STRAUSS SKATES, INC.:

An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Strauss Skates, Inc. (Saint Paul, Minn.), creator.
	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.

Return to top

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

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.

Return to top

ARRANGEMENT

These documents are organized into the following sections:


		Subject files.
		Financial and accounting volumes.

Return to top

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

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

Catalog ID number: 990017125740104294

Return to top

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

SUBJECT FILES

Location

Box

144.E.11.3B

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

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).

Return to top

FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING VOLUMES

Location

Box

142.G.14.1B-1

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.

Location

Box

142.G.14.1B-2

Order book and journal, 1961-1963.

Volume 8.

Order book and journal, 1964-1968.

Volume 9.

Order book and journal, 1968-1970.

Volume 10.

Return to top

RELATED MATERIALS

Some photographs of John E. Strauss, Sr., John E. Strauss, Jr., and the Strauss Skate Shop (1920s-1930s) are in the Minnesota Historical Society sound and visual collections.

Return to top

CATALOG HEADINGS

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.

Return to top