By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

The world is full of magnificent works of art and sculpture, some of which are centuries old. New Braunfels is even home to one, featuring a female figure and gargoyles. Now somewhat obscured by trees and traffic, the 19th-century Victorian fountain was actually the beginning of our Main Plaza.

In 1845, surveyor Nicholaus Zink was contracted to lay out the town of New Braunfels. He allowed for the Plaza at the junction of San Antonio and Seguin Streets. It has always been oval-shaped. The Plaza was known for many years by New Braunfels citizens as “our park” because no other was available. It was simply a large, flat, clean space in the crossroad where the townspeople gathered for concerts, parades and community events.

The only mode of transportation at that time involved horses or oxen, which both required water. The idea for a central watering hole/fountain on Main Plaza initially came about in 1887. The idea was quashed after complaints by local merchants.

New Braunfels celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1895. In September of that year, Hermann Seele, president of the anniversary celebration committee, approached the city council for permission to erect a water fountain to beautify the Plaza, utilizing surplus funds from the celebration.

The committee chose the fountain design from the J.L. Mott catalog. The cast iron structure, said to be 19 feet tall, features a female figure in Greek-style robes atop two lower pans and a basin. The figure is holding a vase above her head with water that sprays from the top of the vase into the pans below. She is listed as “The Vase Bearer” in the catalog. There are two types of gargoyles (carved faces with spouts that drain water). The top pan is round, decorated with leaves and flourishes, supported by a center column. Water flows into the lower pan from the mouths of stylized sea horses (or maybe griffons) that adorn the center column. The lower pan is octagonal, adorned with eight sheep’s heads spouting water into the octagonal basin made of concrete and metal.

The natural-colored cast iron fountain was purchased from J.L. Mott Company of New York for $3,000 with anniversary funds and donations. After all was said and done, there was a remaining balance of $58.05, which the city paid. It was installed on the Plaza in 1896.

By 1897, there were problems with people watering their stock at the water fountain. To discourage the practice, the city spent $342 to have the fountain area high curbed. Later in 1897, the city began planting shrubs and trees to beautify the Plaza. The Band Stand came along in 1905.

The beautiful work of art took center stage on Main Plaza for years without issue. In 1963, the New Braunfels Lions Club took on the project of refurbishing the fountain and landscape improvement. The fountain was sandblasted and received new lighting, additional sprays and a new off-white paint job. A new rock wall enclosing a planted area was also added. It was indeed a beautiful sight at night.

For many more years, the fountain survived freezing temperatures and drought. It also survived pranksters that found “soaping of the fountain” a novel idea. Soap seriously damages the workings of fountains and is no laughing matter.

1976 brought about a flurry of improvements to go along with the nation’s Bicentennial Celebration. The complete renovation of Main Plaza was the project of the Rotary Club. Eighteen months of planning and $100,000 of work later, Main Plaza was completely redone. The fountain received a new watering system sending the water up instead of down with indirect lighting installed around it. At 80 years old, the Main Plaza fountain was also designated a historic landmark by the New Braunfels Landmark Commission.

The grand fountain’s age began to show. In 1985, the fountain was turned off. The mechanics of the fountain were in good shape, but the cast iron structure was succumbing to sheet rust on all of the interior surfaces. She was slowly rusting to death.

In 1992, Mayor Clinton Brandt formed the Plaza Fountain Restoration Committee. They were in for a shock when they sought restoration quotes. Yikes! That little $3,000 fountain needed $50,000 of work!

The two-year fundraising campaign raised $54,000. The Mott fountain was fully restored to her original cast iron color by Robinson Iron of Alexander City, Alabama. It took approximately four months. Robinson Iron had restored at least sixteen other Mott fountains previously. At the time, there were known to be about 35-40 Mott Company fountains left in the United States, with ours being one of the finest.

The fountain once again took her place on her pedestal in December of 1993, a full year before the slated Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1995, and all was right in the universe. Except — a drunk driver plowed through Main Plaza in November 1994, shattering the fountain and causing $50,000 in damages. The driver was not insured, nor was the car he was driving. Robinson Iron repaired the 100-year-old fountain and returned it to its rightful place by the end of January 1995 in time for the Sesquicentennial events.

