When I have an occasion to watch a re-run of the Lawrence Welk show with his Champagne Music at 6 p.m. on Iowa Public TV Saturday evenings, it brings back pleasant memories of when he was one of the famous customers of the Newton Manufacturing Company back in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s an interesting story worth sharing.
Lawrence Welk was born on March 11, 1903 on a farm near the small, heavily German town of Strasburg, North Dakota. One of eight children, he dropped out of school in the fourth grade to work on the farm and spoke nothing but German until his teen years. He learned to play polka music on his father’s accordion and, at the age of 13, began performing at local dances and social events. Four years later he convinced his father to buy him his own accordion. In exchange he promised to work on the farm until he was 21 and contribute all of his musical earnings to his large family.
Upon turning 21, Welk took up music full time, playing in various polka and vaudeville style bands around the area. One of the best was George Kelley’s Band and this is where the connection between Welk, Kelley and Newton Manufacturing Company came into play. According to historical letters from Lawrence to the folks at Newton, Kelley was very responsible for much of his success and in getting him on his way to stardom.
There is much interesting history of Welk’s travels in the 1930s and 1940s before the Lawrence Welk Show made its national debut in 1955. It became one of TV’s most popular shows, with catch phrases out of Welk’s often repeated words “Wunnerful, Wunnerful,” and also “ah-one-and-ah-two.” He built up a solid base of repeat performers and his popularity continued to grow. Several years later, Kelley retired his band and began a new sales career in the promotional advertising business with Newton Manufacturing Co.
One of Kelley’s best customers was Welk. There always would be a buzz around our office when two or three new orders came our way. Over the years, Welk purchased thousands of Ritepoint pens and pencils with a miniature champagne bottle on top and the Lawrence Welk label. He also used thousands of small key-ring knives carrying his name and a variety of other gifts that were generously given away.
During those years, Beth Murphy in the NMC sales department adopted Lawrence Welk as her special friend. She would write him a personal letter with formal acknowledgements of his orders and usually get a nice reply. She kept copies of those letters written on his letterhead, which included colorful champagne bubbles. She also kept an assortment of samples from his various orders. I’m sure Beth left all this material when she retired many years ago. But interestingly enough, it has all evaporated. So has the little key-ring knife and pen with the champagne bottle that I kept in my desk. Wish I still had them today just for nostalgia. No doubt I figured someone else needed them more.
George Kelley remained as a top flight NMC representative in North Dakota for years. He also got his son-in-law George Goble in Wisconsin to handle the Newton line. In several of Lawrence Welk’s letters to NMC, he mentioned that he would continue to buy from his great friend and mentor George Kelley as long as he lived. When Kelley passed on, so did that business, true to form. Someone else apparently was waiting in the wings.
Lawrence Welk died of pneumonia on May 17, 1992 at the age of 89, but his music and pleasant memories continue to this day.
Olden Days appears on Wednesday. Contact the author at mcneer@pcpartner.net.