Schulenburg and the Work Ethic

Courtesy Schulenburg Historical Museum and The Herzik Family

Mr. and Mrs. Speckels ran the Von Minden Hotel/Cozy Theater for over fifty years! In their spare time Mr. Speckels was President of the School Board and Schulenburg's Fire Chief for 35 years, while Mrs. Speckels organized Texas' first and only Girl Scout Marching Band. She still found time to sew Gone-with-the-Wind Usherette Uniforms for the Movie's Schulenburg Opening. (Confederate Gray with 12 inch waists; one is permanently on display in the Cozy's lobby).

One Schulenburg youth shined shoes and ran the hatcheck concession at all public dances. His third job brought in a dime every time he delivered a note to a certain young lady from a well-dressed out-of-town cotton buyer.

The mailman who ran the route to LaGrange would take you with him for a dollar. Cash, no stamps.

C.W. Meyer was Railroad Agent for Muldoon, the telegraph operator, and President of the Fayette Electric Co-op. He was also a Chiropractor in his spare time.

Another Meyer, but not related to C.W. ran a confectionery and also made a floor sweeping compound from sawdust and linseed oil.

Another enterprising Schulenburger would roll cigars in his garage. Same tobacco, different brands.

Cigar box art would feature a popular sheriff, Cuero's Turkey Festival or the famous "Flying Bull"

It was rumored that Schulenburgers would hire themselves out to under-populated counties to inflate crowds at hangings, funerals and political rallies.

After their paper routes, boys would soak yesterday's papers in water and press them into egg crates to hold the eggs that were sold to the railroad dining cars. These same trains carried local girls off to Houston where they were in great demand as live-in maids. One issue of the Schulenburg Sticker in 1947 showed four ads for "German, Bohemian, or Russian" girls to work in Houston's better neighborhoods.

But not everyone fit in. One town barber/musician sold his shop and left town with a band that was appearing at the Opera house. Maybe he was afraid the town would learn his secret - that he only had two jobs.

SOURCES:
Interview with Mr. Norman Kreiske Schulenburg
One Hundred Years on the Road by Jane Knapik
The Schulenburg Sticker for the month of January 1947