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Watertown Squab Co
Watertown Pigeon Club
1861
Watertown
Democrat, 05 30 1861
Pigeons are now plenty in the woods; large flocks are
constantly flying in all directions.
Sportsmen are getting their full share of fun and game out of their
visit to this region. Those who go
hunting cannot be too cautious in order to prevent serious if not fatal
accidents to themselves or others.
Hardly a season passes during shooting time in which we do not hear of
some casualty caused by carelessness in the handling of guns.
Evelyn Rose, 1981
Watertown Squab Co
In addition to its reputation for
stuffed geese, Watertown was famous as a
national market for squab. In the 1930s more than 100,000 top quality squab
were supplied annually to eastern and local markets by the Watertown Squab
Company which a operated for more than 50 years with a national reputation. The company grew out of a concern founded by
Oscar Maerzke in 1897. In 1910 Maerzke
took in a partner, Charles Lutovsky.
Ten years later Lutovsky bought the business. He had arrangements with area
farmers to pick up the squab (young pigeons) on regular routes. On Mondays he
would set forth with a crate in his buggy to pick up squab in the Clyman area, on Wednesday he went to Lebanon and on Fridays
he collected squab from Concord and Johnson Creek farmers. The squab received a
grain formula at regular intervals to prepare them for market.
When Lutovsky
was elected mayor of Watertown in 1930 he sold his business to his partners,
John Heiden and Walter Kressin.
They formed the Watertown Squab Co. Walter Kressin,
was the last owner and manager of the company.
The Watertown Squab Co. had the
reputation of producing some of the finest squab in the United States. The
company had four 120 foot barns in the 1100 block on
Between 5,000 and 6,000 squab
were sold annually in Watertown. Many persons will remember the popular squab
dinners at the Buena Vista House and at the Oconomowoc Lake Club.
Kressin kept 3,000 pigeons (White and
Silver Kings) for breeding purposes. Their feed was a grain mixture of corn,
wheat, hemp, buckwheat, sorghum, and peas, with about a ton and a half of grain
used each week. After 50 years of popularity in eastern and local markets the
demand began to drop off in the late thirties and early forties and the
business was gradually phased out.
An article in a Watertown Republican edition of the
1850s noted that "pigeons are now plentiful in the woods, large flocks are
continually flying all directions. Sportsmen are getting their fair share of
fun and games.” Sportsmen got more than their fair share.
These were the now extinct
Passenger pigeons of history. No danger of that now for pigeons, are treated
with respect by members of the Watertown Pigeon club, organized in 1936 by
Arthur Kehl, Howard Kramp,
Dr. A. W Breithaupt, Walter Schwenkner,
Thomas Nack and Paul Wiley. After 45 years, Kehl, Nack and Schwenkner are still active in the club.
Watertown Pigeon Club
The organization of the Watertown
Pigeon Club was held in the men's reading room of the public library,
exhibitions were planned for that same year. The first pigeon show was held at
the Wertheimer building, Main and
The sport of pigeons is a very
old and ancient sport. Kehl informed us that in
Belgium it is the dominant sport, rivaling that of baseball in America. Pigeon
shows are held twice a year by the Watertown Pigeon Club, on the Sunday after
Labor Day in the park and again near Thanksgiving, at Turner Hall. "In the
early shows at the park," Kehl related, "we
had bingo tables and a cavalry band for entertainment. That seemed the popular
thing to do at that time.”
Kehl was named to the United States
Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1949, and has served as show secretary for many years
for both the local club and national association shows.
Walter Kressin obit
06 14 1979
Walter H. Kressin,
82,
Funeral services will be held at
the Schmutzler Funeral Home with the Rev. Orlo G. Espeland of Immanuel
Lutheran Church officiating. Burial will be in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.
Kressin was born
On
Surviving are one son, Roger of
Watertown, and one sister, Mrs. Ida Saum of
Watertown.
He was also preceded in death by
six brothers, four sisters and one daughter.