Fast forward to today — our precious fountain is 128 years old. Sadly, due to water restrictions, the fountain is turned off. She looks a little rough but is still a treasure. Come see her up close and personal. No ticket required.

She will be waiting for you to join her on Main Plaza for the Ol’ Fashion Fourth of July Parade and Patriotic Program which has been presented by the Sophienburg Museum and Archives in collaboration with the City of New Braunfels since 1978. Wear your Star-Spangled-Banner best and be there!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Did your mother ever give you the job of pasting trading stamps into books? Mine did. My childhood is full of rainy afternoons spent licking (or wetting with a sponge after I got smart) drawers full of S&H Green stamps. That entitled me to browse the S&H Idea Book to see what we could spend our stamps on. It was almost as cool as looking through the JCPenney Christmas Catalogue… almost. My recent discovery of trading stamps in the Sophienburg Collection prompted a little more in depth look at trading stamps in New Braunfels.

Before there were frequent flyer miles, hole punched discount cards or computerized loyalty discounts, there were trading stamps. Trading stamps were developed as a retail loyalty program. Merchants would purchase the stamps in varying point denominations and give them out based on the amount of the purchase. Stamps were then pasted into savings books and redeemed for other merchandise. Sperry & Hutchinson created S&H Green Stamps in 1896. They were one of the first loyalty programs of its type. Issued in denominations of one, ten and fifty points, the gummed paper stamps were mostly distributed to supermarkets, department stores and gasoline stations.

The first Herald advertisement with S&H Green Stamps in New Braunfels appears in 1915, by the Pfeuffer-Holm Co. furniture store. The ad announces the adoption of the “Sperry System of Profit-Sharing” to reward their cash paying customers, much in the same way that the bank pays interest on the money one saves. Then in 1922, Green Stamps appear in ads by Ludewig Furniture (now Johnson Furniture) and also by Oscar Haas & Co. clothing (yes, our County Clerk and historian was a man of many talents). They even gave S&H Green Stamps with the sales of ladies’ corsets and brassiers.

Trading stamps grew in popularity over the years, especially with the spread of chain gasoline stations and supermarket chains. Most retailers found it easier and more profitable to award all purchases than just the cash sales. The height of collecting trading stamps came during the 1950s and 1960s. Here in New Braunfels, the only Herald ads promoting green stamps in the late 50’s was Plaza Drug. Numerous others followed and proudly posted their Green S&H shield in their windows like Mom ‘n Tot Shoppe. Some had large free standing metal signs out front of their businesses to get your attention. Tip Top Cleaners even posted an S&H logo in their 1965 Yellow Page ad.

There were other trading stamp competitors. One such competitor was Texas Gold Stamps. Developed by HEB in 1955, Gold Stamps were run as a subsidiary and available to all merchants. Gold Stamps did not appear in local advertising until 1958 promoted by Ritter Service Station locations in New Braunfels. Within a short period of time there were a lot of merchants touting Texas Gold Stamps, including HEB, City Pharmacy, Jarisch Gulf, Landa Texaco & Sinclair Service Station.

In the 60’s, grocery stores were noted for Green Stamps bonus days. In 1964, Baenziger Model Market opened (now part of NBISD Ed Center). My mom shopped at Baenziger’s to take advantage of the Double Stamp Wednesdays. (Yay, more to paste. More to dream of getting!) Then in 1966, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company opened an A&P Grocery Store in Landa Plaza Shopping Center (now Das Rec area). They brought with them their own brand of trading stamps – McDonald’s Plaid Stamps. Other lesser known trading stamps appeared as well. Sometime in 1964-65, Superior Market & Grocery, on the corner of North Union and Garza (now a small office building) began offering S&S Red Stamps. I have neither seen these or found any information on them, but Superior’s grocery ads touted that S&S Red Stamps “Spend like Cash with your hometown Merchant”. The redemption center was listed as Dedeke’s Housewares and gifts at 215 S. Seguin. I would think that it was fashioned after the S&H Green Stamp program, but with local merchant products. Red Stamps lasted until about 1967, when the store loyalty program changed to Gold Bond Stamps. Weyel’s Foodliner gave out Top Value Stamps.

