Because I cannot find a photo of Bruno S. Flersheim, a snippet from his pre-Prohibition saloon sign will do as a surrogate. If alive today the Kansas City liquor dealer would be astounded to know that the picture, one the Flersheims gave away, in 2019 fetched $37,500 at auction plus buyer’s premium. Remember that this is not an oil painting, but a color image lithographed on tin. It is not one of a kind although only a handful may exist today in pristine form.
Look carefully at this saloon sign. It is not complicated. A mustached young gentleman is lounging in his lavish study with a small glass in his hand and a bottle of “Seal of Kentucky” bourbon at hand. His thoughts — let’s call them fancies — have strayed to three stark naked women floating in the air above him. Each of them has a glass of whiskey at hand and seem to be beckoning to him. Thus the title of the saloon sign: “It’s Tempting.” The message is unambiguous,
But is it worth $37,500?
We don’t know what Bruno Flersheim would think. He was born in Norden Germany in May 1848, the son of Samuel and Caroline Frankel Flersheim. Norden is a town in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea, with a small harbor and port, as shown here. Bruno had three younger siblings, a sister, Pauline, and two brothers, Adolph and Oscar. Adolph and Oscar would follow him to America.
Facts about Bruno’s early life are scant, including his date of entry into the United States and initial employment. From a passport application it appears he achieved citizenship in January, 1876, in Kansas City. At that time Bruno would have been 28 years old. The passport contains a brief physical description. He was very short, only five feet, two inches. He had a receding hairline, a prominent nose and his oval face sported a dark brown beard.
Bruno was captured in the 1870 census at 22 years old living in a boardinghouse and working as a traveling salesman for an unnamed liquor dealer, suggesting that he must have been fairly fluent in English. In Kansas City he met Laura Ellinger, born in Maryland of German immigrant parents. They married in 1877 and over the nrxt nine years would have four children, three girls and a boy. One daughter died in infancy.
Perhaps responding to the financial requirements of parenting, Bruno in 1879 opened his own wholesale liquor store at 412-414 Delaware Avenue, its location for the next 39 years. Assuming a correct identification, it was the three story building shown here, one with considerable room for expansion as the business grew. And it did. In a 1900 Kansas City roster of industrial and mercantile organizations B. S. Flersheim is listed among the prominent liquor houses of the city. The publication was pointed in noting: “This trade represents a large amount of invested capital.”
Like many wholesale dealers, Flersheim apparently was busy as a rectifier, that is blending raw whiskeys to achieve a particular color, taste and smoothness. In addition to Seal of Kentucky, Flersheim’s proprietary brands were “Old Bondage” and “Old Kingdom.” While giving away shot glasses under those names.he bothered to trademark only the latter.
According to Kansas City directories, by 1882 Bruno had been joined in his business by his brother Adolph, listed as a “commercial traveler.” Adolph learned the business and eventually joined Bruno as a partner. This proved fortuitous for the future of the company. In September 1892, Bruno succumbed to a heart condition and died. He was buried in Kansas City’s Elmwood Cemetery at the memorial and gravestone shown here.
Adolph took over operation of the Flersheim liquor house. More than that, a year and a half later he married Bruno’s widow, Laura, thus consolidating ownership of the company. She was three years older than he. The Kansas City newspapers took notice of this private marriage headlining: “Adolph S. Flersheim and his Brother’s Widow United by Justice Shannon. It reported that “Immediately after the marriage Mr. and Mrs. Flersheim departed for a bridal trip through the East.” They would return by May 5.
Adolph made only one small change in the company name. After 1893, it became B. S. Flersheim Mercantile. Thus giveaway artifacts after that time can be credited to Adolph, as in the bartender knives shown above and below. That would include the saloon sign. By that time the third Flersheim brother, Oscar, had joined the company, working as the bookkeeper.
With Oscar’s help, Adolph successfully guided the liquor house for the next 26 years, taking B.S. Flersheim Mercantile into the 20th Century. The brothers closed the doors for good in 1918 as National Prohibition loomed and their regional markets were severely constricted. Adolph retired, living until 1924 when he passed at age 63. Laura followed three years later at age 74. All three Flersheims are buried in Elwood Cemetery. A $37,500 slightly naughty saloon sign remains to remind us of the Flersheim legacy.
Note: This post was assembled from a host of sources the most important of which was ancestry.com.
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