Green Bay Press-Gazette from Green Bay, Wisconsin • Page 49

Wednesday, April 28,1982 GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE Health Senior citizens Ann Landers Engagements -Scene-2 Scene-4' Scene-4 -Scene-5 Kissel regirets selling cair to is father made SCENE 1 yrr jr 1 rA'h AH sS'j I '-'U i 1 happen long before it actually did," said Kissel. "People went to assembly-line production and that eliminated the ability to produce a custom car. That was lower-cost transportation. Kissel still custom built instead of making a straight assembly-line car." In the meantime, the company produced only 145,000 cars, the most famous of which was the Kissel Gold Bug. It also produced taxis, hearses, ambulances and firetrucks.

Robert Sr. worked in all departments of his father's car company summers during his high school and college days. By the time he graduated in 1930 from college, however, manufacturing had virtually ceased. According to a scrapbook of William L. on the company, a patternmaker employed by his father, Louis Kissel of the Hartford Plow Works, made a drawing of a four-cylinder gas engine in 1905 and offered the pattern if the company would made the castings.

William L. wrote: "We then decided to build up a car and bought the necessary parts such as a frame, axles, transmission, steering gear, wheels, radiator and a roadster body which we finished in 1905." The first car was called a Badger. Two years later 100 KisselKars, as they were known before World War were produced. In 1908 a five-passenger touring car "fully equipped with top, windshield, gas lamps and the then new Pres-to-Lite gas tank" was introduced along with a two-passenger roadster with a single or bucket rear seat known as the mother-in-law seat. With the rest of the automakers, Kissel continued to make progress.

The 1913 models, William L. noted, had the new electric starter and generator with electric lights. They then moved from making four-cylinder to six-cylinder engines. The company is given credit for being among the first for a number of contributions to the industry its all-year car with a removable solid top, a "soft-top" convertible, balanced engine parts, instrument il By ALICE PAULSEN Of the Prese-Oozttte In its time the Kissel car was the "now" luxury car, recognized internationally for its sporty, sophisticated styling. Today the Kissel, advertised as "every inch a car," is a prized collector's item.

Robert E. Kissel 400 St. Francis Drive, regrets selling the Kissels he once had. His father was one of the founders of the Kissel Motor Car Co. Kissel, former Green Bay divisional manager of Procter Gamble Paper Products, ordered his first reddish-orange Kissel car to his specifications, just like many other customers of the "There was always a car to drive, but this one was mine from the beginning," said Kissel, who received the car at age 19.

It was unusual in that it was a convertible White Eagle "with a special carburetor to get it up to 100 mph, it had three spare wheels and tires, a four-speed transmission. I road-tested the car before it had the body on it, which is how they road tested then." Unfortunately, he didn't appreciate the potential value of the car then and traded it in the mid-1930s. Several years ago he placed what he considered a high bid of $12,000 for a Kissel available through an estate. The restored model sold for $27,000. "I haven't tried to get another," Kissel said.

"They're just to darned expensive unless you're a real car buff." The Kissel Kar Club estimates only 160 Kissels survived the demise of the Hartford, manufacturer and the 51 years since the make was discontinued. His father, William L. Kissel, and uncle, George, went into the car manufacturing business in 1906. The company closed in 1931 with the Depression and the arrival of assembly lines. The Kissel Custom-Built Car couldn't compete against mass production.

"You could tell it was going to lumination, glove compartments, arm rests and interior sun-visors. The ideas of some customers who ordered custom-built cars were incorporated into future models. Pricetags on the Kissels which included coupes, sedans, touring, semi-touring, speedsters and others ranged from $1,500 to $4,500. The most noteworthy of the line, according to Robert was the Kissel two-passenger speedster, or Gold Bug, whose sleek body styling distinguished it from other car models of the time. A Gold Bug "with all the goodies," he recalled, easily fetched $3,000.

It was unveiled at the New York Auto Show in 1918 and was called the "niftiest, raciest and classiest American production car ever to hit the highways" by Road and Track. In 1919 it was dubbed the Gold Bug by the late W.W. Rowland, auto editor of the Milwaukee Journal, because of its chrome yellow finish. The list of celebrities who are said to have owned a Gold Bug includes Amelia Earhart, Al Jolson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Eddie Duchin, Greta Garbo and Rudy Val-lee. The prestige car was designed by "Fritz" Weiner, a body engineer and master coach builder who learned the carriage trade in the royal shop of Emperor Franz-Joseph in his native Austria.

