My Grandfather's First Store in Steinbach
by John C. Reimer
In 1998 the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society really came of age. It celebrated its fortieth birthday, though possibly largely unnoticed by its members and the general public.
One of the founders of the Society was John C. Reimer, a long-time teacher in the Steinbach area. He had a special interest in founding a Mennonite museum which was the first major project of the new Society.
In 1979 the museum was taken over by a separate organization created to maintain and develop Mennonite Heritage Village. The organization is called Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc. It is 20 years old this year.
To heighten awareness of these "birthday" developments, Heritage Posting plans to publish several articles related to the museum's history. We are indebted to MHV board member Arnold Reimer and his siblings for sharing materials prepared by their late father, John C. Reimer, who has left us first-hand accounts of events which are central to this story.1
I shall start with my grandfather Klaas Reimer's first store building in Steinbach2. It was built in 1884. The business actually began in his home, a log house built in 1877. After the log house became too small to include a store, he built a frame house and barn together, adding the frame building to the log house as the first store building in Steinbach. In later years after grandfather and his sons had built a new store in 1905, fronted on the street as K. Reimer and Sons, the first store building was sold to a farmer south of Steinbach.
After it had served different purposes at different places it came back to town again. Some years later I discovered the building which I knew so well, in Steinbach. One end wall and the door, and the floor were missing. I went to the man who owned it and asked what he wanted for the building. He said, "I have sold it to my son."
Since it had been my grandfather's store and the first store in Steinbach, I wanted to buy it. So I went to the son to ask if he would sell it to me. He thought he had a chance to make some money so he asked for $200.00. I thought that was about four times the value of it, at best. I did not want to displease him. "Is it worth that much?" I asked.
He said he wanted to make a chicken barn out of it. I thought he might change his mind and not sell it at all so I paid the price. I had been in my grandfather's store as a child, I had worked in there for my uncle when I was twenty-one, and again after I got married.
I was interested in history and in antiques. I had saved some of my childhood toys and had gathered some antiques. When I bought the old store in 1951 I had it moved to our lot on 7 Main St. and had it restored as much as possible to its original state, paint and all.
I left the brackets in there to put on the shelves. I had found an original counter of that very store in a different store in Steinbach and purchased it for $30.00. I moved that into the store, and added my other collection of other store fixtures from the pioneer period. I had a till of the 18th century and a scale, and ribbon show case, as well as a number of other store-related items.
I had also gathered some home-made household furniture pieces dating to pioneer days. I displayed all of these things in a presentable manner and put a big sign on the outside of the building. It said: This building is the first store of Steinbach. The three by four foot sign also stated that the store was built by Klaas Reimer in 1884.
The historic building was soon familiar to people far and wide. It was kept locked but I told the people that I would open it to show them around if requested. Bus tour groups would make appointments and came to see it, as would many other people.
The building remained here from 1952 to 1965 when it was closed and moved to the back of the lot. The collection was sold and donated to the Mennonite Heritage Village museum which opened in the spring of 19663.
Endnotes
1. John C. Reimer, a long-time teacher and local historian in the Steinbach area was born in 1896 and died 19 March 1990. His obituary was published in the Winnipeg Free Press and The Carillon. In 1959 he edited Familienregister der Nachkommen von Klaas und Helena Reimer mit Biographen der ersten drei Generationen (Steinbach, MB: Reimer Reunion Committee), pb., 404 pp. He also began a diary in 1915 and kept it up for over 70 years.
2. For the life story of Klaas Reimer cf. Royden Loewen, "Klaas R. Reimer: From Rags to Riches but not from Village to World," in John Dyck, ed., Historical Sketches of the East Reserve, 1874-1910 (Steinbach, MB, 1994), 304-312, along with excerpts from Reimer's diary in Loewen's recent book From the Inside Out, pp.134-145 (review on p.8).
3. The collection is said to have had 300 items at the time. Cf. Victor Schwartzman, "Mennonite Way of Life Lingers Beside the Windmill," Globe and Mail, May 2, 1987. The old store remains a favourite spot for visitors to the MHV even today.
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