By 1965, trading stamps were saved by 35 million of the 50 million families in America, redeeming $500 million dollars in stamps each year. However, trading stamps began to decline after that. In 1967, a joint ad from Comal, Plaza and City Drug stores stated that “effective immediately” trading stamps would no longer be given, but they would give 10% cash discount on all purchases. Wuest’s Grocery never gave trading stamps. Instead, they promoted their lower discount prices every day. More stores began to realize the savings in ditching stamps. With the economic downturn and gas crisis of the 70’s, trading stamps held less value and shoppers realized that they could get their premium items almost as cheaply by buying outright. The stamps became too much trouble. S&H continued on until about 2013, then became S&H Points. As of December 2020, their website states that points are no longer valid and cannot be redeemed.

So what did we end up getting on our big S&H Green Stamp shopping trips to the redemption center in downtown Seguin? I remember my dad getting lawn chairs. My mom got a new bathroom scale and my sister and I got a vanity chair with a hot pink (not quite psychedelic) “fuzzy” seat cover when we redid our room in high school. What did you get?

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives newspaper collection; https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook

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At 11:00am on November 11, 1918, the fighting ended. Bells tolled around the world to mark the end of the Great War.  Over 4.7 million Americans stepped up to serve in uniform between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918. Two million of them were deployed overseas and 116,516 of them never made it home. Over 5,100 of these casualties were Texans. Today, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Bells of Peace will toll 21 times to commemorate the truce between the Allies of WWI and Germany, honoring those who died in service. Conceived and designed in collaboration with the nation’s veterans of service with the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the bell tolling provides a solemn reminder of the sacrifice and service of veterans of World War I, and all veterans.  Bells will be tolled in communities across the nation, in places of worship, schools, town halls, public carillons, and cemeteries, to mark the centennial of the Armistice that brought an end to hostilities, in what Americans fervently hoped had been “The War to End All Wars.”   This nationwide program is designed to honor those American men and women who served one hundred years ago, during WWI.

The Sophienburg Museum & Archives, in collaboration with the Texas WWI Centennial Commission presented “War Stories: New Braunfels in World War I” an exhibit depicting how New Braunfels’ uniquely German character compelled its citizens to respond with fervor once America was at war with Germany. On view in the exhibit are artifacts from the Sophienburg’s rich collections  — posters, photographs, uniforms and other historical objects to showcase events, individuals and ideology during 1914 – 1919, as well as touch on the lasting impact of The Great War. Although today marks the end of the Centennial Commemoration, the War Stories: New Braunfels in WWI exhibit will continue until January 1.

This column, Around the Sophienburg, is so named because we try to share the little details of history offering a glimpse of people’s lives in early New Braunfels. Not just about the Prince or the first founders, but of the real everyday people who fished or taught children or joined the military or ran a business… well, you get the picture. We follow the threads and solve the mysteries that beg to be solved – lying in wait on the shelves of the collection. It is not often I use this space to toot our own horn, but just for today, that changes. For the benefit of all those new to New Braunfels and those who have “lived here all their lives but never knew the Sophienburg Museum was here”, this column is for you.

On October 8, 2018, the Sophienburg Museum & Archives celebrated 85 years of preserving the history of our founders and all that has come after. In 1928, a group of civic minded citizens began the community fundraising drive to build a history museum. They were able to obtain the hilltop portion of the property originally owned by the Adelsverein. They built a rock museum in the image of a fortress on the very site where Prince Carl had built the first log government building naming it Sophienburg (Fort Sophie) in honor of his bride back in Germany. The community grew and prospered due to the determination of the settlers. That determination is deeply embedded in who we are as a community. Imagine where Boston would be if they hadn’t embraced the tea party in the hArtwork by arbor or Boston son Paul Revere? That’s why we protect our history so fiercely.

