S.S Colonel Duensing:

In the last post, my father was off on a remote string of islands, listening to Tokyo Rose, preparing to participate in the invasion of Japan, which now is recognized, as it was back then, to be doomed to failure in regard to the first waves of a tactical assault, of which my father was more than likely to have been one of the fatalities.

You might also recall the story of Freida Duensing who brought hope to the disenfranchised, as I also recounted earlier. This family portrait if it is to be accurate has some dark shadows attached to it as well as light as any portraiture should.

During this time, the imminent invasion of Berlin by Allied forces has begun, and a series of defensive command structures and activities were either chaotically organized, or were constantly tampered with to ill effect by a Mr Hitler.

In the thick of this was, ironically enough a Duensing, who, like many former Nazi's in postwar Germany, escaped prosecution and went on to have a successful political career. Literally thousands of former Nazi commanders and so forth, escaped criminal trials, as the U.S attempted to ward off a now Cold War adversary and former ally, the Soviet Union by recruiting them as a ready made force. Unofficially, of course. That in of itself is another story.

My grandfather, while assisting me with a writing of a family history was asked to identify notable historically significant Duensing's as he was very proud of our name. He misidentified a key player in German history as a Mayor, when in reality, he was a Police Chief who oddly, was able to keep his position as both a Nazi functionary as well as a postwar civilian. He is the fellow to the extreme right, in more ways than one. According to the official record, he had a dual or "dotted line" authority which ironically, countered that of my father as being in a tank destroyer batallion, as Erich or Eric also was attached to a Panzer Division.


At the same time in Berlin, as my father was island hopping, a certain Mr Goebbels clearly regarded the Commander of the Defense Area as his subordinate. Talks between the two took place in Goebbels' office. Every Monday a so-called "major meeting of the War Council" took place under Goebbels' leadership to discuss the defense. Those taking part included the combat commanders, representatives of the Luftwaffe and the Labor Service, the Mayor of Berlin,as well as the Chief of Police, who is the very same Chief of Police of West Berlin in 1967 is the Social Democrat and former SS colonel, Erich Duensing.

One of the psychotic plans to be implemented which fortunately was never brought to fruition was the apocalyptic destruction of Berlin itself which Hitler had stated needed to be carried out as he wanted nothing usable left for the victors and in his demented mind, the German people were "undeserving" of a future without him. These were formal plans well thought out.


From 1936 to 1945, he was a career officer in the Wehrmacht. He had been in charge of the West Berlin police since 1962 and systematically handed out appointments to old comrades from the Wehrmacht and SS, including such as had worked in the Reich Security Main Office ( under Goebbels) as well as to former chiefs of Gestapo branch offices.

It gets worse.

The Ordnungspolizei were German police units that were dispatched to the occupied territories and that were largely implicated in German war crimes. The role of one Ordnungspolizei unit in implementing the “final solution” in Poland is, for instance, the subject of Christopher Browning’s study "Ordinary Men" which is one of several books that caused a great deal of controversy in Germany, as to factions, one wanting to sweep civilian collaboration under the carpet and the other, as a matter of history wanted to bring it to light. For a accurate portrait of this time I highly recommend the Roman Polansky film, "The Pianist"


This is a photograph of this police force out of country known as the Ordnungspolizei posing with Jews awaiting deportation and their death in German-occupied Poland. A world gone mad.

Tanks For The Memories

I never realized that four years of my father's life was glued to this fine Oldsmobile and Ford product, numbered M10..in addition to a menu of horseradish sandwiches, malaria and other exotic and rare delights of The Pacific Theater. Here is a "commercial" for this wonderful product, no less filmed at the Fort Hood, Texas training grounds, where despite the lively narration, it was hot, sweating and generally miserable for Midwesterner s like my father.

America..On The March!



On the home front, life went on in a manner of speaking in "sweet home Chicago." My mother's world was decidedly different than that of that Duensing fellow she was engaged to at the time.



Of course life could be tough and boring without the conveniences of home, being on a remote island or coral atoll in the middle of nowhere, on their way to invade Japan, but, at least there was one convenience, there was always entertainment on the radio, while studying sand charts and swatting fly's, if you weren' otherwise occupied as target for tree snipers.

