 1910s-1996). |
| Abstract: | Subject files, newspaper clippings,
correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, daybooks and order books, and other
records of a family-owned, St. Paul-based ice skate manufacturer, bicycle
dealer, and sporting goods retailer founded in 1887 by German immigrant John E.
Strauss. The specially-tempered Strauss skate blades were used by many famous
speed and figure skaters. |
| Quantity: | 3.4 cubic feet (4 boxes,
including 12 v.). |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf
locations. |
John E. (Johann Edvard) Strauss was born in Koenigsberg, Germany, on
October 29, 1856. In the early 1880s he arrived in St. Paul, and around 1886
opened a general mechanic, repair, and locksmith shop downtown. He began to
manufacture skate blades around 1887, and later expanded into repairing and
manufacturing bicycles. Strauss retired around 1940, and his son John took over
the business. The elder Strauss died October 17, 1946. The younger Strauss was
eventually joined in the business by his nephew, Don Eyinck.
The firm discontinued the manufacture of speed and hockey skates
around 1948, concentrating instead on figure skates. In 1962 Strauss expanded
into retailing, offering for sale hockey skates and equipment made by other
manufacturers. In 1978 the firm was manufacturing skate blades, and was also
engaged in general sporting goods retailing, offering for sale bicycles,
softball and hockey equipment, uniforms and warm-up suits, skateboards and
components, athletic shoes, and roller skates.
The production of Strauss long-famous figure skates was discontinued in 1981. The younger Strauss and his wife Ella sold the business
and retired in 1983. John Strauss died in 1995.
The business was known variously over the years as Strauss Skate Shop,
Strauss Skates, Inc., and Strauss Skates and Bicycles. The firm was located in
various buildings on Third and Fourth streets in downtown St. Paul until moving
to Maplewood in 1970 when its building was demolished to make way for
construction of the St. Paul Civic Center Arena.
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Includes biographical information about Strauss and his son John,
information about the history of the business, the Hippodrome Skating Club, and
autographed photographs of nationally-famous speed and figure skating stars and
shows. There are certificates of appreciation (1978-1981) received by the
company for its support of youth hockey, and there is an unpublished history of
the company written by free-lance writer Robert Thompson (1957).
The correspondence is mainly from skaters, skating teams, and Ice
Follies members complimenting the company on the quality of its skates. There
are letters from local and international skating champions, including a letter
from Tenley Albright (undated) and two letters from Sonja Heine (1935). The
volumes contain financial information about charges for lock, bicycle, and
skate repair, as well as orders for skates from skaters, skating teams, and Ice
Capades members.
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These documents are organized into the following sections:
| | |
| | Subject files. |
| | Financial and accounting volumes. |
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series
here]. Strauss Skates, Inc. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 13,331; 13,820; 15,541
Processing Information:
Processed by: David B. Peterson, March 2000
PALS ID number: 08-00010550
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Location | Box |
144.E.11.3B | 1 | Biographical information, 1854-1995. |
| | | Includes photocopies of newspaper obituaries for Mary
Kleinknecht Strauss' parents and sister (1906, 1907, 1953); a summary of her
father's service in Company B, First Battalion, Brown County Militia (pages
photocopied from Minnesota and the Civil and Indian Wars,
1861-1865); a photocopy of a letter (in German), 1854; and obituaries
for John E. Strauss, Sr. (1946) and John E. Strauss, Jr. (1995). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Certificates of appreciation, 1978-1981. |
| | | Certificates thanking Strauss Skates for helping to sponsor
youth hockey teams in St. Paul, St. Louis Park, and Crystal. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Clippings, 1936-1937, 1970-1996. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Correspondence, undated and 1922-1982. 4 folders. |
| | | Mainly letters of appreciation commenting on the quality of the
company's skates. Many are from local and internationally known skaters. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Hippodrome Skating Club: |
| | | 1922-1933, 1986. |
| | | | Folder of miscellaneous material, including programs
(1922-1923); dinner dance programs (1932-1933); and two articles about the
Hippodrome skating rink and long blade skating (1986). |
| | | Scrapbook, 1933-1935. |
| | | | Volume 11. Newspaper clippings about events and skaters
connected with the Hippodrome skating rink, which was located at the Minnesota
State Fairgrounds. Articles relate primarily to the visit of various skating
stars to the Hippodrome. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Photographs: |
| | | Figure skaters, undated and 1922-1992. 2 folders. |
| | | | Primarily 8 x 10 black-and-white photos of figure skaters and
performers, many of whom evidently purchased their skates from Strauss. Most
appear to be publicity photos, showing the individuals on their skates and in
their costumes, and are autographed. |
| | | Strauss' shop interiors and exteriors, undated and
1925-1952. |
| | | | 8 x 10 and other black-and-white enlargements primarily
depicting John Strauss, Sr. at work in or posing in front of his St. Paul