Everyone should know these basic tenets about New Braunfels:

1. it is the only known city in the USA to be founded by (as in stepped foot on the property, not just named for) a Prince.
2. as the first German colony on the way to West Texas, it is basically the Gateway to the Hillcountry
3. it was once the 4th largest city in Texas!

But there is so much more…um, I digress.

The Sophienburg Museum & Archives, a non-profit benefitting from memberships, donatons, grants and fundraisers. Following our Mission, our fundraisers focus on preserving and sharing the traditions of our heritage: Sophie’s Shop booth at Wurstfest and Weihnachtsmarkt. Just like Wurstfest, Sophie’s Shop is synonymous with German tradition, selling German ornaments and little pieces of German culture to tie people to the heritage and ancestry of our fair city. Today marks the last day of the best “Ten Day Salute to Sausage” ever, but tomorrow we pack up our Prince Carl and move our Christmas wares over to New Braunfels Convention & Civic Center , where in three days time the huge space is converted by a hundred volunteers into a magical market place — Weihnachtsmarkt! Pronounced Vy-noks-markt, this New Braunfels tradition offers the charm of open-air Christmas markets of Germany, with a Texas twist. Enjoy Gemütlichkeit and fun at this three-day market supporting history education and preservation through the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. Shop over sixty merchants and artisans with unique German collectibles and ornaments, holiday decorations, apparel, jewelry & gifts. Spend time with friends – make it a date. Parking is free. New Braunfels Civic Center. Market hours: 10 -5 Friday, 10-6 Saturday & 11-5 Sunday. For more information call the museum at (830) 629-1572 or check our website at www.sophienburg.com

This is the 30th Weihnachtsmarkt supporting the museums operations, preservation of historic artifacts and documents and educational programming. It’s a great shopping experience to benefit the preservation of our wonderful city’s 173 years of history.

Oh – and continuing the German Christmas traditions in December, St. Nick stops by the museum on December 5th to make sure the children are on their best behavior. Bring your children and grandchildren to learn the Legend of St. Nickolaus.

Sources:

• Texas Centennial Commemoration Committee
• Sophienburg Museum & Archives

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Doing research on the Sophienburg Hill property brings back memories of my 7th and 8th grade at New Braunfels High School. How does the museum fit together with the 7th and 8th grades, you ask? Here’s the story:

My introduction to the first two years in NBHS, the 7th and 8th grades, were totally filled with activities where boys and girls interacted with one another. This may sound strange to you, but at Lamar Elementary (for me up to 6th grade), the boys were in the back playground and the girls in the front. An occasional wave was about as close as we got. I’m talking about the era of Shirley Temple and the Our Gang comedy boys. So going to the big NBHS was quite a culture shock.

But boys and girls were eager to meet each other, even 7th graders. The PTA tried to address this need by providing places where students could get together. The first of these places was above the Jacob Mendlovitz Dept. Store downtown on San Antonio St. (now the Antique Mall on the corner of San Antonio St. and Castell Ave. The upstairs was open to students on week-ends and chaperoned by PTA members, mostly mothers). The wooden floor made wonderful dancing to the Nickelodeon. Occasionally someone would entertain with a skit or a song.

Needless to say, the location wasn’t too popular with the downtown merchants and when someone crawled out on the window awning over the sidewalk, it was time to look for another place.

On Butcher St. the school district had a big building that was converted into an entertainment center called the “Unicorn Stables.” Open to all NBHS students, there was dancing and even skating party nights. It even hosted formal dances.

But all this planned activity was not enough for the Shirley Temple/Our Gang 7th grade crowd. We had enough of all that planned activity. We already had the Mariners and the Sea Scouts who often interacted with each other on Lake Dunlap. Mariners were the top echelon Girl Scouts and the Sea Scouts were the top echelon Boy Scouts. As fate would have it, the Mariner adult leader and the Sea Scout adult leader both had family camps on Lake Dunlap. It was only natural that the two groups would meet at the same time at the lake. The boys took delight in showing off their boating skills by dumping the girls out of the boat into the water. Blue jeans and saddle oxford shoes weighed a ton.