The Gutenburg Duensing Connection

There is an interwoven thread of printing as a chosen occupation which leads back to the Lutheranism of my forebears in relation to the Bible, which in of itself was chosen to be the first written work to be typeset and printed. The Lutheran difficulties in Germany caused some in our family to break away, as so many other nationalities have and are, in search of freedom and opportunity in this experiment of America. The passenger lists coming out of Bremen are a fascinating set of documents that demonstrate (when connected to the U.S census, or other historical records) that they leapfrogged their way here. In other words, one group would arrive and let their brethren in Germany know it was their turn, as now there was a foothold. Now without going too far off the subject, consider what trans-Atlantic travel was like in the 1850's, and consider that unknowingly, they were arriving to find peace and prosperity just a little more than a decade before the great American Civil War. So much for the peace portion of prosperity. Below is a contemporary print of German Immigrants arriving as if to suggest their arrival was a matter of chaos.



My father was a Production Manager in the printing industry as well as my grandfather, who sold lithographic presses. As we move to a perhaps dim future without books via it's replacement by electronic media, this portion of the family history has more of a historical context than perhaps a couple of decades ago. As a self made individual in terms of his entrepreneurial career, my grandfather Oscar was a staunch Republican who also believed in the power of positive thinking, as well as being a self taught "toastmaster" or public speaker as evidenced from his library on these subjects. Here is one of what he sold, a Cook Lithographic Press. This was a second career after his P.R firm had run it's course, which I think is a rather remarkable self created transition. However, this choice of printing always made me wonder, why this and not that? I know that he had an encyclopedic series of connections to other Duensing's and seemed to know more than by happenstance of what was occurring in Germany as well as elsewhere in the U.S, according to my many conversations with him. Was another Duensing influential in this decision? I don't know. I do that beyond my father and grandfather there were other family members carrying on the tradition of Gutenberg.




Interestingly, there was another Duensing, this one in Michigan by the name of Paul Hayden Duensing who ran a small, but very influential printing shop. To say he was well known is without a doubt. Here we see a video of a printing school facility honoring him very close to me in Asheville, Carolina. Paul Hayden Duensing, however, cared deeply about the “look of letters.”

Duensing sold his type and also developed a private printing press. He called his avocation “The Private Press and Typefoundry of Paul Hayden Duensing.” Through his press, he printed many volumes dedicated to the art of type and printing. Duensing wrote many of these himself and translated some others from significant European documents. In Type II: A Leisurely Showing of Typefaces and Ornaments Available in Limited Castings, he noted that he “actively and enthusiastically supports the thesis that there exists a need for certain scholarly, historical and esoteric typefaces beyond those whose widespread commercial use and traditional acceptance make them economically viable.”His particular specialty was typesetting and in particular, the development of type. These two Duensing's my grandfather and Paul, whether there was any direct connection between them is unknown. However, I do know my grandfather had a passion for limited edition books, so who is to say, in terms of how Paul came into this field? Did Paul's career'e parallel that of my father's inasmuch there may have been a family connection? These connections are a work in progress...

Freida Duensing and Women's Rights In Germany

Advocating For The Downtrodden


You may think so far the Duensing Saga has been largely dominated by the male of the species, but with this post, I will try to balance this equation. Another fact is that not all of our tribe attempted to avoid the difficult situation that led many to America, but as they say, that's another story. While our closer relations sought to root themselves in an entirely new country, the ones who remained had the advantages of playing on the home court, or at least that's what you would assume. But some stories have a twist, especially if you happened to be born of the "fairer sex." which then, had it's own baggage.

Freida Duensing, in her own time, was described as " excitable, moody, idealistic and compassionate." Which is perhaps not so surprising, as she was a driven woman in a time where women were supposed to be docile, at least in theory anyway. She and several other women were far ahead of their time in a largely patriarchal Germany. As one of the major women's rights activists embroiled in a range of social issues from sexuality to gender roles and family rights, she was born on June 26, 1864 and passed away, in Munich on January 5, 1921. This role was brought about in 1892, when visiting a Hanover "poorhouse." In her own words;

" Seven mothers with their children were crammed into a single room, a large whitewashed, disgusting, filthy room. I could see how a woman could sink in such a poorhouse."

She left Hanover immigrating all the way to Zurich, Switzerland to avoid the glass ceiling of sexism, to become one of the first female attorneys in Germany and became immediately recognized as "the leader" in juvenile court advocating for illegitimate children.

She was one of the first women who documented and wrote many articles on the subject of child abuse. She wrote many studies, one of which is typical, " Investigations Regarding the Illegitimate Population of Frankfurt-on-the-
Main," Dresden, 1906 ; Frieda Duensing,"

One can imagine her on the streets and back alleys, ignoring perhaps her own safety to document such conditions. In this she was certainly self-less.

