Ralph F. Stayer died yesterday. He was responsible for starting a “meat market” in Johnsonville, Wisconsin that evolved into The Johnsonville Sausage Co. The focal point of the Johnsonville line became that “bratwurst” that you all know and love. I think the year was 1945.
During my lifetime, the sausages and the Stayer family have been inextricably woven into my journey.
When I was 5-6 years old, my grandpa Chalk would load me in the black Buick and drive from Plymouth out to Johnsonville. There was a meat market in the middle of Johnsonville (don’t blink or you’d miss the community). The City Club featured Johnsonville hamburgers and steaks for years.
After Chalk died, the City Club switched to Schwallers in Little Elkhart for it’s meat supply but Johnsonville meats opened a meat counter in Bob’s IGA directly across the street in Plymouth. The meat business flourished and was the reason Bob’s IGA stayed in business.
During my high school years, Johnsonville meats switched to a section of the local Red Owl and started to pre-package their products. There was a point in time where brats became the feature because of their spicy formula. The rest is history.
The Johnsonville saga doesn’t end there. While attending Plymouth High, Launa Stayer (the older daughter) was in our graduating class. She was always full of energy and mischief. I think your mom attended some slumber parties with Launa.
Brother Jack was in the high school class of Ralph Jr. (known as RC). He was also mischievous.
I know that my Uncle Bob and Aunt Helene traveled in the same social circles as the elderly Stayers. When my Uncle Bob moved to Florida, he missed the traditional brats so he asked Ralph Sr. for the formula so that he could have a local Florida butcher make the same product. I don’t know if Bob got the exact formula, but he got some semblence of a “meat and spice” combination that approached the original brat taste.
Fast forward to the 1970’s. I remember having lunch with Ralph Jr. at River Wildlife one noon to talk about common business issues. It was amazing how similar our management problems were. We were both frustrated with getting a company to operate efficiently. Well Ralph decided to turn the company over to the “indians”. He literally turned the production issues over the the employees because they knew their issues the best and he gave them the power to solve their problems. I think they are now called “members” of the team, not employees. The strategic move was genius and changed Johnsonville forever.
Then in the 1990’s when I was at the cookie factory, we hired Ralph Jr. to consult with us in an effort to harness the creativeness of our employees. Ralph gave us the “road map” to meaningful employee involvement. We partially succeeded but our Union blocked almost every move because they feared losing their jobs. The Union made a big mistake.
And now you can go any place in the country and you will find Johnsonville products in the meat counter. I understand they do business in 40 countries.
So you see Grasshoppers, to me the Johnsonville products and the Stayer family have always been around. It is a great American success story. I will never understand how two kids (Ralph and myself) grow up in middle America and one becomes fabulously wealthy at a young age and the other is relegated to mixing cookie dough in Ripon. Ah, such is life.
Love,
Dad