MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Manitowoc building that housed one of the early manufacturers of Christmas tree ornaments and toys in the country is now the the State Register of Historic Places.
The cream city brick industrial building at 1133 S. 16th Street is the second home of the National Tinsel and Toy Manufacturing Company.
Founded by Henry Stolze Manufacturing Company in 1888, the company grew to have a national and even international market in ornaments, tinsel and related products.
In 1918, the company was purchased by William C. Protz who called it as the National Tinsel and Toy Manufacturing Company, making tinsel and wooden toys, both products of the Stolze Company.
The present plant was built in 1920 and has two later additions built within the first ten years of operation.
During the early twentieth century, the company was a major local industry and employer of women. Under William C. Protz, the company grew to become the largest of its kind in the nation and eventually the world by the beginning of World War II.
Historians say the building conveys the early industrial, labor, and entrepreneurial history of Manitowoc.
The building currently sits empty and is for sale.
