Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-12-30
BUILT BIG BUSINESS.
Where Staid Qualities, German
Thrift and Industry Made Pos
Sible the Great Shoe Business
OF the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe
Co., Milwaukee, Manufac-
turers of Mayer Quality

Shoes.
| Most of us see only the present. We
see success only as you are brought
face to face with it today. How many
of us ever look back for the cause, the
vital things that make success possible?
That the key to real business success
is often based on a sound principle.
rather than money, is best illustrated
by the reproduction of the following
biographical sketch of Frederick Mayer.
founder Of the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe
Company, reproduced from an issue of
the German American National Al
lance:
Frederick Mayer, founder of the fac
tories at Milwaukee and Seattle now
bearing his name, came to this country
from Niernstein, Hessen Darmstadt, in
May 1851, and Immediately proceeded
to Milwaukee, Wisconsin,, where he
entered the employ of r. Suhm as Il
jOurneyman shoemaker.
The spirit that prompted him to seek
his fortune in the new world was soon
responsible for another change, and in
1852, a year later, he embarked in bust
ness on his own accord, making boots
and shoes to order as only Il German
apprenticed artisan knows how. Suisse
quently a stock of goods was carried
a retail business conducted until 1880,
when the manufacture of shoes was en-
gagged in at wholesale to the trade.
The business succeeded from the be-
ginning and it was here that the staid
qualities Of German honesty and per
sistenCy, together with the knowledge
of shoe making gained by strict Ger
man apprenticeship, came to the aid of
a young business destined to become
factor in the production of shoes in
America, for it soon became known that
the shoes manufactured by F. Mayer
had qualities not ordinarily found in
shoes, and business began to expand.
In 1890 the business was well estab-
lished, the foundation firmly laid and
the policy we'll determined. From that
time on the growth was more rapid.
Factories, additions. more factories and
more additions were added, until now
the plant occupies a substantial group
Of buildings in Milwaukee and Seattle
The capacity Of the present Mayer fac
tories at Milwaukee and Seattle is 5000
pair per day, giving employment to an
army Of people, paying annually over
six hundred thousand dollars in wages,
and employing sixty five statesmen who
travel "a states in the interest of Mayer
shoes.
Frederick Mayer died on March IS,
1898, after building up a large and
successful business. He was succeeded
by his sons, George P, Mayer Fred j
Mayer and Adam J. Mayer, who, by
rigidly maintaining the policy Of the
founder, have succeeded in bringing
the business up to its present magnitude
where it stands as a monument of Ger
man thrift and industry. Frederick
Mayer was a man of strong character
and disposition. He believed in a square
deal for everybody. He was popular
and had hosts Of friends, especially
among the early settlers Of Milwaukee
who admired him for the qualities that
were responsible for his success. He
was man of simple tastes, who loved
his home and believed in the strict OBJ
servance of his duty to God and man
He left behind him a striking example
Of what has, in at least one instance,
been contributed by German to the
welfare and prosperity of this great
country.
The leading brands manufactured by
the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Co. are:
''Honorbilt, for men: Leading Lady
Shoes, Martha Washington" Comfort
Shoes, "Yerma Cushion Shoes, SPECIAL
Merit School Shoes.