The Span of Rossow's Restaurant

When I first wrote about Rossow's Coffee Shop, I didn't know when it was in operation, or for how long. Now I know, thanks to this 1948 article announcing its end.


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Hobart Gazette, 22 July 1948.

So, the Rossows operated it from 1936 to 1948, and the pictures included in my previous post that were taken during Hobart's centennial celebration would indeed have shown the restaurant when it was under their ownership.

It makes sense that they would have started the business in 1936. That was a year of great change for the family. In January 1936, Theodore Rossow died — that is, husband of Annie Bergmann Rossow, and father of Lillian and Grace. So the three of them left the farm and opened their little restaurant in Hobart.

The article above does not mention Annie, and likely she had retired by 1948, for she was then 73 years old and not in good health. About two months after the restaurant closed, she died.

The purchaser, if I've found the right person, was Matilda Schmidt Springman. She had been born in Chicago circa 1899, but by the 1910 Census she and her family were living in Hobart. She was only 16 when she married Tony Springman on August 21, 1915 (Indiana Marriage Collection).[1] They had half a dozen children, but evidently the marriage was not happy: by the time we get to the 1950 Census, Tillie was divorced. She was described then as a restaurant proprietor. In 1953 she married again, to Edward Rigg.

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[1] On January 10, 1916, she gave birth to a premature infant, who died the following day (Indiana Death Certificates).

"A Small Ugly Looking Still"

The last I heard, Albert and Frieda Witt had come back to farm the Kegebein land north of Ainsworth. Now it's the spring of 1921 and the outbreak of pertussis at the Ainsworth school has infected all of their children — a little girl of eight and three boys ranging from six to three years old.

Happier news out of Crown Point, where 18-year-old Elmer Bullock has been demonstrating his musical abilities.

Beyond that, the news was disorderly drunks and a raid on a still.


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From the Hobart News 14 Apr. 1921.

(I believe Floyd Bayor was a Ross Township native, son of Frank and Flora Bayor. In 1920, he was a 41-year-old bachelor living in Hobart with his parents, plastering houses for a living. As for Walter Hensel, he is a mystery to me.)

The Gazette's description of the seized still was a little more informative.


From the Hobart Gazette 15 Apr. 1921.

I believe that the previous still raid mentioned was in 1919.

Neither paper ever gives "Mr. Osborn" a first name, so I'm not going to try, either.

… And in other places, other Prohibition-flouters.


From the Hobart Gazette 22 Apr. 1921.

If "sand-hills" = "sand dunes," that seemed to be a popular location for illicit stills.


From the Hobart Gazette 27 May 1921.

I like the way they reassembled the still and put it on display so the public could come and get still-making tips.


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Capture Another Still in Hobart." Hobart Gazette 15 Apr. 1921.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 14 Apr. 1921.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 15 Apr. 1921; 22 Apr. 1921.
♦ "Was Making Good Whisky." Hobart Gazette 27 May 1921.

Schmidt's: Good Food Served Right

Bought ages ago but just recently unearthed from the mess on my desk, a matchbook cover from Schmidt's in Merrillville:


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Per the description, it was at the intersection of Broadway and 73rd Avenue. Anybody remember exactly where?

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[1/6/2014 update] Mystery solved thanks to Steve S., who sent this information and image:

Attached is a photo of Schmidt's Restaurant location. This current building is still standing just west of Broadway and has been converted to apartments. In the early '60s I remember Schmidts also had a 2 (or 4?) lane manual bowling alley operated by pinboys. The restaurant and bowling alley lasted until 'Merri-Bowl' opening at 7610 Broadway.

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