Reprint about Weishaupt's Cafe' from our earlier blog posting at https://bunkerhillhistory.blogspot.com/2014/10/weishaupts-cafe.html
Article by the late Carolyn Scroggins
Ask anyone who lived in Bunker Hill in the late 1920's through the early 1950's, about Weishaupt's Cafe' and you will hear nothing but good comments about the delicious meals served there.
Clara and Ed (Cappy) Weishaupt were the proprietors. They lived on a small farm at the southwest edge of Bunker Hill (the Vollmar place). The restaurant business began in the Warner Building about 1926 then moved across the alley where Dia's Beauty Shop is today (now House of Styles). The property was two stories with rooms for boarders and other rooms downstairs besides [sic] the restaurant. Mrs. Freeman, who taught Latin, with her daughter Shirley, roomed there and many others through the years. Mrs. Weishaupt was a hard worker. Cappy usually sat in a rocking chair by the front window. Someone said he and Warner Rull liked to go to the races.
Weishaupt's was a favorite place for the working man to eat and generous portions were common. Marie Kampwerth remembers her husband took a silo filling crew to town to eat in September of '46 when she wasn't up to cooking for the gang. The men and cooks lined up across the street in front of the former Gazette-News building for a picture.
The Sunday chicken dinners were popular with townspeople. Even in the 1930's, it was reported that "People drove miles to eat Clara Weishaupt's sumptuous chicken dinners". During the week, when school was in session, hamburgers were fried ahead of time and kept warm in a very large dishpan lined and covered with towels. I wonder how many hamburgers could fit in a large dishpan. Some refer to them as greasy but everyone says they were good. We used to like grease, remember?
Ralph Gerdt remembers the Commercial Club met for supper in her dining room which was followed by their regular meeting. She also served family groups there. She catered large groups such as alumni banquets in Lincoln Hall over the drug store. Ralph remembers men telling about the strong coffee Mrs. Weishaupt made in her big coffee pot, but she also had a smaller pot that wasn't so strong which Bill Behrens preferred.
There was a well in front of the cafe' about 10 feet in front of the sidewalk. Grandma Ladendorff used the well water in her store and living quarters but we don't know if Clara did. Marie has a picture showing the pump and the drinking cup.
Lilly Welch (Brueggeman) and Clara Weishaupt were good friends. Clara was almost like a second mother. Lilly rode in early every morning with her brother, Ross, who worked at Ed Bruckert's garage. She stayed at Weishaupt's until it was time to go to school, then after school, she stayed there until Ross got off work. She remembers Clara was such a good cook. She made delicious pumpkin pie by using her hand packed ice cream which made it rich. Her dressing, made with currants, was delicious.
Thelma Roberts remembers when she was in grade school, Angie Bertagnolli took the kids money for hamburgers. Bob Woods mother, Lula, worked in 1929 and '30 and again in 1937 and '38. He said she and others worked very hard. His mother killed and dressed chickens, and she did the boarders laundry and other people in town brought laundry at times. Mrs. Weishaupt had a gasoline powered washing machine.
Delores Kehr (Davis) who began work there in '46, said when you were hired, it wasn't just to be a waitress but included many household chores. Most people I've talked with seem to think that the restaurant closed following the tornado, but Delores said it was open into the early to mid 50's. The tornado took the top story so her business wasn't the same. No doubt her health was the cause of the closing. Thelma remembers Mrs. Weishaupt lived with the Gerhardt's in her latter years.
Marie Kampwerth says the weekday menu always included roast beef, roast pork, and baked ham, and meals were ready to be served by 10:00 a.m. The Noll's bread man always ate his noon meal at Weishaupt's at 10 a.m. after he'd finished his town delivery. The Sunday specialty was delicious fried chicken dinner including dessert.
Orland Snedeker said his mother, Laura Dingerson, worked at Weishaupt's Cafe' and that is where she met Orville Snedeker whom she later married. Through the years, Laura used Clara's recipe for cole slaw dressing which included a bit of mustard and it was quite tasty. Orland remembers that patrol boys were feted to a chicken dinner in 1955.
Last week, I mentioned that family dinners could be held in Clara's dining room. Mary Vaughn said the story brought back memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when the Hess family and grandmother gathered in the Weishaupt's dining room.
In March 1956, Joe and Dorothy Blevins moved to Bunker Hill. They remember eating at Weishaupt's. She recalls how the counter defined the edge of the kitchen and you could watch the cooking and serving. She remembers the large block tile floors, the metal top tables, and ice cream chairs. Joe thinks the cafe was possibly open as late as '57.
Speaking of the Blevins makes me think of the Wisch's who made ice cream and sold it from their home in the next block south of the Dairy Queen. Dorothy and I don't remember whether Russell Rigg started making ice cream or Wisch. The Blevins bought the home and ice cream making equipment and for a couple of years tried their hand at the business. Dorothy remembers making cups of ice cream for the Baptist Sunday School picnic at Simmermaker's Grove. They made a cherry garden flavor with cherries and nuts which was the favorite of many.From Bunker Hill Revisited, Volume Six, 1920-1940:
April 6, 1928: A very fine building occupied by the former Rubber Works Plant, was remodeled last summer by the Rull Brothers and is now occupied by the Weishaupt Hotel and Restaurant and Charles Rull Pool Room
June 28, 1940: Enjoy a Spring chicken Dinner for only 40 cents, Sunday, at Weishaupt's Cafe, in Bunker Hill (advertisement).
...Read more about this and other Bunker Hill, IL historical stories here at https://bunkerhillhistory.org/
--Cite this story: The Bunker Hill IL Historical Society. "A Look Back in Bunker Hill History." Bunker Hill Gazette-News, October 8, 2014, February 16, 2017.
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