Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-01-07
BUILT BIG BUSINESS

w mere StntO Quui1tles, ucTman
Thrift and industry Made PosEi-
bic tine 1rcnr snoe Business OF
the r. Mayer Boot a. Shoe Com
pany, Milwaukee,, manufacturers
of Mayer Quality shoes.
Most of us see only the present. We
see success only as we are brought
face to face with 1t today. How many
of us ever look back for the cause. the
vital things hat make success possi-
BILE?
That the key to real business sue
cess is often based on a sound princi-
pie, rather than money, is best illus
trated by the reproduction of the fol-
lowing biographical sketch Of Freder-
ick Mayer. founder of the F. Mayer
Boot & Shoe Company, reproduced
from an issue of the German American
National Alliance:
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 en-
tered the employ of r. Suhm as a Jour
neyman shoemaker.
The spirit that prompted him TO seek
his fortune in the new world was soon
itSPOilSlpit IOI dnOIIl6T CI1anR6, ana III
1852, a year later, he embarked in
business on his own accord, making
boots and shoes to order as only a
German apprenticed artisan knows
how. Subsequently a stock OF goods
was carried and a retail business con-
Quoted until 1880, when the manufac-
ture of shoes was engaged in at whole
sale to the trade.
The business succeeded from the be-
ginning and it was here tina the staid
qualities OF German honesty and per-
sistency, together with the knowledge
of shoe making gained by a strict Ger
man apprenticeship, came to the aid of
a young business destined to become a
factor in the production of shoes in
America, for it oon became known
that the shoes manufactured by L.
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 well 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 o.
600 pair per day, giving employment to
an army of people, paying annually
over six hundred thousand dollars in
wages, and employing sixty-five sales
men who travel "a states in the inter-
est of Mayer shoes.
Frederick Mayer died on March 16,
1898, after building up a large and sue
ceSsful business. He was succeeded
by his sons, George p, Mayer, Fred ].
Mayer and Adam j. Mayer, who, by
rigidly maintaining the policy of the
founder, have succeeded in bringing
the business up TO its present magni-
tude, where it stands as a
of German thrift and industry. Fred
erick Mayer was a man OF strong char
acter and amiable disposition. He be-
lieved in d square deal for everybody.
He was popular and had hosts of
friends. especially among the early set
tiers of Milwaukee,. who admired him
for the qualities that were responsible
for hls success. He was a man OF sim
pie tastes. who loved his home and be-
lieyed in he strict ~observances of his
duty to God and man. He left behind
him a striking example of what has, in
at least one instance, been contributed
perity of this great country.
The leading brands manufactured by
the r. Mayer Boot & Shoe CO.. are:
"Honorbilt." for men: Leading Lady,
Shoes, Martha Washington" Comfort
Shoes. "Yerman" Cushion Shoes, "Spe-
ciai Merit" School Shoes.