In 1904, the newly minted lawyer reached the position of of Professor,Chairman of the "Association To Protect Children", (from exploitation and abuse) in Berlin. Under her leadership, the German Central Association and the Berlin Centre for Jugendfürsorge were combined into German Central Jugendfürsorge in 1907. No mean feat. In her work, in this context she founded the Association of Female Guardianship. In addition, another major commitment was that mentally sick children and young people should be taken not to the then brutal insane "asylums" but instead housed in therapeutic facilities. She was one busy woman.

The first mention of her I came across in Germany arose in association with another famous woman,Marie Baum, who is pictured below and was one of the leading figures in Germany's women's movement. "She was on friendly terms with a number of famous fighters for women's rights like Gertrud Baum, Frieda Duensing and Marianne Weber and various letters in the nachlass bear testimony to these relations."



They later were instrumental in founding The Association for The Protection Of Mothers, which stressed, among other things, women's education, health issues, legal rights and so forth for single and unmarried women but all women were considered inclusive to these issues.

From the prospectus issued after the Congress;

"The attempt has already been made by means of creches, foundling institutions, and the like, to deal with this matter. But the protection of children without the protection of mothers is, and must remain, no more than patchwork ; for the mother is the principal source of life for the child, and is indispensable to the child's prosperity. Whatever ensures rest and care to the mother in her most difficult hours, whatever secures her economic existence for the future, and protects her from the contempt of her fellow-beings, by which her health is endangered and her life embittered, will serve to provide a secure foundation for the bodily and mental prosperity of the child, and will simultaneously give the mother herself a stronger moral hold."

While virtually unknown in the U.S, in Germany, you will find a Dr. Frieda Duensing Street in Diepholz as well as The Duensing Museum In Hannover.Many books about her are available. The major work on her is in The German National Library:

https://portal.d-nb.de/opac.htm?method=showFullRecord¤tResultId=Woe%253D119164078%2526any¤tPosition=1

Bibliography

* Ricarda HUCH, Marie tree, Ludwig Curtius, Anton Erkelenz (hrsg.): Frieda Duensing: A Book of Remembrance, Berlin: F. A. Herbig, 3. propagated ed. 1926 (1.) Ed. (1922) (Includes texts by Duensing herself, including letters and diary entries text editor of Duensing,
* Lina Koepp: Frieda Duensing as Leader and Teacher: 12 years In Berlin Jugendfürsorge, Berlin: F. A. Herbig, 1927.
* Herbert Major: A Genius of Charity: Dr.: Frieda Duensing, Bahnbrecherin and developer of Jugendfuersorge in Germany Diepholz 1985.
* Florentine Rickmers: Duensing, Frieda. In: new Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Volume 4. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, p. 162 f.
* Regine Heining: Frieda Duensing - its importance for the social work, Mühlau 1999 (unpublished thesis; archived in Ida soul archive)
* Gabriele Ullrich: "" the bonds broken."" Frieda Duensing - pioneer Jugendfürsorge. In: upheavals. Women images from four centuries between Weser and dumber Fischerhude 2000, p. 56-77 (with 8 photos) and S. 179-187 (112 notes); ISBN 3-88132-608-1
* Ann Taylor Allen: Feminism and Mütterlichkeit in Germany 1800-1914, Weinheim 2000
* Susanne Zeller: Frieda Duensing (1864-1921). Head of the ""German Central Jugendfürsorge"in Berlin" In: women worlds. Biographisch-historical sketches from Lower Saxony (Ed.: Angela Dinghaus), S. 221-228
* Manfred Berger: Women in Social Responsibility: Frieda Duensing, in: Our Youth 2009/H. 9, S. 389-392

The History of Duensing Corners

The last time we encountered Henry, his intoxicating blend of lime and cola ultimately fizzled and so as there was already a very significant German population in Algonquin, Illinois, it is perhaps understandable that this small town of some 3,000 people, of which one third were already direct immigrants, would be his next choice. Another was a family connection. Frederich Duensing, another native of Crete had founded the Duensing enclave in Algonquin as well. He settled on what was then the east side of the village, on yet another farm and thus begins this story of three generations of this self same family, all of whom are also holographically named Fred. Fred begat Fred 2 who begat Fred 3or if you like Fred, Fred and Fred. Fred the Third, as we will call him is the father of one Arnold who for one reason or another broke the chain of Freds.

