These records of the Fisher-Fallgatter Mill are the papers that were left in the mill when it was closed by Don Fallgatter in 1969. Unfortunately, the documentation is not complete, and there is little information in the collection before 1941. Even for the more recent period, coverage is hindered by the absence of summary financial records such as ledgers, journals, and financial statements. (The bibliography in Polly Athan's study mentions two invoice journals, 1906-1943, and a resource and liabilities journal, 1917-1943, but both were missing from the collection that was received by the Historical Society in 1979. Nevertheless, researchers will find good evidence of the operation of the mill during its last quarter century. Much of this documentation is routine and no specific file category covers the 1941-1969 period completely. But taken together the records permit researchers to piece together the remarkable story of the Fisher-Fallgatter mill. The records are organized into three series, BACKGROUND FILE, CORRESPONDENCE, and ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS.
The BACKGROUND FILE consists of the history written by Polly Athan for the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1979 (Technological Watersheds on the Waupaca River: A History of Fisher-Fallgatter Mill); directory references dated 1959 and 1968, and a photocopy of several relevant pages from the 1888 book, Illustrated Waupaca. A 1979 newspaper clipping notes the mill's opening as a museum. Most important are the oral history interviews conducted by Polly Athan with Don Fallgatter and two former mill employees.
CORRESPONDENCE dating from the early 1940s through the mill's closure in 1969 constitutes the heart of the collection. The correspondence documents such day-to-day operations as purchasing of grain; flour sales to bakers and jobbers in the Midwest and on the East Coast; purchase of supplies and services; maintenance of the mill, machinery, and dam; relationships with customers, grain brokers, and shippers; and investments in grain futures. Significant correspondents include suppliers such as the Bemis, Chase, and Fredman bag companies, Allis-Chalmers, and Twin City Machine Co.; flour brokers including Brey & Sharpless, Follett & Leach, and Mohr-Holstein Commission Co.; flour re-sellers such as Burgess Flour Co., Franke Grain, and LaBudde Feed & Grain Co.; and large commercial bakers including Laub Baking. Some personal correspondence concerning purchases, medical care, and similar issues is included, but the amount is not substantial. Although the correspondence covers the period from the early 1940s through 1969, there is a gap from 1958 through 1965 during which there is virtually no representation. Also included is some material from the 1930s, but this is fragmentary. Much of the correspondence, especially the letters dealing with the purchase of grain and the sale and shipment of flour, has invoices and bills of lading attached. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent with reverse chronological arrangement within each folder.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include financial records about sales and disbursements and other miscellaneous files used in the day-to-day management of the business. From 1962 through the end of the business, the financial records primarily consist of a chronologically-arranged file of sales slips. The slips are not only a record of the sales, but they also record purchases from grain producers and the checks written, so this file functions in effect as a financial journal. Generally, the sales slips record the customer name, the date, and quantity, type and price of the flour sold or grain purchased. Records of disbursement are present as files of check stubs and invoices. The invoices are arranged into two groups: one file covering 1940 to 1942 and a second file covering 1948 to 1955. Thereunder the records are arranged alphabetically by company name. Some additional invoices are interfiled with the correspondence. The collection also includes a file of check stubs dating from the 1950s through 1960s that includes disbursement and payroll information.
Production is documented in several ways. The most systematic records of this type are two volumes that serve as a rail shipment account journal, 1949-1965. They document the date and weight shipped to each customer, together with occasional comments on the condition of the freight cars. This is complemented by bills of lading that indicate the type of flour, the customer, and the shipping charges. Also included are packer's reports (1946-1947, 1955-1956, 1959-1960, 1963-1965, and 1967-1969) that record the date and quantity of all flour bagged during those years, together with information on type. Loading cards record rail shipments by date, customer, type and quantity from 1956 through 1969. Additionally there are milling statistics compiled for the United States Department of Commerce (1948-1954) and scattered government inspections and reports.
Miscellaneous administrative files include inventories (including one from 1918); insurance and investment documents; Don Fallgatter's federal income tax returns, 1939-1942; blank forms; and a hand-drawn diagram of a milling machine.
