Gene Wiese of Manning, Iowa, talks about the “unspoken” presence of Templeton Rye in his hometown:

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Meryl Kerkhoff of Manning, Iowa, talks about the Templeton Rye taste test being a selling point for customers.

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By the early 1930s, many Templeton Rye stills had been shut down and destroyed by authorities. Despite these Prohibition efforts, there was still a surprising abundance of Templeton Rye.

The excerpt below from the Iowa News Service describes one young man’s account of the Templeton Rye supply in 1932.

It is estimated by persons who should know that there are now only three stills of any importance in the surrounding county. The rest, they say, were wiped out a year or so ago when for a short time authorities destroyed them at the rate of three a day.

The supply, however, is still adequate. Recently, a young man with an investigative turn of mind barged into Templeton to see what he could drink. In response to his initial inquiry he was informed that finding Templeton Rye these days was like locating a needle in a haystack.

Never, the young man now reports, did he come in contact with a needle so large, or a haystack so small.

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During the Great Depression, many Iowans were making and selling Templeton Rye just to get by. The small towns would work together to warn each other when the Feds were coming. “The roads are rough” was code to watch out for the Feds, but it was also very symbolic of the times.

Gerald Gesinger of Carroll County shares the story behind the warning message and his memories of bootlegging during the Depression in the video below:

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Harry W. Harmeyer of Carroll, Iowa, reminisces about drinking Templeton Rye and his dancing days in Templeton:

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Notorious 1930s bank robber John Dillinger allegedly wrote a letter to Henry Ford stating, “Your slogan should be: Drive a Ford and Watch the Other Cars Fall Behind You.” We think Ray Bristol might agree.

H.F. “Gus” Schroeder told us this story about Ray and his new Ford V-8 getaway car:

A fellow by the name of Ray Bristol did all that hooch-making at dad’s place. You could write a story just about his adventures, that’s a fact. He would load up eight 10-gallon kegs of whiskey and run it to Omaha for shipment to Chicago.

He was hijacked that one time in Missouri Valley in 1933 — he had a ‘33 Chevy and it wasn’t fast enough. They took his eight barrels of whiskey (that was 80 gallons) and when he got home he traded the Chevy off for a new Ford. The Fords had just come out with the new V-8s and they were fast. He never got hijacked again after that.

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Gene Wiese from Manning, Iowa, shared this story about the popularity of Templeton Rye in Chicago back in the late 1940s:

When I was a kid, we just accepted Templeton Rye in our area as commonplace. We thought everybody might have something similar to Templeton Rye, that there was nothing unusual about it.

Soon after WWII in 1947, I exhibited cattle at the Great Chicago International Stock Show. My parents warned me, South State and Halsted Streets, that is a tough end of town. As I was sitting with my cattle, all these different ethnic groups would come.

When people asked you where you were from they would say, “Where is that from Des Moines?” or “Where is that from Sioux City?” Well, these folks in Chicago would look at the sign I painted and often ask, “Where is that from Templeton?” Now, this is Chicago, and they acquainted any town in Iowa with where it was from Templeton. The next question was “Did you bring any Templeton Rye with you?” The stories about its popularity in Chicago are very, very true.

You can listen to Gene talk about the Chicago International Stock Show and getting asked about Templeton Rye in the video below:

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If you’ve traveled through the Des Moines International Airport lately, you may have stumbled upon what looks like Main Street Templeton, Iowa. That’s our new airport display, which includes a special Templeton and Prohibition Era history section.

Next time you make it through airport security, reward yourself by stopping by the display and taking a stroll down the historic streets of Templeton. If you happen to work up a thirst, just stop at the Capitol City Brew Pub next door — now serving Templeton Rye. We promise you that your flight will be much more enjoyable afterwards.

As always, please enjoy responsibly.

Be careful where you dig — there just might an old barrel of The Good Stuff buried below. Andrew Knuth of Cumberland, Iowa, submitted this story:

I live on a farm outside of Cumberland in Cass County. The farm has been in my family since 1887. Growing up, I spent many summers there running around, playing with the livestock and dogs, and most importantly, fishing the ponds and streams around the farm. Of course, the bait of choice were big, fat, juicy nightcrawlers. In my quest for the best area for digging, I put holes in the ground almost everywhere I thought I could find worms.

My grandfather, who was born on the farm in 1900, cautioned me that if I encountered anything solid (wood, metal, or stone) I was to let him know as soon as possible. This intrigued me and I redoubled my efforts to find worms to fish with and look for anything unusual. To my disappointment, I never found anything like my grandfather described.

As I grew older, my grandfather passed away, and my mother was one of the only people I knew to tell me the family stories. One day in conversation before she passed on, I asked her what my grandfather could have been looking for. She got a gleam in her eye and told me that (legend had it) there was a barrel of whiskey buried someplace on the farm, and if ever found, would surely be the best whiskey ever! She did not know who buried it, but I suspect it was my great grandfather, as my grandfather was working out east during the Prohibition era.

As I look back, I remember that my grandfather often spoke of rye whiskey in glowing terms. I think that the lost barrel must have been The Good Stuff. I still live on the farm today and every time I dig a hole for a fence post I am mindful of my grandfather’s words. I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to want to go fishing and dig for worms.

Sincerely,
Andrew Knuth

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Scott Bush, president of Templeton Rye, and Jason Walsmith of The Nadas stopped by KXNO’s The Jon Miller Show to talk about the storied history behind TR. At 25:12 into the video below, Jason plays an “unplugged” version of Templeton Rye, The Nadas’ musical homage to the infamous whiskey and small Iowa town.

Barry Kusel talks about coming across lots of rye crop during harvests in the 1960s, and Templeton’s secret that wasn’t so secret.

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Harry W. Harmeyer discusses the Chevy getaway car used to escape from revenue agents in Templeton, Iowa, back in the 1930s.

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Fay Irlbeck Schleisman, a Templeton native, shares the story of Al Capone’s visit to the small town to arrange shipments of TR to Chicago:

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One of our goals at Templeton Rye is to document all the classic TR stories, as told by the people who lived them. We’re now proudly sharing these videos on YouTube. Please visit our channel at YouTube.com/templetonryewhiskey.

Above is a story from Wilfred “Bud” Irlmeier. His granddaughter, Tracy Olberding, recently wrote to us with the following note:

My Grandpa Bud (Wilfred Irlmeier) passed away on November 25, 2007; he was born in Templeton and was married to my Grandma Toni for 62 years. He enjoyed spending time with his family and will be missed greatly by all of us. We had many wonderful family memories including several about Templeton and Templeton Rye.