Before Caller I.D., one of our favorite activities was to telephone the opposite sex and hang up when they answered. One of my friend’s father, a businessman, had a second telephone in the bathroom. What fun we had, calling the boys and then flushing the commode. Today’s youth cannot do that without being arrested. I think it’s called harassment. On Saturdays we called Krause Café and in our broken German would ask, “Hast do Schmier Kase heute?” Translation: Do you have cream cheese today? Then we would hang up and start the giggling routine. Why, you ask?

The picture show was a favorite hang-out. The theatre had to hire a person to walk up and down the aisles with a flashlight and one never knew when you would be spotlighted. Saturday was double feature day and so it was possible to spend the whole afternoon and evening in the movies. You never sat in the same seat for very long. It was kind of like “fruit basket turnover” or “popcorn bag turnover.” Getting popcorn thrown at you was a sign to turn around. If there was an empty seat, you moved to it.

The girls did lots of spending the night at each other’s houses. I don’t think the boys did that. It was years before I could spend the night at anyone’s house. I would get so homesick that I would have to be taken home. There’s nothing like a guest with dry heaves. I finally made it through the night my senior year. A friend had a big slumber party at their big house downtown for all girls at NBHS. I made it all night by sitting up fully clothed in the bathtub.

Almost all of my classmates had their driver’s license by age 14. There was almost no traffic so that made a big difference. Six 14-year-old girls (me included) drove out to a vacant ranch house out of town owned by the parents of one of the girls. We were going to spend the weekend in this house totally unchaperoned. We got to the ranch house in the afternoon full of confidence and independence.

When it started to get dark, we decided we would drive back to town to go to the movies. I have always wondered about that decision. We left the porch light on because we knew it would be dark when we got back. Sure enough, it was almost ten o’clock when we drove back to the ranch.

Coming over the hill leading to the house we were quite alarmed as we saw that the porch light was out. Pitch dark. We told ourselves all kinds of stories as to why that light was out and why it was so dark in the country.

We entered the house through the kitchen door and built a fire in the fireplace. We turned on the radio and on came the Mary Roberts Reinhart Mystery Theater. That program was known for the scariest of all mysteries, like all of Edgar Allen Poe’s mysteries. Even the theme song was scary. I think it was from Swan Lake. That program made your heart beat faster but for some reason we were drawn to listen to it, as they say, “like a moth to a flame.”

Suddenly there was an unfamiliar sound coming from the basement under the house. It sounded like bottles breaking. Absolutely stiff with fear, one of the girls went over to the door in the floor leading to the cellar. She screamed and claimed that someone was trying to push the door open. All six, like stampeding cattle ran to the kitchen looking for shelter. Some sat under the table, some in a closet and I remember standing up in the shower. There we froze until the sun peeped across the horizon and we packed up and left. But one more thing: outside we checked the half-open window leading to the cellar and discovered foot prints in the mud. We were in the car and out of there and no, did not go back.

We never solved that mystery but I’m sure that if there was someone there, they were more afraid than we were. Now come on, you guys that were in the cellar, fess up.
Back to why the Sophienburg Hill stories reminded me of my 7th and 8th grades. It was because my 7th grade friends had get-togethers of boys and girls most Saturday nights. One particular party was held at the old Ernst Gruene mansion where the Sophienburg Museum now sits. It’s been torn down but not because of this story. At the party, there was lots of dancing and record playing, popcorn and cheese dip, Orange Crush and Dr. Pepper with peanuts. But one activity was a little iffy. This is why I haven’t mentioned any names of participants in this whole column.

Our favorite game was “Spin the Bottle.” Sitting in a circle, someone would spin the bottle and when it stopped, the person it pointed to had to kiss them. This was a very popular game.

Suddenly there was commotion on the front porch. Two senior boys were spying on our little fun game. Pandemonium broke out. The worst of it is that they wanted to start a newspaper for NBHS. Guess what! They printed their own little paper and on the front page was the story of our private party. It was handed out to 7th-12th graders. It was so embarrassing and that was the end of our Saturday night parties.

Almost every time I enter the Sophienburg Museum I think of that 7th grade year and I go there often.

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