Holyoke Memories: Richard H. Dietz Bakery

Dietz Bread is Good Bread

The story of Richard Dietz, who immigrated from Germany, is one of commitment and dedication. The Dietz business policy was hard work, fine service, honest merchandising, and high-quality goods.

Richard H. Dietz was born in Crimmitschau, Germany, on June 16, 1863. He attended public schools and, at age 12, worked part-time after school and on weekends in a bakery.

Two years later, he left school to pursue the baking business full-time. His hours were long and challenging, and sleep was not continuous, as he was responsible for starting the ovens to start the day's baking and checking the stoves intermittently during the night. At one point, he had worked eight months without sleeping in a bed.

In 1881, his path led him to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where his uncle and cousins resided. His uncle was a weaver in the Skinner Silk Mill, and he knew John David Goetz, who owned the Goetz Silk Mill at Jackson and Bridge Streets. Richard Dietz went to work there and was trained for four hours to work the loom. He struggled and was carried along with the help of his benevolent co-workers. He earned enough to pay his parents' way to the U.S in six months.

His experience working in a bakery in Germany led him to want to own his own bakery here. In September 1883, he and a partner opened a small bake shop, called Letterer & Dietz, in the Winkler's Block at 347 Park Street.

The partnership was dissolved in 1884. In November 1884, Mr. Dietz opened his bakery at 36 Adams Street at the corner of (now South) Bridge Street. This was a two-person operation, including Mr. Dietz.

Five successful years later, in 1889, with $500 cash and loans of $9,000, he purchased land from Holyoke Water Power and built his own business block at 318-320 Park Street. The building had two storefronts and eight tenements. He had eight employees on Park Street. The former Dreikorn's bakery now occupies this site.

As with other businesses that started in South Holyoke, it was recognized that the commercial district had moved west to High and Maple Street.

In 1899, he traded his Park Street real estate and cash for real estate at 440 High Street. He opened this bakery on May 4, 1900, and it remained at this location for many years. In March 1904, he acquired Frissel's Bakery across the street from his High Street bakery and operated it. By this time, he had twenty-seven employees.

In June 1901, he opened another bakery in Holyoke on Harrison Ave in Elmwood. Four months later, the bakery relocated to the Burchard Block on South Street.

The Dietz Bakery had a Bailey oven installed in 1902 that could bake 250 loaves of bread at a time and up to 5,000 loaves daily.

Dietz Bakery also produced ice cream and sherbet during the first quarter century.

In 1910, he opened a second bakery at 335 Main Street in Springfield.

Including Holyoke and Springfield bakeries, there were forty-three employees, six teams of horses, and one auto-truck.

Richard Dietz's vision was to expand significantly into commercial baking and distribution. In April 1911, he purchased the Hemphill lot at the northeast corner of Commercial and Hampshire Street. The area would accommodate a commercial baking facility, which was completed and operated in June 1913. There was a formal opening held on May 26, 1914.

The architect was George G. P. Alderman & Company. E. H. Friedrich performed the plumbing and roofing, David McCormick & Son provided the cut stone, and G. Haarmann & Company provided the ironwork.

He was also considering opening a bakery in Hartford, Connecticut.

The business was incorporated in 1912 with Richard H. Dietz, President, August F. Glessman, Vice-President and manager of the Holyoke bakery, and Walter H. Dietz, secretary and manager of the Springfield bakery.

In 1915, the Springfield bakery was sold.

In 1916, Thomas Murray approached Richard Dietz about possibly purchasing his buildings at 434-440 High Street. Holyoke Water Power owned the land on which the one-story stores were situated. Mr. Murray was considering a site to build a theater to replace the Empire Theater, which had burned down. The former site was not large enough to accommodate a larger audience. Interestingly, a canvas-top theater called the Pavilion Theater once existed at the Dietz property.

The Massachusetts Baking Company, Inc. was formed in 1917. This included the Holyoke and Springfield Dietz Bakeries, along with:

Swanson's Bakery of Fitchburg
Mrs Chaney's Bakery of Hartford
Raymond Brothers Bakery of Waterbury
Emanuelson's Bakery of New Haven, and
Borck & Stevens Bakery of Bridgeport

Dietz Co. purchased a 15,000-square-foot parcel from E. Hugo Friedrich adjacent to its 16 Commercial Street bakery. A one-story building would be built on the parcel. Two large baking ovens were installed to meet the growing demand for its bread. Parking would be available for forty cars and trucks.

The Massachusetts Baking Company, Inc. was later purchased by Continental Baking Company in 1925. Richard Dietz retained ownership of his bakery at 440 High Street until 1935.

In his 70s, he continued to start his day at 4 A.M. at the bakery. He would return to his Easthampton Road home at 9 A.M. for breakfast and return to the bakery until early afternoon. He would then return home to spend the afternoon in his peach and apple orchard, part of his five-acre property purchased in 1895.

Mr. Dietz felt an obligation to serve his city. He served on the Board of Aldermen in 1896, was a member of the playground commission, and later was on the Park Commission. He served one less-than-fulfilling term on the license commission, as politics was not his passion.

In 1935, the Dietz Bakery at 440 High Street was sold. The buyer was allowed to continue using the Dietz Bakery name but could not transfer the name at a future sale.

Richard H. Dietz died in Boston on December 8, 1935, at the age of 72. The Holyoke Transcript-Telegram wrote a remarkable tribute to him, which is included at the end of this blog.

The bakery at 440 High Street was sold in 1948, and the Dietz Bakery name could no longer be used.

Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.

Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke Public Library.

Holyoke Daily Transcript - 1882-1912 30th Anniversary Edition

1911 Richard's Atlas of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts

Richard H. Dietz