Remember when St. Paul's Cathedral introduced handmade Cathedral Mice? Here's the origin of the 'Mouse Factory.'
FOND DU LAC — Every year since 1961, the "Mouse Factory" has hand-sewn its Cathedral Mice to the delight of countless people and for the preservation of St. Paul's Cathedral.
The tradition started when Dorothy Duket made about 10 to 12 mice, outfitted as "The Elegant Lady," for the church's annual St. Nicholas Faire, just to see how they would sell, according to Katie Soles, current process coordinator for the mice.
"They sold the minute the doors opened for the fair," she said.
For its second year, 1962, Duket enlisted the help of friend and fellow cathedral member Agnes Edwards to make 50 mice, this time themed as "Choir Mice" in white and gray color variations. They again sold immediately, and the mice took off from there.
More than 60 years of themed mice continued, catching attention far beyond Fond du Lac: mice have been delivered to every state in America, with a few even venturing to New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Orders get taken a year ahead of time, with volunteers working on the mice year-round for pick-up at each year's St. Nicholas Faire at the beginning of January.
More: Remember when the old post office was on First Street? Here's how mail changed in Fond du Lac.
The themes range between classic Christmas, iconic characters and occupations, including Angel in 1977, The Chef in 1982, Scotsman Golfer in 1994 and "Wizard of Oz" characters from 2006 to 2009.
"They are all adorable," Soles said. "It would be very hard (to pick a favorite). I love them all, and so does everybody."
At one time, 65 sewers would make 6,000 mice for the year, but for the last few years, about 2,500 mice get made with much fewer sewers. About 45 total volunteers break up the work, and the ones who don't sew assist by tracing and cutting patterns, gluing on accessories and stuffing the mice.
It takes about seven to eight hours to construct each of the simpler mice, and upwards of 12 hours to construct, all done in "a labor of love" by people who truly love to sew year-round, Soles said.
"There's so much camaraderie among the women who work on this," she said. "There's a group that comes in every Monday morning, and it's like a quilting bee; it's a lot of fun."
Duket managed the mice for several years with the help of her husband Russ, then transferred the leadership to Edwards, who continued until she was about 90 years old, with the assistance of Fern Ramirez. Leadership went to Ruth DuFrane next, who designed many of the mice in her 20 years at the Mouse Factory.
DuFrane died in 2021, and ever since then, four women have taken the helm, including Soles: Linda Pierce is the production coordinator for the mouse bodies, Claire Hutter is the financial and social coordinator, and Jean Hensen is the sales coordinator.
Additionally, Kathy Mathweg finds and purchases accessories for the mice, and Anne Look is in charge of quality control for each of the current mice.
In addition to the yearly mice, "limited edition" one-of-a-kind mice are produced for the fair and other events, including a special raffle mouse for each year's fair.
All profits from the Mouse Factory have gone back to the 136-year-old cathedral, including restoring the stained glass, renovating portions and anything else that's needed to keep the historic significance of the cathedral.
This year's mouse, distributed Dec. 2, is the Christmas tree-themed O Tannenbaum. Next year's mouse is The Queen, dressed as the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The full collection is available to view at cathedralmice.com.
More history: It happened this week
Dec. 24, 1965: Kiekhaefer Corporation — now Mercury Marine — announced a public open house of the company's new facilities along the highway. Construction wasn't yet complete, but because of "tremendous interest" from the community, the open house was scheduled for the new year anyway, featuring live music, tours, product demonstrations and giveaways for a 14-foot aluminum fishing boat.
Dec. 18, 1971: "Save Octagon House Week" opened the famed Octagon House for tours and a bake sale amid fundraiser efforts to keep it from being demolished in favor of a new Wisconsin State Employment Service Office.
Dec. 19, 1980: Peanut butter prices rose exponentially after a summer drought damaged peanut crops and caused a shortage. The Reporter staff at the time wrote: "Peanut butter may stick to the roof of your mouth, but it is the price that's hard to swallow."
Dec. 21, 1990: Brickle's Tavern announced its closure at the end of the year, after 65 years in Fond du Lac. It was founded in 1925 on Fourth Street and moved 30 years later to the corner of Fourth and Main streets. Brickle's closed early on its last day, Dec. 31, because "people should spend New Year's at home."
"Remember when ..." is a bi-weekly column from Streetwise Reporter Daphne Lemke that looks back at businesses of Fond du Lac's storied past. Tell her what you'd like to see next by emailing dlemke@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac Cathedral Mice tradition dates to 1961
