A Millstadt Home With A Trove Of Village History
All the items have a tie to Millstadt history. Some of the items, such as the soda bottles, carry the name Centreville-the original name of Millstadt from the 1830s to the 1880s.
Roy and Beate Winkel, of 426 E. Laurel St., refer to it simply as the Millstadt Room.
Beate Winkel, a retired teacher, did not plan to run a museum. A lifelong resident of the village, her original hobby was collecting Depression-era glass, which took her to auctions and estate sales.
"Antique dealers were buying the old Millstadt calendars, and I said somebody ought to keep some of this in town," she said. "That got us started."
Nearly 40 years later, the Winkels have collected all things Millstadt. Local sixth grade classes visit each year and the Winkels love to share the village's history. The items number in the thousands, but don't ask for specific numbers.
"I tried to inventory all this one time and quit," Beate Winkel said.
"We still have things in drawers," Roy Winkel added.
The walls are lined with posters advertising the Millstadt Liederkranz, or singing circle, which drew train loads from St. Louis seeking weekend entertainment and to sample the local Stern Brau beer.
There are glass cases with artifacts from businesses that have long disappeared, such as Franz Baur's Mill or Noser Milling. There are packages from Midland Milling and Feed Company that packaged Baltz's Best corn meal and flour.
Keeping the past alive in Millstadt can be seen in many of the family names still present in the village.
"The Winkels have a treasure trove of Millstadt memorabilia," said John Baltz, president of First National Bank of Millstadt, whose great uncle, W. N. Baltz, ran the mill. "My great-great grandfather came here in 1834."
That family history is one of the reasons Beate Winkel collected the milk bottles and ice cream cartons with the Millstadt Dairy Co. logo.
"My dad (Klaus Keitel) ran the dairy farm," she said. "People from St. Louis would come to buy the ice cream."
The company's logo - a windmill with the village name written in front - became so synonymous with Millstadt that it became the town's de facto logo over time. It's still seen all over Millstadt.
One of the books on display is titled "Illustrated Historical Atlas of St. Clair County, Ill., 1874." The significance of that book is the year. The atlas contains pictures of buildings and landmarks with the town's former name of Centreville.
"You can't buy them at auction now," Roy Winkel said about the atlases and posters. "They're too high."
The posters on the wall, Beate Winkel explained, came mostly from the local tailor, H. Teghtmeier and Sons of Millstadt, which, like many of the businesses, has long closed its doors.
Many of the artifacts have personal meaning for the Winkels. The Winkels not only have a glass case for penny candy from the now defunct Simonds Drug Store, they also have the brass bar that stood in front of the case. Beate Winkel remembers swinging on the bar as a child.
January 06, 2010
Related Posters Article
