Local ceramic tile artist releasing book on former South Milwaukee tile company
After nearly 30 years of research, three authors ― including a local tile-maker ― are releasing a new book that tells the story of one Belgian immigrant and his connection to a South Milwaukee-based tile company working to stay in business through the middle of the 20th century.
The book, titled “Carl Bergmans and the Continental Faience & Tile Co.,” will make its debut during a special event from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the Bucyrus Club, 1919 12th Ave., South Milwaukee. It will sell for $60.
Ben Tyjeski, an art teacher at Garland Elementary in Milwaukee, has been working on this book along with Phoenix, Arizona-based tile collectors Kelly Dudley and Kathy Roberts for many years.
Continental Faience and Tile Company operated in South Milwaukee from 1925 to 1943, according to Tyjeski. Tiles made there can be found throughout Wisconsin and in buildings in Minnesota, Ohio and Florida, he said.
The 272-page hardcover book covers the company’s history along with the life of Belgian immigrant Carl Bergmans, who Tyjeski said kept the business going through the difficult years when many tile companies were closing.
It contains 1,200 color photos and 75 black-and-white pictures documenting many tile designs, the factory itself and more. The narrative portion contains comments from Bergmans’ own letters ― including some to famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
After the company revamped the factory to produce pottery during its last few years in operation, the business closed in 1943 due to a worker shortage caused by World War II, Tyjeski said.
The building at 909 Menomonee Ave. was torn down in 2008.
For those who can’t attend the launch event, the book will be available for purchase at the Bucyrus Museum, at Historic Milwaukee, Inc. in downtown Milwaukee, and at the Urban Milwaukee store. There will be no eBook available.
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Three authors connected by a love of tile
Dudley and Roberts have been working on the book for almost 30 years, according to a news release about the event. Tyjeski got involved about five years ago.
“I’m just really excited to be able to share this information,” Tyjeski said. “For them to get to this point I can only imagine. I was in middle school when they started working on this.”
After publishing his first book on architectural terra cotta in Milwaukee, Tyjeski turned his attention to Continental Tile and Faience for his next project.
“I didn’t really know a ton about the company,” he said.
He went to a Milwaukee-area historical society and was connected with his co-authors, who’d been researching from a distance in Arizona.
“The fact that I live here and know the community and its architecture, I was able to help with the groundwork here,” Tyjeski, who lives with his husband in a home on Milwaukee's west side, said.
Roberts is a South Milwaukee native who grew up just down the street from the factory, Tyjeski said. It was on a trip to her home state in the mid-'90s when she noticed tiles on the entrance floor of a building on Menomonee Avenue. After speaking with the owner, the name "Continental Tile and Faience Company" came up and “that’s when it all began,” Tyjeski said.
While the Arizona-based co-authors won’t physically be in attendance on Dec. 6, Tyjeski said “they’ll be there in spirit.”
The book was self-published to maintain creative control
This is the fourth book Tyjeski has self-published. The trio did speak with some publishing companies and got some advice.
“I kind of figured we would be self-publishing it, because that’s something I do,” Tyjeski said. “Quite frankly, I don’t want to let go of that control. I see these books as a form of art themselves.”
Tyjeski said he has a few more books in the works, including one about a downtown Milwaukee neighborhood inspired by the Chicago World’s Fair. Other books will focus on terra cotta and tile from other sites in southeastern Wisconsin.
“We have this history here and I’m hoping this will open up people’s eyes more,” Tyjeski said.
More information about the "Carl Bergmans and the Continental Faience & Tile Co." book can be found at www.continentalfaience.com.
Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on X @Redheadliner.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New book chronicles history of South Milwaukee tile company
