Red Wing

(April 28, 2017) Red Wing, MN

I’ve become a sucker for Upper Mississippi River cities and on this Friday I went solo and traveled to Red Wing, Minnesota.

Red Wing, a town of about 16,000 people is downstream about 75 miles from St. Paul. Both the Minnesota and Wisconsin sides of the river are heavily forested and coupled with the river view Red Wing provides a scenic landscape.  The mostly 19^th and early 20^th Century downtown sits just above the riverfront.

The town extends northward from downtown along the river and the majority of the town’s homes, schools, and churches sit among several hills extending beyond downtown. Beyond the City are very fertile Minnesota farms. Nearby is Treasure Island, a casino and resort owned by the Prairie Island Indian Community.

Prior to the Civil War, Red Wing was founded as a port on the Upper Mississippi for the bountiful grain crops grown in the area. At one time Red Wing was the largest wheat terminal in America. Later when the railroads arrived in Minneapolis and the millers located there, Red Wing lost its number one status. However it remained an important port and became a manufacturing center.

Red Wing is best known for Red Wing Shoes and Red Wing Pottery. I briefly explored both industries and found an interesting contrast.

My first stop was at the Pottery Museum of Red Wing. The Museum is across a large parking lot from the former Red Wing Pottery factory. The Red Wing Collectors Society Foundation supports and operates the museum

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Admission is free, although they encourage free will donations and have a small museum shop offering souvenirs and knick-knacks. The museum is clean and the rooms though fairly large are packed with thousands of pieces of pottery and examples of the production of the Red Wing factory over the years. While interesting and some of the vases and tableware are beautiful, once you have seen several varieties of crocks you don’t need to see a thousand crocks!

The history of the pottery industry in Red Wing and Goodhue County Minnesota is instructive. About eight miles up river from the pottery factory is located the Claybank, Minnesota community. As the name suggests, Claybank was rich in desirable clay for pottery manufacture. For many years the clay was transported each day to the factory by private railroad. The clay when mixed with Scandinavian hard work made a first class product that was widely renown as Red Wing Pottery.

Over the years and though several successive ownerships and enterprises the plant produced sewer pipe, storage containers (the aforementioned crocks in sizes from a pint to one hundred gallons), planters, tableware, and decorative arts. The demise of Red Wing pottery was the several owners’ unwillingness to innovate and change with the times. When glass jars became preferred for food preservation or new manufacturing techniques appeared, necessary investments or updates were not made. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s as Japanese producers inundated America with their wares the plant unable to compete closed. My belief it was not because Red Wing had a substandard product.

The Red Wing Shoe and Boot Museum is located on Main Street in downtown Red Wing. The museum is very small, maybe 1200 square feet tucked away on the mezzanine over the very large Flagship Store of Red Wing Shoes and Boots.

Despite the small space it occupies, the displays communicate a very complete history of the Red Wing Shoe Company. There are many photographs, mementoes, and examples of Red Wing Shoe’s production and innovations.

The professionally produced exhibits tell not just of the shoes but the culture that distinguishes their company. I especially liked the illustrated company timeline and the short video. The approximately 6 minute video explained how Red Wing does their product and customer research to meet specific needs of industry and customer. Whether in the museum or in the beautiful store the focus is on a comfortable, durable, high quality shoe.

Highlights –

1905 - Red Wing Shoe Company Opens

1912 – Footwear for Farmers

1920 – Began making footwear for specific occupations, the first being the Oil King 844 for Texas oil field workers

1921 – Recreational footwear

1922 – Durable rubber core soles

1927 – Women’s boots

1928 – Safety shoes

1934 – Developed steel toes for shoes and boots

1940 – Oil resistant non-slip soles

1950 – Irish setter sport boots

1953 – Began opening their own retail stores

1954 – Style 101 Postal Worker Oxford – their best seller

1956 – Insulated footwear

1962 – Began selling internationally

1968 – Waterproof leather

1987 – Electrical hazard footwear

2004 – Partnered with Carhart

Today Red Wind Shoe manufactures ten thousand pair of shoes each day. Red Wing uses the very highest quality of materials almost entirely American made. They own their own tannery that produces leather to their demanding specifications. Laces, grommets, and buckles are of the highest quality.

Their manufacturing equipment is very high tech but high touch. Each leather component is individually machine cut by an operator and shoe components are sewn and assembled by skilled cobblers.

Red Wing Shoe has been a success because while they have  focused on comfort and durability and the needs of their customers, and unlike the Red Wing Pottery industry, they have kept innovating with their customer’s demands and the technology of the times. This is a good lesson for American industry as well. 

I topped off my stay with a comfortable night at the historically restored St James Hotel and a tasty dinner at the Liberty Restaurant and Lounge. I enjoyed a diverse combination of a couple of vodkas, a grilled cheese sandwich with dinner salad, and a huge slice of Mississippi Mud pie. Being a block from the river I couldn’t resist.