Manitowoc’s National Tinsel & Toy Manufacturing Building added to National Register of Historic Places
MANITOWOC – The National Tinsel & Toy Manufacturing Company Building at 1133 S. 16th St. has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Wisconsin Historical Society said in a news release it was added to the register July 26 and was nominated for its local significance in industry. It had been named to the State Register of Historic Places earlier this year and is the 38th Manitowoc County site to be named to the National Register. A full list can be found on the Wikipedia page “National Register of Historic Places listings in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.”
Specializing in Christmas tree ornaments, the company was one of Manitowoc’s leading industries. It grew to become the largest manufacturer of these products in the United States, and by the early 1940s, the world.
The building is associated with innovation within the Christmas tree ornament industry, as the company secured numerous ornament-related patents between the 1890s and 1960s.
The National Tinsel & Toy Manufacturing Company was also one of the largest employers of women in Manitowoc.
Read more about the company: Manitowoc's National Tinsel Company was a pioneer in Christmas tree ornaments, tinsel
The enterprise evolved from the Stolze Manufacturing Company, established by Henry Stolze Jr. in 1888.
In 1915, the company was sold to William C. Protz, and took on the name National Tinsel Manufacturing Company in 1923.
Stolze and Protz were both German immigrants whose entrepreneurship was vital to Manitowoc’s growth and industrialization during the early 20th century, Wisconsin Historical Society said.
The original building and its later additions collectively convey the growth of the company as mergers occurred and manufacturing activities evolved under three generations of Protz family ownership.
The company ceased operations in 2019, but the building stands within a residential neighborhood as a testament to the industry and the area’s workforce history, Wisconsin Historical Society said.
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation's official list of historic places worthy of preservation. Since its inception in 1966, the National Park Service has designated more than 80,000 listings and about 2,400 are in Wisconsin. The register is maintained by the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior.
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Wisconsin Historical Society notes on its website that the majority of properties listed on the National Register are privately owned and are not open to the public. If you plan to visit one, the society said to respect the owners' privacy and avoid trespassing on private property, adding these properties should only be viewed from the public right-of-way.
Learn more about the National Tinsel & Toy Manufacturing Company Building in Manitowoc at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2766. More about the state and national register programs is at https://wisconsinhistory.org/hp/register/.
Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Tinsel & Toy site joins National Register of Historic Places
