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Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage presentation

At age 12, Frank J. Hess Sr. wanted to learn the cooperage trade, so he served a 3-year cooperage apprenticeship at Pilsner Brewery in Pilsen, Bohemia.  At the age of 20 he immigrated to America where he worked as a cooper manufacturing white oak beer kegs for a short time in Chicago and Prairie du Chien.  In 1904, he moved to Madison to start an independent cooperage business.  His business, the Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage factory, was on Schenk’s Corners for 62 years.  It was Wisconsin’s largest independent cooperage.  The last cooperage factory in America that manufactured white oak beer kegs, the Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage factory closed in 1966. 

Today, Jim and Gary Hess, grandsons of Frank J. Hess, honor their grandfather’s legacy by giving visual presentations to historical societies and library groups.  Join us for one of these special presentations at the Oak Creek Public Library.





 

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