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Salick’s Jewelry Store
For over 140 years
1853 - 1995
Watertown
Daily Times,
06 01 1928
The
Salick Jewelry Co. of this city will observe its seventy-fifth anniversary the
week of June 3-10 (1928). The history of
this business is closely woven with that of the city.
1853, Founded
Joseph Salick
The
present Salick Jewelry Co. was founded in 1853 by Joseph Salick who came to
Watertown from Cincinnati at a time when Watertown expansion was at its
height. On
Figures
for the population of Watertown in 1853 vary from three to four thousand. There were many business houses here at the
time, however, including six dry goods stores, eleven grocery stores, two drug
stores, fifteen taverns, two bakeries, three meat markets, two book stores, six
cabinet shops, four tinshops, few factories, two printing offices, six school
houses, two select schools, and many churches and one bank. The census of 1855 shows the population to
have been 8,512, an increase of 7,000 in ten years. In point of population Watertown was the
second city in Wisconsin.
First Store Opened
At
this time Mr. Salick established his first store in Watertown. It was located on the site of the present New
York meat market (
Store image 1:
Salick Jewelry Store,
1 and
Far right, Joseph
Salick, c 1890. Others not identified
Note Salick-built
timepiece (now at Octagon House) in window behind Joseph
August Salick, Rev.
Charles Salick
John Salick
Upon
the elder Salick’s retirement his son, Charles J. Salick, assumed control and
has since formed a partnership with his son, John E. Salick, and the firm is
now known as Salick Jewelry Co.
Joseph
Salick has sold his two store buildings at the east end of
It
would be impossible to describe the hardships and handicaps in the early
history of the Watertown store. One
change that has taken place in the business conditions since that time and the
present day is plainly indicated by the fact that working hours were from 7
a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Oil lamps supplied
light by which the watchmaker busied himself.
Store image 3
.
Salick store, right, c1910 postcard
Early Days Recalled
Mr. Salick,
in recalling earlier watch-making days, recalls them with the statement: “In those days the work was no cinch. We had to make almost every part that was
needed for repair and oftentimes the tools.”
There
are several clocks in the store which were made by the founder of the store and
every part was made out of material obtained in Watertown and which have given
accurate service all these years.
[ Ode “To
Salick’s Clock” ]
The
anniversary about to be observed may well be regarded as most important because
it finds the Salick Jewelry Co. thoroughly seasoned and tempered by the past
traditions of achievement and ambition and with much to cause one to believe
that the coming years will continue to be happy and prosperous.
The
company plans “open house” for the week of June 3, and during this time they
have arranged for many interesting displays of the jeweler’s art and
craftsmanship. One of the items of
interest on display is a watch over 200 years old of the English verge type
which still keeps accurate time. The
firm will be pleased to have the people of Watertown and vicinity call and see
these displays.
Old Art
Unlike
a person, a jewelry business upon entering its seventy-fifth year cannot be
called old. From time immemorial the
jeweler has supplied to every home those gifts which outlive the generation in
which they are purchased. Once these
things have become the possession of the buyer they assume that priceless consideration
known as sentimental value.
The
heirloom of today seems but the purchase of yesterday. Precious stones, gold and sterling silver
have been a standard of value for centuries.
They have always gone hand in hand with confidence, confidence in the
merchants who sponsor it.
Today,
in spite of changed methods of merchandising, the same confidence marks every
sale of jewelry. And so, after
seventy-five years, Salick’s store marks the time during which the public has
expressed its confidence in them to correctly interpret their continuous demand
for the artistic.
_____________________________________________________
A
bicycle to be ridden by Archie Wurtzler, who claims the title of champion of
Watertown, may be seen in the show window of Joseph Salick & Son [ Watertown Daily Times, 03 03 1897 ]
_____________________________________________________
Joseph Salick was the first to
commend electrical lights and signed a contract for a substantial number of
lights. Most of the business men were indifferent
but became convinced of its feasibility as soon as a few were put in use.
Joseph Salick
St. Henry’s, First Trustee
The
Joseph Salick was one of the three first church council or trustee members of
St. Henry’s Parish of Watertown, assisting Father Conrad Beck, the first
residing priest.
Born
in Westphalia, Germany in 1824, Joseph Salick served in the German army during
the revolutionary period of 1848. In the
year 1853 Salick moved to Watertown. One
of his ten children, August, became a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Salick
was a prominent resident, devoted member of the parish and was a pioneer
jeweler and senior member of the firm of Joseph Salick & Son.
Salick
opened the first jewelry store in the community in 1853 and always lived in the
vicinity of the church; for a time his home was at 802
N. Fourth Street, one of the most beautiful homes in the city, originally
built by John W. Cole.
