About Vinegar makers
People immigrated to the new world with a variety of skills. Some of those coming from the Germanic region of central and western Europe had the knowledge for making malt, yeast, vinegar, beer and pickles. Vinegar makers were brewers just like beer makers. Below is a family tree showing members of the Richter family involved with the vinegar business.
Manitowoc City Directory, 1875. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Manitowoc City Directory, 1875. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Manitowoc City Directory, 1875. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Receipt for Vinegar purchase, 1878. O. Torrison was a general merchant dealer. Image courtesy of Mike Duescher.
History of Northern Wisconsin, 1881, Volume II, page 531
Sanborn map detail, 1883. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Richter Vinegar Plant, ca. 1891. South 8th & Madison St. Image: Courtesy Manitowoc Public Library.
A. M. Richter – date unknown – photo taken from Find a Grave site linked on 2manitowoc.com. Photo posted by Kent Salomon.
Richter Vinegar – This old frame buidling at 710 Madison St. was purchased in 1892. The streaking on the building was caused by the vinegar fumes. Photo: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Richter vinegar article found in the Manitowoc Illustrated, published by Manitowoc Pilot newspaper on January 2, 1896. Image source: Manitowoc County Historical Society. Submitted by Mike Duescher.
A. M. Richter – History of Manitowoc County by Louis Falge, editor, 1912. P. 186-87. Source: Image Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Sanborn map detail, 1912. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Manitowoc “the city of opportunities”, 1929. p. 18. Source: Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
A.M. Richter Vinegar plant, 1929 from above publication and source. Location: 1819 S. 9th St. looking northeast.
The best history summary for Richter Vinegar – Source: Manitowoc Herald Times, July 25, 1961. Submitted by Mike Duescher.
View north from Lincoln High School tower, ca. 1946 – ca. 1947. This photo by Thomas Rees shows the Richter Vinegar Plant at 710-714 Madison St. The three story brick building is in the yellow circled area . Beginning in 1948, this buidling would be used by the Hires Lakeshore Bottling Co. Photo: Courtesy of Manitowoc Public Library.
Richter Vinegar Plant, 1819 S. 9th St. looking northeast, 1965. Image: Courtesy of Manitowoc County Historical Society, submitted by Mike Duescher.
Detail of above 1965 photo looking northeast showing Cooperage sign. Submitted by Mike Duescher. The Cooperage shop would have made and repaired the wooden barrels used to store the vinegar. See photo of barrel below this photo.
Richter 29 gallon wooden vinegar barrel. Image courtesy of Doug Richter. One of the ways these barrels would be used was by grocers placing a barrel in their stores and then offering bulk sales of the vinegar via a hand pump on top of each barrel. Customers would fill their own glass bottles and then be charged a weight by the grocer. This practice existed into the early 1960s and was then discontinued due to several reasons. First, the grocers began stocking glass bottles of different sizes for direct sales. Secondly, some grocers would dilute their vinegar as the barrels were emptied as a way to make more profit. Customers would complain about the vinegar not working in their recipes. Eventually, manufacturers like Richter would test the vinegar strength and discover this dilution scheme being conducted by certain grocers. So this problem went away when the vinegar was only made available in prefilled glass containers. And speaking about adulterated vinegar, the article below this vinegar barrel image was was put out by A.M. Richter to reassure the public regarding his product.
A.M. Richter’s ad in newspaper from March 3rd, 1879. Image: Submitted by Mike Duescher.
Richter distilled white vinegar gallon glass bottle. Image courtesy of Doug Richter. Glass bottles of this size were used until about 1973 when they were replaced by plastic bottles.
Richter apple cider vinegar gallon glass bottle. Image courtesy of Doug Richter. Glass bottles of this size were used until about 1973 when they were replaced by plastic bottles.
Richter distilled white vinegar quart glass bottle – 1976. Image courtesy of Doug Richter. Bottles of this size and smaller were used into the 1980s when they were replaced by plastic bottles.
Richter Vinegar Plant building. 714 Madison St., 1969. Daryl Cornick photo. The building by this time would have been used for Richter’s bottling division. Source: Courtesy of Manitowoc County Historical Society, submitted by Mike Duescher.
Richter Vinegar Plant, 1819 S. 9th St. looking south, 1975. Photo courtesy of David Leider from his book, Pickle and Vinegar Makers of the Midwest, published in 2015.
