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Intelligence
July 2009 
Independence Holiday into Frohman Past
Posted on Jul 6th, 2009
by 
Charles
Charles
My wife and I wanted to get out of town for the Independence holiday, and all we knew was that we wanted to drive a full day out of Washington, find some cool water, camping and mountains, and avoid traffic. We settled on Sandusky, Ohio, because it's on Lake Erie, includes the Appalachians to and fro, and allows for some nostalgia to my Frohman history.
Sandusky's where my dad grew up, so I asked him where we should go. He recommended visiting President Rutherford B. Hayes' center because it contains the voluminous collections of grampa Charles Frohman. When Frohman wasn't lawyering for Hinde and Dauch paper company, he collected history for Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland, and it's now being professionalized in his own section at President Hayes library, as the Charles Frohman Collection.
Some of Frohman's prized collections include the letters from abolitionist martyr John Brown; and War Between the States (Civil War) financier Jay Cooke (who is criticized as a railroad crook by economic historian Tom DiLorenzo), who had a castle on Put in Bay Island, where Hinde and Dauch Paper president Sidney Frohman had a lodge. Also in Charles' collections are original writings from his uncle Charles and Daniel's Broadway productions. Historians are keenly interested also in Charles' book about the role of Lake Erie in the Civil War, "Rebels of Lake Erie".
What helped Charles get the means and ability for collecting historical documents, and what helped his uncle Sidney get that island lodge, was their role in building one of the world's most important paper companies, Hinde and Dauch. The Hinde and Dauch Paper company revolutionized corrugated cardboard, for shipping. The main mill and factory was located in Sandusky, here, but there were 26 H&D factories in 18 cities in two countries. The demand was huge:
Here's the Home of Sidney, who also maintained a cottage along the northeast coast of Put In Bay island - sorry this map doesn't show the exact location, but look for a long dock that was needed to accomodate his yacht. My wife and I wanted to camp out on one of Sandusky's islands, but all that was left was this lousy resort on Middle Bass Island, at St Hazards - notice the old grass landing strip ABOVE the main airport - that's where dad landed in the 1950s, delivering newspapers from Sandusky. One of the nicest parts of the trip was the visit to Charles Frohman's house, where dad grew up, on the Cedar Point peninsula (home of the world famous roller coaster mecca of the same name).
Frohman lodge is mentioned in this article about theater on the island, and what's interesting is the piece mentions Sidney's cousins, the Broadway producers Daniel and Charles Frohman, the latter of whom was played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie "Finding Neverland" with Johnny Depp, about Frohman's acquisition of the play Peter Pan in London, to bring it back to the U.S. The producer Frohman was listed along with Vanderbilt when both died in the sinking of the ship Lusitania - a controversial tragedy (because it illegally contained armaments for the British) that allowed President Wilson to begin demonizing the germans to get the US to back the British in the war.
The original Frohman's - David and Henry - arrived from Darmstadt, Germany because of the European revolutions of 1848: they arrived in New York and traveled the country in a covered wagon selling tin pots, until settling on Lake Erie. This migration is the focus of a brand new exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
After a Frohman soujourn in Sandusky, we drove back towards DC, driving through Ohio's southeast mountains, staying at the peaceful Blue Rock State Park, where we also swam.
So we had a nice Independence soujourn back to my Frohman past on the shore of Lake Erie, and got away from it all in Ohio's mountains before returning to Washington. Back to summer school teaching, and back to my own graduate summer school.
P.S. For those into art, my other grandfather, on my mother's side, is considered by some the greatest abstract painter of the 20th century. There's now a sharp wiki page to view the works of Paul Fontaine, here. He even has a Facebook fanpage.
Sandusky's where my dad grew up, so I asked him where we should go. He recommended visiting President Rutherford B. Hayes' center because it contains the voluminous collections of grampa Charles Frohman. When Frohman wasn't lawyering for Hinde and Dauch paper company, he collected history for Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland, and it's now being professionalized in his own section at President Hayes library, as the Charles Frohman Collection.
Some of Frohman's prized collections include the letters from abolitionist martyr John Brown; and War Between the States (Civil War) financier Jay Cooke (who is criticized as a railroad crook by economic historian Tom DiLorenzo), who had a castle on Put in Bay Island, where Hinde and Dauch Paper president Sidney Frohman had a lodge. Also in Charles' collections are original writings from his uncle Charles and Daniel's Broadway productions. Historians are keenly interested also in Charles' book about the role of Lake Erie in the Civil War, "Rebels of Lake Erie".
What helped Charles get the means and ability for collecting historical documents, and what helped his uncle Sidney get that island lodge, was their role in building one of the world's most important paper companies, Hinde and Dauch. The Hinde and Dauch Paper company revolutionized corrugated cardboard, for shipping. The main mill and factory was located in Sandusky, here, but there were 26 H&D factories in 18 cities in two countries. The demand was huge:
"...Boxes to ship four one gallons of paint; boxes to ship complete sets of dishes; boxes to ship bed room furniture; boxes to ship large radios; boxes to ship butter, and when opened to be used as counter displays; boxes to ship cookies and crackers, also used as display units. Hundreds of styles to ship thousands of products have been designed, and every day new ones are being added."It was Sidney who joined H&D in 1910 as Treasurer, and who, upon Mr. Dauch's passing in 1918, became president of the company. Industrialization was demanding more, and a bigger variety of, corrugated shipping boxes, so the company ballooned over several decades, before being sold to Westvaco in 1952.
Here's the Home of Sidney, who also maintained a cottage along the northeast coast of Put In Bay island - sorry this map doesn't show the exact location, but look for a long dock that was needed to accomodate his yacht. My wife and I wanted to camp out on one of Sandusky's islands, but all that was left was this lousy resort on Middle Bass Island, at St Hazards - notice the old grass landing strip ABOVE the main airport - that's where dad landed in the 1950s, delivering newspapers from Sandusky. One of the nicest parts of the trip was the visit to Charles Frohman's house, where dad grew up, on the Cedar Point peninsula (home of the world famous roller coaster mecca of the same name).
Frohman lodge is mentioned in this article about theater on the island, and what's interesting is the piece mentions Sidney's cousins, the Broadway producers Daniel and Charles Frohman, the latter of whom was played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie "Finding Neverland" with Johnny Depp, about Frohman's acquisition of the play Peter Pan in London, to bring it back to the U.S. The producer Frohman was listed along with Vanderbilt when both died in the sinking of the ship Lusitania - a controversial tragedy (because it illegally contained armaments for the British) that allowed President Wilson to begin demonizing the germans to get the US to back the British in the war.
The original Frohman's - David and Henry - arrived from Darmstadt, Germany because of the European revolutions of 1848: they arrived in New York and traveled the country in a covered wagon selling tin pots, until settling on Lake Erie. This migration is the focus of a brand new exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
After a Frohman soujourn in Sandusky, we drove back towards DC, driving through Ohio's southeast mountains, staying at the peaceful Blue Rock State Park, where we also swam.
So we had a nice Independence soujourn back to my Frohman past on the shore of Lake Erie, and got away from it all in Ohio's mountains before returning to Washington. Back to summer school teaching, and back to my own graduate summer school.
P.S. For those into art, my other grandfather, on my mother's side, is considered by some the greatest abstract painter of the 20th century. There's now a sharp wiki page to view the works of Paul Fontaine, here. He even has a Facebook fanpage.
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