Margaret T. Hartnacke
Sometimes you come across a deck design that just grabs your attention and you want to know more. That's what happened when I discovered an interesting card design patent done by M. T. Hartnacke. And that it was a Miss Hartnacke and not a Mister Hartnacke. There had to be a story here.
Our Miss Hartnacke was born Margaret T. Hartnacke just two weeks before Christmas in 1900 on a farm on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Soon her dad would move the family of five in to Grand Rapids and open a saloon and restaurant. Margaret would grow up there with her two sisters, until a brother arrived when her parents were in their forties.
Our Miss Hartnacke was born Margaret T. Hartnacke just two weeks before Christmas in 1900 on a farm on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Soon her dad would move the family of five in to Grand Rapids and open a saloon and restaurant. Margaret would grow up there with her two sisters, until a brother arrived when her parents were in their forties.
After high school Margaret (on the left) worked as a bookkeeper for a machine shop and then as a stenographer for a local typewriter company. In 1923 she joined the expanding electrical conglomerate in Michigan called Consumers Power.
The Consumers Power Company was formed in 1910 through the merger of the properties of the two largest Michigan power companys. Through the Commonwealth Power holding company they controlled almost all the electric utilities in western Michigan, including the Jackson, Albion, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Plainswell, and Grand Rapids electric companies. They also had interests in a number of the electric trolley systems that were one of the most important customers for their electric power. And they controlled most of the gas companies in eastern Michigan. At the time they were the largest utility company in Michigan.
Margaret had a very interesting job with the company. She and another girl were "personal service workers" and visited customers in their homes to discover their wants and hear their complaints. She told the local newspaper "People have come to look on their utility as a friendly institution."
Once people discovered that she wasn't knocking on their door to sell them something she would generally get a welcome reception. She said that sometimes she would be asked her opinion of the homeowner's furnishings or if the drapes matched the decor.
It was not always a dull job. In the summer of 1925 she witnessed the robbery of a pharmacy in a neighborhood she was canvassing. During the getaway there was a gun battle and one robber was wounded as they drove away. She, along with a couple others, was called to court to identify the robbers that had come from Detroit.
During her career with the company she was the Home Lighting Adviser and then became head of the Home Safety Division. She represented the company at major conferences and traveled the state giving talks to groups about electrical safety in the home. It was mainly geared toward the homemaker. Sometimes she used games to teach the ladies about safety. And one thing she probably used was a card game she patented in 1928 she called "Live Wire"
Her patent states; "The main objects of this invention are to provide a game which will educate and familiarize the persons playing it with the various steps necessary to secure electrical service in the home, various household appliances commonly used for domestic purposes together with the amount of current consumed by each, and furthermore the most common kinds and sources of trouble experienced in the use of household electrical current together with the usual aids for overcoming such troubles."
The game consisted of 52 playing cards having upon their faces pictorial illustrations representing various phases in the procedure of securing service of electric current. Other playing cards having upon their faces pictorial illustrations showing household appliances and with designations of the wattage consumed by said devices respectively. Other cards having upon their faces pictorial illustrations representing sources of trouble encountered in the use of such electrical current, and other cards having upon their faces pictorial illustrations representing aids for overcoming such troubles.
Were these cards ever produced? There has been no evidence found that they were. Which seems strange since they were the perfect teaching tool for Margaret's talks.
In 1940 Margaret had moved to Lansing to be part of a new Home Safety Division within the Lansing Safety Council. (She is pictured below)
When the war broke out her baby brother Franz joined. He had been in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) at Michigan State. In February 1943 he commanded the 38th Cavalry Recon Troop from Michigan and was training his men in Louisiana. While driving three of his men to the base, he collided with an Interurban bus. Franz was thrown from the car and died a few days later. He was the only fatality. To honor her baby brother Margaret enlisted in the Womens Army Corps (WACs).
Margaret was assigned to public relations and recruiting in Akron, Ohio. Besides recruiting and staging music shows she still trained people in home electrical safety. In less than 2 years she had risen to the rank of Tech 3. That rank is better known today as a Staff Sargeant.
After the war, she went to work for a Grand Rapids sales promotion company (C & D Corporation) and then in 1949 joined Knapp-Monarch of St Louis promoting “Kitchen Magic”
After the war, she also helped to organize the first all women veterans' American Legion Post in Grand Rapids. She was elected their first commander.
Stopping her electrical safety talks, she concentrated on veterans. Margaret became the Special Services Officer for the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. It is a long-term care state veterans home located near the mighty Grand River. It was originally constructed in 1885 and formerly known as the Michigan Old Soldiers' Home. It is one of 152 state veterans’ homes throughout the nation. She served her fellow veterans in that capacity until 1965.
After that Margaret still helped others as a Coordinator for the United Community Services Senior Citizens Project in Grand Rapids.
Miss Hartnacke passed away at age 80 in 1980. Her headstone in the family plot in the Mount Cavalry Cemetery is inscribed....
MARGARET T. HARTNACKE
Tec3 US Army
WORLD WAR II
Dec. 11, 1900 - Aug. 12, 1980
Miss Hartnacke passed away at age 80 in 1980. Her headstone in the family plot in the Mount Cavalry Cemetery is inscribed....
MARGARET T. HARTNACKE
Tec3 US Army
WORLD WAR II
Dec. 11, 1900 - Aug. 12, 1980