Suppliers and Manufacturers
American Can Company - 2127 N.W. 26th, Portland.--A block or two west of the old Vaughn St. Ball Park. Production stopped in 1960 and moved out of Portland. This compnay manufactured metal containers (tin cans), and also beginning in the 1950's fiberboard containers. The building was built in 1921.
Provided by Ed Jackson
B. P. John Furniture - According to John Condon, the grandson of B. P. John, "I know my grandfather hired many German craftsman while he was operating the plant sometimes even arranging house purchases for them. I don't know how many were of Russian ancestry." Mr. Condon goes on to say, "My grandfather sold the plant in 1953. The Nyssen family took over and Bob Nyssen who was the son of one of the buyers has always told me what an incredible work force they inherited."
Many of the lots documented on early Albina real estate maps are shown as being owned by B. P. John. Some of the Volga German residents walked from NE Portland to their jobs at the B. P. John factory near John's Landing in SW Portland.
A book title Bruno Paul John - An Oregon legacy by Kathryn Hurd was published in 2001.
Beaver Brass Foundry - Adam and John Koch of were the founders and owners of Beaver Brass. The Koch's ancestry traces to Kolb, Russia.
Bretthauer Oil - Bretthauer Oil of Hillsboro was started by Don Bretthauer. His Grandparents were Fred Bretthauer who married Anna Marie Weber, both of Brunnental, Russia before coming to US and settling in Hillsboro in about 1900. Bretthauer Oil is today a successful business serving Hillsboro and surrounding areas since the 1950's. This business is located at 453 SW Washington in Hillsboro, Oregon. (submitted by Lake Boggan)
Bretthauer Oil Company Website
Coast Fir and Cedar Products Company - This business was owned by John Miller.
George E. Miller Lumber Company
Fought and Co. Steel Company - This business was founded by Joseph Fought (originally Voght) and continues in operation today. His brothers George, Ralph, Johnny and Tony worked with him at his plant for years. To this day Tony, Johnny, Joe and George along with there sisters Lillian, Katherine, Theresa, Helen's children live in the area or in Washington state. Joe started as a janitor for a steel company in Canada and saved until he could come to the United States. He worked for the company for a few years and then bought it and turned it into one of the largest steel companies in the U.S. Joseph Fought was born in Mannheim, Germany and moved to Russia then to Canada. He spent all of his adult years living in Portland and was very proud of your town. His greatest legacy, other than his family, is the many donations he made (like the hospital wings) to the adopted town he loved so much. Joe and many of his siblings and his mother are buried in Portland. Contributed by Toni Harper, Arlington, Washington - September 1999
Fought and Company Inc. Web Site
According to Jan Medina, another employer in Portland was the Hyster Company. "My grandfather, Henry Dietz, was a blacksmith in Russia and after coming to Portland went to work for the Hyster Company."
Leel Oil Company - Leel Oil was owned by John "Lampa Oel" Leel
Market Supply Company - Founded in 1958 by John Schnell and his brother Phil. The company business is selling meat processors' and butchers' equipment and supplies. When John Schnell died in June 1970, his wife Esther Schnell (nee Deines) took over John's half of the business with her son, Donald. In 1971, Esther and Donald became co-owners of Market Supply Co. Esther retired from the company in 1991 at the age of 78. John and Esther's grandchildren still own and successfully operate the company today (July 2005). This business is located at 139 SE Taylor in Portland.
New Haven Carriage Works - Owned by John Wagner. Mr. Wagner purchased the business from a man who lived in New Haven, Connecticut, thus the name. After Mr. Wagner's death the business was run by his three sons: Charles, Edward, and Richard. The business was originally located in Southwest Portland and later moved to Southeast Portland. The following Oregonian article was written to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this business in 1980:
The Oregonian, 1980
Customizer ready for 100th birthday
By BOB OLMOS
of The Oregonian staff
Horses to horsepower - that's the time bridge spanned by New Haven Carriage & Auto Works Inc., 2323 S.E. Clatsop St.
The business, which started out making horse-drawn carriages and now customizes truck bodies, will celebrate its 100th birthday July 4.
The date isn't the actual anniversary of the business founded in 1880 by Frank Tannader, a Swedish blacksmith from New Haven, Conn., No one today is certain just when Tannader opened up business at Northwest Fourth Avenue and Glisan Street.
