Early aluminum pioneers were ‘frenemies’

Conrad Werra’s aluminum casket (Wisconsin Historical Society)

At the turn of the last century, Manitowoc-Two Rivers could be called the Silicon Valley of the aluminum industry. It was where innovative immigrants settled, tinkered with aluminum in sheds or their home kitchens, and eventually started businesses rolling, stamping or casting the new metal.

Thanks to these men, who were as tough and versatile as the aluminum they produced, Manitowoc County became an incubator for aluminum manufacturing. The men worked hard, weren’t afraid to try something new and, simply put, were fascinated with this strong yet lightweight “wonder metal” and its potential for the future.

Just like their techie counterparts, these aluminum pioneers became “frenemies” in that they collaborated and competed with one another.

Just who were the Manitowoc-Two Rivers equivalents of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates during this era?

Perhaps the best known are German immigrants Joseph Koenig and Henry Vits, co-founders of Mirro Aluminum Co. of Manitowoc, which became famous for its cookware. What is surprising is the number of lesser-known players who were responsible for the proliferation of countless other aluminum businesses.

German immigrant Conrad Werra (Wisconsin Historical Society)

Credited for leading this rural part of the state into the industrial era, Koenig initially spent a lot of time alone experimenting with aluminum. In 1895 he founded the Aluminum Manufacturing Co. in Two Rivers and began producing aluminum novelties such as ash trays and thimbles.

One of the lesser known but significant aluminum pioneers was German immigrant Conrad Werra who in 1896 founded the Two Rivers Iron Works and made castings from iron, brass, bronze and eventually aluminum.

Koenig, who was producing stamped aluminum shaving mugs, asked Werra to cast aluminum handles for the mugs. The handles were thought to be Werra’s first aluminum castings.

Koenig’s short temper led to the firing of Herman Schwab and Henry Meihsner, two Aluminum Manufacturing Co. workers who then played a role in helping competitor Vits establish his business. Vits, who had been forced out of the tanning business, in 1898 turned his tannery into the Manitowoc Aluminum Novelty Co. for the manufacturing of aluminum trinkets.

In 1900, Werra established the Aluminum Foundry Co. of Manitowoc, the first exclusively aluminum foundry in the United States. He leased a shed from Vits’ Aluminum Novelty Co., which was right next door, and bought its scrap metal. Aluminum is highly recyclable, and Werra was among the first to turn scrap into usable products. He also perfected aluminum alloys and foundry methods that are still used in the 21st century.

As the aluminum novelty business declined, cookware and automotive parts took center stage. Werra’s Aluminum Foundry Co. produced the country’s first aluminum crankcase for Waukesha Motor Co. in 1902. The demand for Werra’s crankcases grew and soon auto and motorcycle manufacturers across the U.S. began ordering aluminum crankcases from his company, one of few aluminum foundries that knew how to pour alloys strong enough for this use.

Meanwhile, Koenig’s prickly personality continued to alienate other Aluminum Goods employees. Albert B. Leyse quit in 1903 and founded the Aluminum Sign Co. in Two Rivers. Koenig then fired Leyse’s brother, Norman. Together, the two brothers ran the sign company, which moved to Kewaunee in 1905 and was renamed the Leyse Aluminum Co.

Yet another employee, Adolph Kummerow, quit his job and in 1908 started the Standard Aluminum Co. in Two Rivers. This was the first Wisconsin company to specialize in aluminum cooking utensils and originally developed the Mirro line of cookware under the trade name Saluco.

In 1909, Koenig’s Aluminum Manufacturing Co. of Two Rivers and Vit’s Manitowoc Aluminum Novelty Co. merged with a New Jersey company to form the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Co., predecessor of Mirro. Koenig became vice president and George Vits, son of Henry, was president.

The same year that “The Goods,” as it was known, came into existence, Russian-Jewish immigrant Abraham Schwartz started Manitowoc Brass Foundry. The family owned and operated the company, which eventually became today’s Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry.

Aluminum Goods kept losing ambitious employees. Brothers Emil and Charles Krug, tool and die makers, left in 1909 to establish Aluminum Specialty Co. in Manitowoc, which made novelties.

The next year, Werra’s foundry was purchased by the Aluminum Castings Co., a subsidiary of Alcoa, as it consolidated numerous aluminum foundries into one.

Also in 1910, Herman Wentorf left Aluminum Goods to join his brother-in-law Kummerow at Standard Aluminum. Aluminum Goods management demanded that Herman’s brothers, Carl and Robert, convince him to return or they would be fired. Instead, they quit and with Bernhard Ziegler started the cookware manufacturer, West Bend Aluminum Co., in 1911.

Werra continued to manage his former Manitowoc foundry until 1913, when he moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and with Alexander Pankratz of Manitowoc and Edward Pfeffer of Two Rivers founded the Werra Aluminum Foundry Co.

In 1914, Walter E. Spindler took over Aluminum Specialty, one of five Wisconsin companies in the aluminum cookware business. It was said that Spindler enjoyed challenging George Vits. When Vits turned down the opportunity to build a new plant for making aluminum novelties and utensils for F.W. Woolworth’s, Spindler jumped in and built a plant in Chilton. “The Specialty,” as it was known, became the only Wisconsin company other than Aluminum Goods to have more than one plant.

Due to war-time aluminum shortages, Standard Aluminum was forced to sell out to Aluminum Goods in 1915. Its Saluco line of cookware was introduced as Mirro in 1917. (The cookware was so successful that the company changed its name to Mirro Aluminum in 1957).

In 1920, while still employed by Aluminum Goods, Koenig started the Metal Ware Corp. in Two Rivers. His hot temper later caused a rift when the city of Two Rivers residents did not vote him in as mayor. In a huff, he decided to build his retirement home in Manitowoc.

Foundryman William Eck, son of Swedish immigrants, started his career with Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry and was instrumental in the development of the pressure cooker during the 1930s. Like many of his predecessors, Eck had a falling out with his employer and left the company to start his own business. In 1948 he opened Eck Foundries -- forerunner of the current Eck Industries Inc. -- along with Andrew Bell and Walter and Robert Davidson, brothers belonging to the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company founding family.

Werra remained a true foundryman until his death in 1939 at the age of 70. He was buried in an aluminum casket he had designed and made. To make sure that his casket would be one of a kind, he destroyed the pattern once the casting was complete.

Thanks to these and other aluminum pioneers, the Manitowoc-Two Rivers area left the horse-and-buggy days behind and entered what could be called the Aluminum Age. It became such a point of pride that Manitowoc was nicknamed the “Aluminum Center of the World” and Two Rivers called itself the “Cradle of the Aluminum Industry.”

Suzanne Weiss of Manitowoc is a freelance writer and Manitowoc County Historical Society volunteer. She and her husband, David Weiss, vice president of research and development for Eck Industries, are authors of “Wonder Metal: Birth of the Aluminum Industry in Manitowoc and Two Rivers, Wisconsin.” The paper was recently published in the latest edition of The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (Volume 45, Number 2). The publication is available at the historical society and area libraries. To make an appointment to conduct research at the historical society, call 920-684-4445.