During the past 100 years, Manning has had only a handful of shoe stores and boot and shoe makers. But what it lacked in numbers was made up in longevity.

The origin of this store dates back to December, 1881, when Henry Siem opened a shoe store on the west side of Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Siem became a partner of Henry Rohr in 1886.

Chris Johnson, a native of Denmark, came to Manning in 1885 to work as a laborer on the Chicago Great Western Railroad. Johnson boarded with Henry Rohr. When Rohr discovered that Johnson was a shoemaker by trade, he suggested that Johnson work for Siem, as Manning was in great need of a shoemaker. Johnson continued there for two years, but then returned to Council Bluffs, where he had originally landed when coming to this country.

In 1888, C. Wehrmann purchased Rohr's interest in the business, and the name was changed to Siem & Co. Wehrmann became sole owner of the stock in 1890, and the firm's name was changed to Wehrmann's Shoe Store. Wehrmann retired in 1893, and his son William took over the store. William had served as manager and chief salesman for a number of years previously.

Henry Heckmann had a shoe shop in the rear of the store for a time.

In 1908, Johnson decided to come back to Manning, citing his fond memories of his two year stay earlier. He traded his Harrison County farm for Wehrmann's store and residence at 703 Third Street, and Wehrmann moved to the farm.

Johnson continued the store until 1939, when his son Clifford bought the business. He operated it until April 7, 1953, when it was sold to Emmett Mullen, W.G. Hallett, and M.B. Christiansen, all of Denison. Mullen managed the store for the new owners, and the name was changed to the Manning Bootery.

Mullen purchased the interests of his partners and became sole owner April 20, 1960. He and his wife Donna have three children, Thea, Marty and Rourke. They are members of the Manning Sacred Heart Church, and Emmett is a member of the Manning Chamber of Commerce.

The store is located at 306 Main Street.

Leon J. Hass opened a shoe repair shop in Manning in 1919, moving to Manning after serving in World War I. He continued the shop for 54 years and was located downstairs on west Main Street between Second and Third Streets for more than 40 years.

The Hass Shoe Service became the exclusive dealer of this area in Foot-so-Port shoes in 1950.

In October, 1964, Hass sold the shoe business to the Manning Bootery. He continued the repair business until 1973.

Hass' wife Mollie is now a resident of the Manning Plaza. They had two children, Harry and Reverend LeRoy, and were members of the Zion Lutheran Church. Leon also was a member of the Lutheran Layman's League, American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce.

Many early shoemakers were located in the back of harness stores, using the same equipment and materials as the harness makers.

Five shoemakers were listed in business directories of Manning before 1900: Henry Siem, Henry Heckmann, Rudolph Motter, Chris Johnson, and John Cernt. All but Motter worked in the Siem or Wehrmann store. Heckmann began at the Siem store, but later opened his own store in an apartment of the Hoffmann & Co. store.

The Neal's Shoe Repair was operated in the early 1930's.

During the 1960's and 1970's, Harry Koester operated a shoe repair business in a building near his home in south Manning. After his move from Manning, the community was left without a shoe repair service.

The firm of Gaylin R. Ranniger CPA began in December, 1978. Gaylin Ranniger, a native of Manning received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Briar Cliff College in Sioux City in May, 1974, and his Master of Business Administration from Drake University in July, 1977. After working a couple years for a small public accounting firm, Gaylin and a fellow employee, Morrie Heithoff, decided to form their own certified public accounting practice. Morrie a native of Willey, had received his Bachelor of Arts degree in May, 1972, from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and had worked for five years in the same public accounting firm which had employed Gaylin Ranniger.

Gaylin and Morrie were able to obtain office space in the lower level of the First National Bank building in Manning. The month of December, 1978, was spent remodeling the space available to provide two offices, a file and work room, and a reception area for the newly organized certified public accounting practice. The firm provides tax, auditing, accounting and management consulting services. Due to a favorable community response, it is anticipated that the firm will soon need to expand its staff to accommodate the accounting and tax needs of both Manning and the surrounding area.

Harold Schmidt, a native of Manning, became an H & R Block tax consultant in 1970. He now has offices in Carroll, Sac City and at his home north of Manning.

Schmidt has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Midwestern College, Denison.

In the pre-refrigeration days, it was necessary to cut ice from ponds in winter, store it in ice houses, and offer it for sale in the summer. Manning had a number of these ice houses, which were insulated with sawdust.

H.D. Radeleff moved to Manning in the spring of 1885 as a nurseryman and ice dealer. His grounds were south of the town, in the section now known as Sextro's Addition. Radeleff had an artificial fish pond which was stocked with carp. The pond was fed from a well with a windmill pump; in the summer, it was used as a bathing resort, and bath houses and bathing suits for rent were offered.