He
worked at the jeweler’s bench up to his retirement at age 85, being at the time
the oldest jeweler in Wisconsin.
Salick
died in 1910. “One can truly say of him
he lived as near as possible to the golden rule. As in private and business affairs he had the
respect of all who came in contact with him.” (Watertown Daily Times, 10 17 1910)
At
4:30 o'clock last Friday afternoon, while blasting ice at Main street with
dynamite, a piece of gravel covering the dynamite was driven through a side
window of the Salick jewelry store and struck Jos. Salick over one of his eyes
and inflicted a severe wound. Though not
of a serious nature, Mr. Salick was considerably scared at the time.
Watertown Daily Times,
March 30, 1904
Watertown Daily Times, 10 29 1953
The
Salick Jewelry Company,
Store closes after 142 years
Watertown Daily Times, 10 07 1995
A
downtown business with a colorful history will end with the closing of Salick
Jewelers, a Watertown landmark for over 140 years. Rowland and Terry Straka, who have owned and
operated the jewelry business on the corner of East Main and South Third
streets for the past seven years, are in the process of liquidating the
inventory in celebration of Rowland's retirement at age 65. Salick Jewelers is believed to be the oldest
jewelry store in Wisconsin. The business
was founded in 1853 by Joseph Salick, who had been a clock maker in Westphalia,
Germany. It was one of Watertown's
earliest retail businesses, starting just 17 years after the city's first white
settler, Timothy Johnson, arrived here. Over the years the business has sold a
countless number of diamond and wedding ring sets to generations of customers,
and also played a part in the evolution of the men's pocket watch to the now
traditional wristwatches for both men and women.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1909
Letitia Marie Salick- Sidney Frederick
Eberle
Married
Watertown Gazette, 07 30 1909
At high noon Wednesday,
July 28, 1909, a wedding of more than usual interest took place at the home of
Charles J. Salick and wife, Third Street, the contracting parties being Miss
Letitia Marie Salick and Assistant Postmaster
Sidney Frederick Eberle. The ceremony
was performed by Rev. Father Hennessey, pastor of St. Bernard’s Church.
For
several days the house had been in the hands of the members of a club to which
Miss Salick belonged and by the time appointed for the wedding it had been
transferred into a bower of beauty. The
parlor given up to the ceremony was done in white and green, the dining room in
sweet peas and smilax. To add to the
beauty of the scene the shades were drawn and the house lighted by many
candles.
Promptly
at high noon Miss Leona Brandt struck up the chords of Mendelssohn’s wedding
march. The ribbon bearers, Miss Elsa
Schempf and Miss Margaret Eberle, in gowns of pink and white, stretched the
ribbons for the bridal party. Miss Ida
McGough of Milwaukee, attired in white French organdie and pink silk, was maid
of honor, and she carried a large bouquet of pink sweet peas. Following came the bride on the arm of her
father. She was gowned in white
messaline trimmed with duchess lace and embroidered net and wore the
conventional veil. She carried a shower
bouquet of white sweet peas.
The
best man was Ralph Eberle, brother of the groom.
The
ceremony was followed by a breakfast of ten courses, covers being laid for
18. The servers were the Misses Della
Koenig, Selma and Della Hoermann, Elsa Baumann and Elvira Emmerling.
After
a tour of several weeks in Michigan the groom and his bride will make their
home at 317 North Montgomery Street, this city, and will be at home to their
friends after October 1st.
The
groom and his bride are two of Watertown’s most esteemed citizens and have
passed all their lives in our city, with the exception of a short time the
groom was employed in the west. They are
members of two of Watertown’s oldest and best families, the groom being a son
of Postmaster H. T. Eberle and wife, and the bride the eldest daughter of
Charles J. Salick and wife.
Their
friends are all who know them and they are known to nearly everybody in
Watertown, hence on entering married life they have the hearty good wishes of
all our people for a long, prosperous and happy life. The
Gazette joins their numerous friends in wishing that their fondest hopes of
matrimonial bliss will be fully realized.
Cross-References:
No 1: When he retired at age 85 he was the oldest
active jeweler in the state; Forty-Eighters leave their mark on Watertown
No 2:
Joseph Salick used to row his boat down the Rock River every morning to
near his Main Street store.
No 3: Construction of Salick Jewelry
Store, 1-3 E Main, photo: Faces & Places - Watertown Area,
Heritage House Publishing (Marceline, MO), 1999, p 40.
No 4: Joseph Salick is buried in St.
Henry’s Cemetery; son John in St.
Bernard’s
No 5: Charles Salick and John Salick had compiled
early weather reports on the city.
Dramatic
poem “Telepah," published by Joseph A. Salick
1876,
U.S. centennial parade, Charles Salick led one section of the parade on
horseback