shops. Some include John Strauss, Jr. and other individuals. |
| | | Webster School (St. Paul) 8th grade graduating class,
1923 |
| | | | John Strauss was a member of the class. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies,
1946-1986. |
| | | Includes a flyer or brochure celebrating Ice Follies' tenth
anniversary (1946), a historical booklet published at Ice Follies twentieth
anniversary (1956), and a card announcing a reception and dinner dance in
Minneapolis on the occasion of Ice Follies' fiftieth anniversary (1986). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | "Steel, Fire and Ice Man," Robert Thompson,
1957. |
| | | A narrative article evidently written by Robert Thompson of
Chevy Chase, Maryland. The narrative talks about the Strauss family,
particularly John Strauss, Sr.; skate making and the history of the family
business; and famous skaters who were Strauss customers. There is also
correspondence between Strauss, Jr., and Thompson, and a 12-page typescript
document in which Strauss, Jr., answers questions Thompson posed to him in
connection with the article. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Strauss, Johannes Edvard, 1875-1898. |
| | | Personal documents of John Strauss, Sr., including passports
(1880, 1883). All but his citizenship paper (1898) are in old German script and
Italian. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Miscellany, 1925-1992. |
| | | Includes a photocopy of a program from the Midsummer Ice
Carnival (St. Paul, June 1925); an 8 x 10 photograph of Strauss, Jr.'s unit at
the Anti-Aircraft Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois (1943); grand opening
and groundbreaking information about the ice arena and John Rose Minnesota Oval
(a skating facility at Roseville, Minn.); an Ice Cavalcade program (1941); an
annual report of the Walker Methodist Residence and Health Services, Inc.
(1987), which features a photo of Strauss [Jr.] and his wife Ella; a booklet
entitled Who was Adolph Sutro? by Mary Frances
Stewart (1986); a typescript paper entitled Ice Skating
and Elderly by Dianne Judd (1991); and a typescript paper about Strauss,
Sr., and the business by Lee Kegley, entitled Master
Skate Man of the World (1948). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Location | Box |
142.G.9.3B-2 | 2 | Scrapbook, 1916-1998. 1 volume and two folders. |
| | | Includes clippings, photographs, some letters and
correspondence, a few price lists (1957), and some Strauss promotional
literature. There is biographical information about Strauss, Sr. and Jr.,
information about the business and its famous customers, Strauss skates, and
the State Fair Hippodrome indoor ice rink. There are some photos of the
business. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Skating show programs, 1958, 1988-1995. |
| | | Includes USFA National Figure Skating Championships
(Minneapolis, 1958); Ice Capades (1988); Discover Card Stars on Ice
(1994-1995); and Campbell Soups Tour of World Figure Skating Champions
(1995). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Oversize photographs, 1922-1972. |
| | | Includes a 10 x 16 photograph of members of the Hippodrome
Skating Club (1938), and publicity photos of skaters Diane Ness (1972) and
Orrin Markus and Ellen Becker (1922). |
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Location | Box |
142.G.14.1B-1 | 3 | Daybook, 1888, 1891, 1906-1917. |
| | | Volume 1. Lists names, services provided, and charges for lock,
bicycle, and skate repair. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Daybook, 1893-1907. |
| | | Volume 2. Same type of information. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book, 1911-1918. |
| | | Volume 3. Lists names, addresses, skate sizes, and charges. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book, 1918-1931. |
| | | Volume 4. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book, 1931-1942, 1945. |
| | | Volume 5. Includes skate repair (1945). |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book and journal, 1945-1950. |
| | | Volume 6. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book and journal, 1951-1960. |
| | | Volume 7. |
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Location | Box |
142.G.14.1B-2 | 4 | Order book and journal, 1961-1963. |
| | | Volume 8. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book and journal, 1964-1968. |
| | | Volume 9. |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Order book and journal, 1968-1970. |
| | | Volume 10. |
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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the
Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics,
persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Bicycles -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Family-owned business enterprises -- Minnesota -- Saint
Paul.
- German Americans -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Locksmiths -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Manufactures -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Retail trade -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Skates.
- Skating rinks -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Sporting goods.
- Sports -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Persons:
- Thompson, Robert.
- Heine, Sonja.
- Strauss, John E. (John Edward), 1856-1946.
- Strauss, John E. (John Edward), 1909-1995.
- Organizations:
- Hipppodrome Skating Club (Saint Paul,
Minn.).
- Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies, Inc.
- Ice Capades (Hollywood, Calif.).
- Types of Documents:
- Photographs.
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