Kaukauna Area Historical Society Blog: 03/23/07

*I just received this urgent missive from UB:
I don't know why I received the following e-mail, but it's perhaps that I researched the name a bit 1 - 2 years ago. I don't know if you know who Stormy Kromer is. He's a Kaukauna name from the first half of the 1900's. He was a railroad man who needed a warm cap when working the railroad yard. His wife made him a wool cap, with ear flaps. The cap

worked so well, and his co-workers liked it so much, that his wife made caps for them also.
I remember that your Grandfather Lyle A. owned one. When the cap resurrected a few years ago, I researched the full story, found out where the caps were being marketed, phoned a hardware store in Oostburg, found out that they had one cap left. Would you believe that it was just the color I was looking for, and in my exact size? They had it waiting for me when I arrived, nicely packaged in a brown kraft bag. I love the cap; when I wear it George has found another reason to ignore me, the lady at the Post Office calls me Elmer Fudd, and I think of Johnny Carson doing one of his skits while he was wearing a cap like that. Like I said, I have no idea what the piece is to be about this evening, and we will be out of town. But I am taping that half hour. You may have to get several thousand of your closest friends to vote for Stormy. As one of our elite Kaukauna historians, you may want to watch the show. Also, when I checked out Stormy a few years ago, I just googled, and there he was. UB
----- Original Message ----- From: Stormy Kromer To: UB Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 12:09 AM Subject: Stormy Kromer Needs Your Vote! Watch CBS News 3/23 Want to learn more about the phenomenon that is Stormy Kromer? Friday evening, March 23, tune in to the CBS Evening News at 6:30 pm Eastern/ 5:30pm Central and watch Assignment America with Steve Hartman. You’ll see three short stories from around the US, of which Stormy Kromer’s will be one. You’ll then have the opportunity to vote for your favorite (ahem…Stormy Kromer) at: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/assignment_america/main500617.shtml CBS will tape a full segment on the favorite story, to be aired on a subsequent show. So watch, vote, and keep your fingers crossed and noggin warm, and we might just do it! We’ll certainly keep you posted and let you know when to watch if we do win.

*This seems like a good time to open a Kaukauna Area Historical Society Stormy Kromer thread. Tell us your own story in the COMMENTS or an email about the best cap ever, your Kromer domer!

TD comes through with some George "Stormy" Kromer clippings:

(at left)
George Kromer (Catcher) and Harry Frambach (Pitcher) were hired on to the Kaukauna Baseball team in 1897.
George was 21 at this time and Harry Frambach was 29.
Harry Frambach and John Stoveken Jr. were first cousins and born 2 years apart.
Harry is the son of Henry Frambach and was working at the Badger Paper Mill Between 1887-1897 as an accountant until 1902 when he moved to Cheboygan, MI with his father to operate the new Cheboygan Paper Mill being built by the Frambach family.

(below - the wedding announcement of George Kromer & Miss Ida Homan)