In the winter, he flooded the pond and stored ice for the summer trade.

Charles Lyden was another of Manning's first ice dealers. His farm south of town had ponds from which 3,000 to 4,000 tons of ice were harvested each winter.

William Johnston commenced dealing ice in 1890 and by 1900 had employed two deliverymen, Fred and Arthur Johnston.

Feldman Bros. had an ice house near the Milwaukee tracks, in which they kept Schlitz beer. The beer was sold wholesale to customers from Perry to Council Bluffs.

Meat markets, homeowners, and railroad cars shipping produce were among the large users of the ice.

Farmers in the area fortunate to have ponds also built ice houses. The neighbors would gather to cut the ice, and would share the proceeds during the summer months.

Early Manning, with its two depots and rail lines extending in every direction, was a natural stopping place for travelers, salesmen, and railroad workers. By the time the town reached its first birthday, there were four hotels and numerous boarding houses, with their dozens of rooms never left empty.

The livery barns were well-stocked with horses, buggies, and horse-drawn buses for rent. Several of the barns included hearses and funeral rigs; the liveries saved their most dapper horses for funerals, or, if the bereaved family had some favorite horses, they could furnish their own to pull the rigs.

Many livery barns had rooms above the stables to rent to people who came to town with their own team or used a livery team. The horses were cared for at the livery as the people did their business or visiting.

The dray business flourished, as merchandise and materials arriving daily on the rail lines needed delivery to businesses and homes. There was enough business to keep three to six teams hauling steadily, the 1882 Monitor reported.

The Park Hotel, built in the winter of 1892-93, was located on the site which has been called Manning's first livery and feed establishment. Actually, it was an open section of ground, shaded by trees, with the "stalls" being circles about 15 feet in diameter, surrounding a post or tree.

Located at the corner of Sixth and Main Streets, the Park Hotel was convenient to travelers arriving on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad: the depot was one block south of the hotel. Those arriving on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad could go a block south to the Breon Hotel. When the Chicago & Great Western depot was built about 1896, it was sited two and a half blocks southwest of the Breon.

Because of the excellent railroad connections, many salesmen made Manning their headquarters and would travel to the surrounding towns by train or by livery team and buggy. Many would stay at the hotels a week at a time to do this traveling. Some would also set up displays in the hotel, sending cards to prospective buyers who would in turn come to Manning by train to buy the merchandise on display.

The Park Hotel, which offered salesmen a "sample room" for their displays, was especially popular. The L-shaped building was 100 feet by 140 feet, two stories high, with a wide, two-story veranda facing west and continuing part way along the south. The site for the hotel had been furnished by the businessmen of the town; the building itself cost $4500.

John Noble was the first proprietor, and he called the firm Noble's Hotel. In August, 1893, Wilson N. Rugg bought the furniture and fixtures, and renamed it the Park. He bought the building in 1896, and spent $500 on improvements such as a new heating plant and a water and sewer system. Rugg quickly earned the reputation for having the "best $2 house of any town in Iowa the size of Manning".

The Clifton House also earned a reputation, but for opposite reasons. Located on the west side of Main Street between Second and Third Streets, the hotel was called a "typical western hotel" and was known for its disorderly tenants and small rooms. It was built in 1881 by W.M. Tingle and son, who operated it two years as the Garfield House. The 18 x 48 foot, two story structure was then bought by Charles Knox and renamed the Knox House. Within quick succession, it was owned by a Mr. Fuller, Mr. Roark, who first called it the Clifton House, J.F. Williams, Whitmore and Son, and a Mr. Burmaster, who was the last to use it as a hotel. He abandoned it in August, 1893; it was used a short time in 1894 as a Keeley Institute, then as a low-grade apartment house which was vacant a good deal of the time.' The building was condemned in 1897; in 1898-carpenter Charles Brent purchased the building for its lumber and razed it.

The City Hotel was opened in 1884 in the former Callison Hall, located on the west side of Main Street between Third and Fourth Streets. The Hall was built in 1881, and at the time was the largest building in Manning; the first floor housed a barber shop and the second floor was used as a public hall and school. Henry Strong converted it into a hotel and ran it one year; owners from 1885 to 1900 were B.E. Vaughn, a Mr. Fisk, Peter Noble, his son John Noble, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Christenson, Mrs. Hagen, G.W. Ohnsman, A.F. McEnturff, and Chris Kuhl.

