Woodstock, Illinois, is known as The Typewriter Capital of the World due for the most part to the Oliver Typewriter Company who moved their manufacturing plant to Woodstock in 1896. At one time, four of the Wienke brothers (characters in The Woodstock Tales series) worked at the plant (Ed, Frank, John, and Bob). The Oliver Typewriter Company did more than just build typewriters. They also sponsored a band, which provided weekly summer concerts at the Woodstock Square Park, and sponsored a baseball team, The Olivers, which was known as the BEST amateur team in Chicagoland in the early 1900s. Several players from this team went on to play with the big leagues including George Moriarty, the crack third baseman. He played in the big leagues from 1903 (Cubs – 5 games before being sold to the Toledo farm team) to 1916, playing many of those years with the New York Highlanders, Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox.
Robert Messenger writes the blog OZtypewriter, and a few years ago he highlighted Moriarty’s career which went far beyond running the bases. If the combination of typewriters and baseball is interesting, go HERE and read his blog.
George Moriarty is mentioned in each of books in the Woodstock Tales series.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Which of the Wienke brothers was the biggest Cubs’ fan?
Author Sally Cissna 