“But if you're going to pick a date to celebrate, you might as well pick a good one," said Richard Wagner, company president.
With everyone geared up for the Fourth of July, July 3 seemed like a good time to hold an open house at the business location off McLoughlin Boulevard to observe the July 4 “birthday.”
New Haven's business history is linked with that of other Oregon enterprises.
“The company built all the horse-drawn wagons that Meier & Frank used to use at the turn of the century,” Wagner said. “Then when Meier & Frank went into trucks, we did that work, too. We still do all of Meier & Frank's customizing work.”
Maletis Inc., Pacific Seafood Co. Inc., Pacific Coca-Cola Bottling Co. are other customers that help keep the business grossing around $350,000 per year.
“Eighty-five percent of our business is return business - replacing and repairing equipment - rather than new customers,” said Wagner, 60, a native of Portland and a graduate of Jefferson High School.
Wagner owns the business with Edward L. Muth, vice president.
Tannader, who started his business in New Haven; moved to Oregon with the big rush of population to the West Coast during the last half of the 19th century. In 1904, John Wagner, born in Russia of German parents, started work in the shop and by 1912 he and his brother George had acquired the business. John bought George out in 1927. Later, John's three sons, Carl, Edward and Richard, joined the business. Carl and Edward are deceased. Muth, who started as an apprentice body builder in 1945, advanced through the years to shop foreman and became co-owner in 1978.
“My father was a blacksmith,” Wagner said. “He came from a family of blacksmiths. In those days, the son always followed in the footsteps of their fathers.”
From 1880 until 1909, the company operated as a general blacksmith shop building and repairing horse-drawn wagons. The first truck bodies were constructed in 1909 and by 1914 the last wagon was built. In 1916, the firm moved to Northwest Fifth Avenue and Everett Street. It was located at Southeast 11th Avenue and Main Street from 1956 [note: this date should be 1958] to 1972, at which time it moved to its present site.
Open house hours will be from noon until 4 p.m., Wagner said.
Wagner Auto Wheel Works - Owned and operated by the Wagner family from Brunnental, Russia.
Willamette Gas Engine & Machine Works - Owned by Jacob A. Webber. His family is from Brunnental, Russia.
B.P. John Furniture
Exerpts from the book BRUNO PAUL JOHN-An Oregon Legacy by Kathryn Hurd provided courtesy of John Condon
B.P owned rentals in several areas in Portland. Many immigrant Russian woodworkers lived in his houses in Albina. There was a grocery store on NE 15th and Alberta. Lester (his son) collected the rents. In the "good old days", Mrs. Bottom paid $5.00 per month for her small house near the Roseway Theater on Union Avenue...B.P. owned a number of properties in the Fulton area, some of which he rented to his workers. He once met a man
from the old country who was looking for a place for his family to live. "Here. Take this house," B.P. told him. "I'11 charge you $50 a month." The man asked, "For how long?" "I'll tell you when to stop," B.P. replied. He gave the man the key and drove off. Larry (B.P. John’s nephew), who witnessed the transaction, still wonders if the man's wife liked
the house, or wanted to live there at all.
From the time Bruno (B.P. John) worked at Doernbecher, he received a stream of"guests"
in his home study. Men came many evenings, sometimes lining the foyer, and often interrupting the family dinner. B.P. was a fair individual who had come up the hard way. He expected a full day's work for a full day's pay. When a man was down, however, he could come to B.P., who believed in the tenet of helping a man help himself. No one was
privy to the conversations in his study, but when a man emerged, he had the money in hand that he needed. It was not a gift, but a loan, with interest. 1939 was a terrible year. Conferences in the den lasted until nearly 11:00 P.M. when a weary Bruno finally rejoining his wife. When the meal was interrupted, Helen would ask, "Can't they wait? You haven't eaten." "I can't now," Bruno would tell her. Then, with his eyes misting he would say,
"When a man needs, he needs.” Incidentally, although B.P. didn't like strikes, he had loaned many of those who were striking his own plant enough to keep going. One man asked for a raise because his wife was in the hospital. B.P. denied it. Nevertheless, when his wife was released, the man
found that B.P. had paid the bill.
B.P. John was born in a small town near Berlin, Germany. He helped many, many immigrants-Russians, Germans, etc. He bought Jones Lumber (established in 1859) in August of 1946 after it passed through four generations of the Jones family. - John Condon