"I remember my father saying he had to watch him because he wanted to put curly Qs on the car like he did on coaches," said Kissel. Wemer sketched full-scale cars on a wall drawing board. At one time, Kissel had sales branches in 10 major cities and three foreign countries. The cars sold particularly well on the East and West coasts. From its glory years in the mid-1920s, production of Kissels gradually dwindled.

In 1917, a record 4,000 care were produced. By 1926 output was 1,972 units which dropped to 1,068 in 1928, 889 in 1929, 221 in 1930 and 93 in the final year. In the waning years, the Kissels inn 1 1 nil 11 MiBniT PresvGarette photo by Ken Behrend Robert E. Kissel 400 St. Francis Drive, looks over a Kissel car special section produced by the Hartford Times-Press.

Kissel's father was co-owner of the Hartford, Wis. company that produced the Kissel car, popular in the early 1 900s. attempted to maintain the factory's tion, Kissel converted1 its plant to When the Kissel factory closed, operation by contracting to produce make outboard motors. The factory Robert E. Kissel Sr.

had two Kissei the front-wheel drive Ruxton cars for later was sold, and a 1929 White cars, his brother one and his father another carmaker. That deal fell Eagle speedster found in a basement three, "There isn't one left," said Kissel. cranny was donated to the Wisconsin through. "I wish I had never sold mine." After it discontinued car produc- State Historical Society Museum. l-l WL OTfw -w sssv- SpkioI to the Press-Gazette Speclol to tho Priss-Gozette This 1 927 Kissel Speedster is one of 1 60 Kissel cars that remain since the company closed in 1 931 Amelia Earharfs 1 922 Gold Bug Kissel is now in the Forney Transportation Museum in Denver, About 145,000 Kissel autos were producea in the 25 years me company was in operation.

ww.EaiHiwicuuim, hci yoi.uw anu uiuyc hum. Youths fill calendar with 'Fishers of Men' theme featured on the cover. The cover entry was done by Mark Dart, an eighth grader at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic School, Green Bay. He now is a ninth grader at Edison Junior High School.

Four other area students had their contributions reproduced in the calendar. They were Seone Delahaut, seventh grader at St. Philip Catholic School, Green Bay; Sam Brooker and Paula Marie Smithwick, third graders at Notre Dame School, De Pere, and Leslie Huguet, seventh grader at SS. Peter and Paul School. aspect of vocations is overlooked in today's world.

We need to do all the promoting we can, because there is a shortage of vocations." This year the two organizations are working on the 1983 calendar, including the KC's December promotion on the theme "Keep Christ in Christmas." Planners have to stay at least a year ahead of the schedules. "If you don't, you suddenly find yourself behind in the game," explained Van Hout. Entries are from students in grade school through high school. Sponsors fur nish the poster material, announce the theme and the regulations and the students take it from there. Each club handles the contest in a different way.

Some clubs offer prizes, others provide a different form of recognition. Each club is allowed to submit three posters to the central committee. After the contest is completed the posters are returned to the clubs for display. Judges' decisions are final. Thirteen winning entries were used in the 1982 calendar, one poster for each month of the year and the grand prize winner which is BY JUDY HIERSEMAN Of the Press-Gazette The theme was "Fishers of Men" and entries were submitted by young people, students at Catholic grade schools in Manitowoc, Appleton, Oshkosh and the Green Bay area.

The posters, done in color crayon, were selected for content, artistic ability and effective use of the theme. Winning entries in the competition were used in the 1982 vocations calendar put out by the Serra Clubs and Knights of Columbus of this area. The contest was sponsored by the two clubs as a way of promoting vocations to church ministry. "We try to develop an interest in sisterhood, brotherhood and priesthood," explained Herb Van Hout. With fellow Ser-ran, Robert Hadley and the KC representative, Ray Dufano, the three men served as chairmen of this year's effort.

This is not a statewide promotion. It is a project strictly for the Green Bay Diocese. "Both clubs promote vocations," explained Van Hout, "and we try to stimulate participation. Unfortunately that v. -Stf" I av LJ mmmmm imm mm WW Seeciol to the Press-Gozette his entry earned a Pere, when Mark Dart was an eighth grader at SS.

Peter and Paul School when he took top honors in the Sam Brooker was in second grade at Notre Dame School, De place in the 1982 vocations calendar. vocations calendar contest sponsored by the Knights of Columbus clubs and the Serra Clubs..