After Mr. Strong sold his interest in the City Hotel, he purchased a former store owned by Mrs. Thomas Barber at the corner of Third and Main Streets, and converted it into a hotel. It was operated successfully as the Strong Hotel from 1885 until May 8, 1891, when a fire destroyed the building and forced the 22 guests to find quarters elsewhere. When rebuilt, it was used for the Fry and Grundmeier Hardware Store.

Another victim of the fire of 1891 was the Ohrt Hotel and Restaurant, which had been opened by L.L. Lightfoot when Manning was in its infancy. It was also located in the business district of Main Street; after the fire, a two story brick building was built, and operated as a hotel, restaurant and bakery until 1896; Johannes Hansen then bought it and ran it as a saloon, restaurant and lodging place for a year; it was then returned to a hotel, restaurant and bakery by Hansen and his new partner, John Frahm. Wm. Ohrt bought the building in 1898.

The Wetherly House, west across the street from the Methodist Church, was built in 1881 and used as a livery and boarding house. The Uthoff Hotel, opened in 1894, was a $1 house which offered confectioneries and fresh fruit for sale. A.F. McEnturff ran a boarding house, lunch room and billiard parlor from about 1894 until 1899. Other pre-1900 rooming houses included Hensley's boarding house, Fuller's boarding house the Simmons House, Cottage House, Manning House, and Farmer's Hotel.

One by one, the hotels were closed. Even the fabulous Park Hotel was vacated about 1925; the 48 unit structure was torn down several years later, and the Standard Oil Station now stands in its place.

The Breon, later known as the Northwestern and then as the Hotel Manning, was built by Benjamin Breon in the fall of 1881. He bought the lot at the intersection of First, Front and Main Streets for $75. Breon moved to Pennsylvania in 1888, and the hotel continued under the management of Mrs. Breon's mother, Mrs. Dick. The Breon family returned to Manning in 1895. While Ben operated a dray service, having as many as seven teams running at a time, Mrs. Breon and their daughter Addie made the hotel "a homelike place for the patrons, besides furnishing a table that always satisfies the needs and desires of the inner man." As late as 1926, rooms in the hotel could be rented for 75c to $1 a day.

As the Hotel Manning, the business continued housing guests in its 23 units until 1968; owners Arthur and Malinda Lerssen lived there three more years. The Lerssens owned it nearly 30 years; others who ran the facility included Mary Mutum, Kathryn Eden and Marie and Claus Nielsen. Since 1972, the hotel has been used as a private residence by the Ron Colling family.

The Nielsens also owned the Nielsen Hotel, located near their harness shop at Fourth and Main Streets.

Probably the longest lasting of Manning's hotels was a facility in the upper rooms at 305 Main Street. Originally known as the Virginia Cafe and Hotel, the cafe was in the downstairs building now housing the Dime Store at 303 Main; the ten rooms of the hotel were in the adjacent building, and had renters as late as 1978.

The Drive Inn Motel, west of Saunders Steak House on Highway 141, was also discontinued as a motel in 1978. Owners Ray and Kay Houghton then offered the six units as "rooms for rent". The facility was nearly always filled, both by overnight guests and by laborers renting units on a short-term basis.

To the north of the Park Hotel was a rooming house, which catered to our customers of the livery barn located across the street where the Manning General Hospital is now. The barn, owned through the years by W.P. Gardner, P.H. Emory, the Baker Bros., John Mills, A.M. Ayers, the Brennan family and Jacob Ohde, was managed by the Hilton Bros. from 1905 until March, 1916, when it was destroyed by fire. A bus, cab, buggies and seven horses were lost, and the barn was never rebuilt.

The list of livery barn owners included: Wm. Loughrey & A.C. Arnold and J.W. Gardner & Wilson, 1881; Parish & Richey, Merritt Winters & Baker, A.C. Gaylord, J.N. Wetherley, and Julius P. Shephard, 1882; Fanswall, Brown & Parish, 1885; Mat. Hire and Hutchins & Merrill, 1888; J.R. Benson & P.A. Emery, S.T. Thompson, J.W. Gardner, and H.N. Parish, 1889; August Wonder, 1898.

During his more than 20 years in business, Julius Shephard had a number of partners, including Laird, E.C. Norris, P.A. Emery and Sweesey. The Shephard Livery and Feed Barn was located in the 800 block of Third Street, across the street from the present McMahon Feed and Seed Store.

The barn purchased by August Wonder in 1898 had originally been used as a private barn by L.L. Lightfoot. Wonder ran it until 1900, when it was sold to Wm. and M.M. Brennan, who called it Brennan Bros. Livery, Feed, and Sale Stable.

