Bremen has always been a musical town, with top-notch bands, orchestras, performing troupes. At times, it bubbled over into singing in the streets. Not always appreciated. "Ella Ree" is an 1853 ditty by James W Porter & Charles E Stewart/Steuart.... Continue Reading →
The 1890s ushered in the bicycle craze, as the safety bicycle (with two matching wheels and a chain) pushed out the dangerous "penny-farthing" high-wheel bicycles. J F Weiss, the hardware store on the northeast corner of Center and Plymouth lured... Continue Reading →
At the turn of the 20th century—back when the game was spelled "base-ball" and the word "fans" was printed in quotation marks to show it was just slang—Bremen fielded multiple fine baseball teams that played all over Michiana. Their names,... Continue Reading →
Winter has come to an end here but in October of 1909, it was coming on with a vengeance. The cold snap led to this harsh reminder for young Romeos who let their horses stand in the cold while they... Continue Reading →
The Enquirer ran this little tongue-in-cheek slice of life in the fall of 1890: (Note the spelling of "serenade" as "cerenade". This was common at the time, as were "drouth" for "drought" and "draught" for "draft".) Here's a 1910 recording... Continue Reading →
In 1962, Ernest Annis of Bremen published a history of his Huff family tree, going back to Johann Phillip "John" Huff (1791-1872) and Maria Catherina "Catherine" Lahm (1800-1874), who immigrated to the US from Germany around 1835. This is freely... Continue Reading →
February 26 would be Doc Bowen's 98th birthday. The History Center has a nice display of photos of his life and career. Doc's companion through 47 years from their wedding in 1939 to her death from a rare bone marrow... Continue Reading →
The Enquirer published this little pre-Valentine tale January 30, 1886. How much of it is true is impossible to tell. The postmaster at the time was John Bauer, Jr., who would have been 49. As a reminder that Bremen was... Continue Reading →
The year is 1907. Football is a brutal game with few rules and fewer pads. Boys are breaking bones and cracking heads and riding home in horse-drawn buggies or horseless carriages (the Model T didn't even start production until 1908).... Continue Reading →
Although Bremen was first surveyed and platted in 1851, the beginning of the town is often dated to 1871, when it was incorporated. What was it like back then? In 1870, the census of Bremen covered just three pages: 120... Continue Reading →
This writer had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Calvin Koontz of the Plymouth area recently, during which we pored over four photo albums donated to the History Center a few years ago. Those albums had been partially scanned... Continue Reading →
Another little gem popped up on eBay the other day. It is a postcard showing Cleo Juday's "Juniors" youth band, resplendent in their new uniforms, marching down East Plymouth Street in 1913 playing either Frank H Losey's "Fidelity" two-step (which... Continue Reading →
Historic Bremen 