This store who was commanded by the Duensings, Arnold in particular, (whose interior is pictured above) would later become a hardware store, which was unceremoniously demolished in 1960, to make way for a "King's" auto dealership, but this is getting ahead of the story. There is some amount of irony in names. The store was originally named "Vette's" long before cars were on anyone's mind and in the end was destroyed to sell Corvette's.

This "dry goods" store was the precursor to a general store, and was distinct from a hardware store. Dry goods were textiles, household items and as they say, sundries, which is a lost word in of itself, which now has been replaced by the term "general merchandise." The business was a family affair as some of his brothers also worked pulling merchandise down, tallying receipts and keeping accounts. Fred's son would later enter this dry goods business by purchasing this store in 1915.Interestingly, Henry's story would come full circle, as he returned to Crete and is buried alongside of ten other Duensing's, not from his childhood farmstead, in the cemetery of The Zion Lutheran Church. As a side note to this story, there are so many German immigrants or their first generation children buried there, it is of some interest to their relations who remained in Germany.


Again. another story branches from this one in the family tree, so let's return to Algonquin to continue where we left off.


The stores location later became known locally as Duensing Corners, as evidenced by this side view of the store in all of it's late Victorian framed splendor.


Fred or Friedrich had found his niche, as evident from his home, which remains to this day,fairly much as he left it. In an age where we are bombarded with information, on March 4, 1915, the local paper reported that "Prairie Chickens were heard north of the village." At the same time a pointed editorial denounced the fact that pigs were endlessly wandering the streets,pestering the public for hand outs, whether they were future pork or just down on their luck, I don't know.

Meanwhile, back at the Algonquin farmstead, there there is the matter of the 1902 Tornado. Several animals were killed, homes damaged, electric wires tangled, the Duensing windmill was blown down, Episcopal church was twisted and wrecked, Janak's boat house was demolished, 30 trees were blown down and the liberty pole snapped which also carried away the telephone wires leading to town. The Duensing farm was later sold to the Hopp family and of course is now known as the Hopp farm, but it was founded by Fred #1.

Note the young man riding his bicycle in front of the family home, as he is yet another Duensing of a new generation, the aforementioned Arnold, who ultimately would also be later be woven and hence documented into this story of Algonquin.


A hefty Arnold Duensing here is pictured at a later date about to lead the Algonquin centennial parade of 1936 on horseback. Why he was chosen is lost to history. As far as I can determine, Arnold was either a local burgomaster or the town's buffoon judging from his unceremonious attire. I don't know. It appears from the photographic evidence that his head has outgrown his outrageously little hat.


And so we leave Henry and all the Freds and Arnold from Duensing Corners in long ago Algonquin in the midst of that parade during the Great Depression, which leads to another story, that of my Grandfather's role in opening "a lost wonder" of Chicago.



In the next post we return to the "fatherland" and meet this relation as well as other Duensing's who melded themselves into the history of Germany before we return to Duensing Americana. But that is another story...that includes the Anti-Nazi Underground, women'e rights and of course, sausage.

A Park In Lost Chicago

This is a story that manages to mix Native Americans, the Great Depression, a rug company and families in one location, that unfortunately, in the eyes of many, was lost, then remembered and now is duly noted in Chicago History.
My grandfather was taciturn, reserved and a very formal man who yet, was warm, gracious and charitable. In this mix of traits, there was a side of him that somehow escaped my notice. This was the creative side of my grandfather, that somehow mixed the promotional skill of a P.T Barnum with commerce,inserting this activity purposefully with the timing of an event in conjunction with competing for notice in what now are called news cycles, the media by capturing the public's attention. All of this from a man I knew as a child perfectly content to puff on a cigar, while tinkering with household repairs.

All of this story revolves around a lost Park. The Olson manufacturing mill was located in Chicago at Diversey Ave. and Pulaski. During the war era, when raw material was scarce, people would send in their old wool rugs, rags, clothing etc. and Olson Rug would turn them into a beautiful area rug. The family owned business was "the place" to buy rugs for many years. Alongside the factory was the renowned Olson Memorial Park. Walter E. Olson built the 22 acre park in 1935. The project took nearly six months to complete. About 800 tons of stone and 800 yards of soil were used for it's construction. Approximately 3,500 perennials were used along with numerous species of junipers, spruces, pines, arbor-vitaes and annuals. The park consisted of a stunning rock garden, duck pond and 35-foot waterfall. Olson Park became a popular spot for family outings. During the first Sunday after it's dedication Olson Park attracted as many as 600 visitors per hour. In 1965, Olson Rug sold it's building to Marshall Fields. In the 1970's the waterfall was turned off and regrettably in the eyes of many, the park dismantled and demolished to make room for, of all things, a parking lot.