George Dau had one of the last livery barns in Manning. It was located west across the street from the Park Hotel, and was famous for its fine funeral rigs and horses.

H.H. Parish and his father M. Parish, a veterinary surgeon, ran their livery barn from 1882 until 1887. They then bought part ownership

in a Hack, Transfer, Delivery and Express business which had been opened in 1883 by Miles Woolman. Others who had part ownership in the business were C. Yonker, H. Woodward, Nat. Barnes, and Fred Wendel. Parish and Son became the exclusive owners in 1895, and delivered merchandise twice daily, conducted a general transfer business, ran buses for the Park Hotel, and carried the mails.

Ben Breon and his son Spencer operated their dray line for more than 20 years, starting in 1881; H.D. Atherton came to Manning in 1884, when he engaged in the house and barn moving business, adding a dray line in 1888; Henry F. Paesler opened a dray line in 1896; Peter Rademann started a dray in 1894. Drivers for the various firms in 1900 included L. Babington, Clarence Sprinkle, Floyd Barnes, Walter Hollingsworth, and Detlef Popp.

Hans C. Claussen came to Manning in 1885, and succeeded Henry Langbehn in the dray business in February, 1888. William Claussen assisted his father in the business, which included a horse-drawn wagon-truck. The business was sold in 1908 to Adolph Paulsen, who continued it until his death in 1919. Before entering the Army in World War I, William Claussen continued to assist Paulsen in the dray line.

Both the dray and livery business faded out as the automobile age arrived; Clarence Parish, one of the last in his field in Manning, turned to the automobile age by providing a taxi service in the 1930's. He met all trains and made calls to residences, and was also the proprietor of a "Drive-it-Yourself" service, offering "all denominations of cars" for rent.

Mention "Saturday Night" to a person who grew up in rural America before 1950, and immediately you receive stories of cars lined up on Main Street, visits with neighbors, and young men and women gathered in groups at the street corners.

Mention "Saturday Night" to a person from Manning, and you also get the tale of Hotchy and his Popcorn Stand.

The aroma of hot, buttered popcorn and fresh roasted nuts would lure young and old to the stand, located in front of the Crystal Theatre near the corner of Fourth and Main. As the customers munched, they and Hotchy would visit, tell a joke or two, and relive the latest ball games.

The fact that Hotchy was blind was never apparent. He knew his customers by voice, recognizing even those he had not talked to for years. He counted out change by the feel of the coins, and if his blindness was a handicap, he never let on.

His name was George Parish, and he was a veteran of World War I and a member of the American Legion. He had been a car salesman in Omaha before being blinded in a serious auto accident there.

George had a house on the north end of Main Street, which he shared with his parents, Henry and Emma, until their deaths. He had several housekeepers over the years, and at times members of his large family would stay with him.

He would employ helpers to walk him to his stand, to shopping trips, and stops at the bank, but business at the popcorn stand was conducted mostly by Hotchy himself.

Two early electricians were George B. Jones and Chas. Herschmann.

The Jones Electrical Shop was located at 304 Main Street; it specialized in refrigerators, radios, electrical wiring, furnaces, and electrical appliances. The business opened in 1919.

Hershmann first had his shop in the C.H. Reinholdt hardware store, starting in the 1920's. He did electrical wiring and repaired electrical appliances. Hershmann later worked in the Kuhl & Vogt hardware store, continuing the trade until the middle sixties.

Orlo Schelldorf ran an electric shop from 1934 until 1948, when it was sold to Max Detlefsen.

The Manning Electric Shop was run by Otto Porsch in the mid-1950's. Porsch carried home appliances, did wiring, and radio repair work.

Bob Grundmeier had an electric shop in the mid-1970's.

When Orlo V. Schelldorf decided to move to California in 1948, he sold his appliance store to Max Detlefsen. Thus Schelldorf Electric Shop became Detlefsen Electric Shop November 1 of that year. This was an appropriate opportunity for Max, as he was employed at the time by the Manning Municipal Light Plant as a linesman, and before serving in World War II had attended an electrical trade school in Chicago for two years.

At first Detlefsen Electric was mainly a retail outlet for large and small electrical, appliances. Shortly thereafter, when Lester Wyatt moved his plumbing and heating business to Spirit Lake, Detlefsen Electric acquired his plumbing and heating lines. Since then farm and home wiring, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning have been the main part of the business.

Present employees are Darwin Haskins and John Detlefsen. Darwin has been employed here since 1967; John has been since 1975, when he returned from California where he was employed as a construction engineer for Peter Kiewit Sons' for three years. John expects to assume ownership of Detlefsen Electric when his father retires.