Here is the portion of an article entitled "Chicago's Seven Lost Wonders"

The Olson Waterfall

"It wasn't Kublai Khan but the Olson Rug Co. that decreed a mighty pleasure dome on the Northwest Side. In 1935 Walter E. Olson created a park next to his carpet factory at Diversey and Pulaski. The centerpiece was an ersatz mountain with an equally artificial 35-foot waterfall. It took a pharaoh's army of 200 workers six months to fashion the thing out of 800 tons of stone and 800 yards of soil. The Olson Waterfall was saluted in a contemporary newspaper account as "the most pretentious undertaking of its kind in the country."

In those Depression years, Olson Park was as close to nature's wonders as most Chicagoans could get. Until it closed in 1971, myriad families picnicked on the grounds, watching visiting American Indian chiefs do war dances in full MGM regalia. It was also a venue for saying "Let's let bygones be bygones": The park's opening corresponded with the 100th anniversary of the expulsion of Native American tribes from Chicago. As a small measure of amends, the Olson Waterfall was symbolically deeded back to the Indians."

The park opening was in the hands of my grandfather.


My grandfather Oscar was one generation removed from the family farm in Crete, Illinois and in that same entrepreneurial spirit we saw in Henry, his uncle,who manufactured soda pop, we now follow him, in retrospect into the past. He owned a public relation's firm and consequently was responsible for making Olson Park, as it came to be called, a success, when it came to fruition.

Of course there had to be souvenirs printed for the occasion, many detail's to be attended to. Here is one that remains, a post card.


The park was originally conceived and developed beginning in 1935 by Walter E Olson, son of the original founder of the company, who subsequently retained my grandfather to insure it's success. It had a Native American theme displayed here in the pictures and when it was originally dedicated on September 27th, 1935 on American-Indian Day (not sure if this still exists) was attended by members of various tribes native to the area including Potawatomi, Winnebago, Chippewa and Ottawa. All arranged by one O.F Duensing.

Old Number 44: A Refreshing Lime Cola

Dispersing themselves, either willingly or otherwise, from the family farm in the remote and pasoral hinterland of Crete, Illinois, our ever enterprising Duensing Brothers seemingly scattered themselves randomly, hither and yon, to the remote scattered communities of what would become suburban Chicago. Untangling their exploits long since largely lost to history can be both a challenge and a journey into a lost American landscape.

Some of their later footings were little more than informal enclaves identified by a single storefront or perhaps a few houses to mark their location on a map, if you had one.

One of these young entrepreneurs either had a compulsive sweet tooth or a vision of carbonating the farming communities with the family name. In the annual Report of the Illinois Food and Safety Commission dated 1912, one particular Duensing was listed as having a factory in his home or did he live in the factory? Probably it depended on how busy he was. Chicago family owned soda companies are a local tradition, whose product and monikers runs from the ridiculous to the sublime. and our family rode the first wave. Have a taste for the paranormal? Quench that desire in several flavors.


Which brings us to Old Number 44, a tasty libation combining Lime and Cola direct from Chicago Heights, courtesy of The Hy.Duensing Co, attractively packaged in a embossed,cork sealed "Hutch Bottle" long before multi-national corporations rediscovered the advantages of a niche market.

Everything old is new again. Think Coca-Cola invented the distinctive bottle. Think again,. The ever inventive Henry C. Duensing Company presents you with a all new package that somehow resembled a work of art lodged somewhere between a Slinky or a caterpillar, depending on the limits of your imagination. Yes, and folks, great grip action too on those hot August days!

Look closely, if your brain has swelled under the blazing sun, you don't have to remember the name of your favorite flavor of Duensing Soda..just ask for a # 44..chilled to perfection. My aunt has the original well thumbed recipe book for these marvelous carbonated concoctions whose only proof of existence is in the auspicious hands of rare glass bottle collectors. Henry's bubbling business went flat for some unknown reason, (maybe he lost the recipe book) and being the unstoppable force of nature he was, he eventually moved Northward in search of greener pastures, still enamored of foodstuffs, where we will catch up to him in a later post.


Stay tuned for the Duensing contribution to what the Chicago Tribune called "one of the great lost wonders of Chicago",courtesy of my grandfather, Oscar, no less and then we will visit the interior of a long vanished dry goods store in Algonquin and catch up to our ever enterprising Henry.

Further reading on Chicago family sodas :http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/110816