Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2022
Kids in the 1950s had different sets of leisure time choices than those today. In the 1950s, kids used to do a lot of hunting, fishing, trapping, and other outdoor activities. It was common to see youngsters with their own guns, and wandering around the Minnesota River bottoms in and around Shakopee.
The kids didn’t have a lot of money, so they didn’t always have money for shells for their guns.
However, the bounty system in the city helped. An office for this purpose was maintained by the City on Second Street by the old City Hall, and at the Pelham Hotel. Various critters that were vermin had a bounty place on them, and bringing the expired animal and giving it to the city received an award. This happened from the 1930s until the 1950s.
A box of 22 caliber shorts cost 50 cents at that time. It contained 50 rounds. For hunting rabbits, squirrels, and other game, 22-caliber longs were much better, but the cost was double. For hunting rats, the shorts were adequate.
The boys would buy shotgun ammo at the hardware store. It was 25 shells to a box, five in a row of five shells. It worked as 50 cents per row.
The store owner would put the kid’s name on a box then sell them one row at a time. Since the Great Depression to the 1950s, the boys could not afford to buy the whole box. Many boys would buy a row of ammo and then hunt the river bottom creeks and woods for rabbits, ducks, quail, pheasants, and other small game. This was to augment the family food supply. With just five shells for a seven-day week, the boys learned to shoot well.
The bounty was five cents for a rat. The kids had to bring in the tail in to claim the bounty. This worked well for both parties and kept the employees paying the bounty. It worked well because the rats that roamed the river bottoms and the dumps that were along the river would be destroyed.
Over time, the city would give the children and young adults ten cents for each rat.
The one problem was that the employees didn’t like to have rat tails laying around the office. They would dispose of them in the alley in the garbage can. The kids were smart. They knew that if they waited a few minutes, they could stop in the alley and get the same tails back. The next day, they could bring the same rat tails in and get a second bounty on the same tails.
William “Willy” Carl Rein was born on May 3, 1941, in Shakopee. His parents were Christian Charles “Carl” Rein (1910-1992) and Alice Marie “Minnie” Siebenaler (1912-1999). Willy’s grandparents were Christian Peter Rein (1878-1951) and Anna Mary Neural Rein (1888-1942); and Franklin Fritz Siebenaler (1879-1961) and Maria Sophia Gelhaye Siebenaler (1872-1945). His great-grandparents were Johannes John Rein (1848-1887) and Margaret Hoch Rein (1847-1930); John Joseph Neuzil (1855-1938) and Mary Kopek Neuzil (1860-1916); Mathias Mathew Siebenaler (1838-1910) and Anna Katherina Beljong Siebenaler (1844-1944); and Nicholaus Gelhaye (1831-1900) and Katharina Sifted Schutz Gelhaye (1841-1913).
And Willy loved shooting rats.
The rat tails were not something that rotted quickly, and could have been used repeatedly, but most kids just used it just one additional time. With the money, the kids kept supplied with 22 shorts for more bounty hunting, and an occasional box of 22 longs for rabbit and other game hunt. And the idea worked!
But Willy Rein was smart. He realized that the dump, which is now on the west side of The Landing in Shakopee, was running out of rats.
Willy thought and thought. And then he realized that he could go to Chaska. He could go to Chaska, shoot some rats, and then return to Shakopee to receive the ten cents for the rat tails.
And he did, repeatedly, until the workers in Shakopee noticed that the rat tails were from Chaska, not Shakopee rats! So, the city decided to stop paying for the rats.
The rats were from Chaska, and students in Shakopee used to have a rivalry with Chaska and called them river rats! (Of course, Chaska did the same thing with Shakopee!) So even though Shakopee got rid of the rats, the rats in Chaska remain!
As for Willy? He eventually got married to Mary Jane Vierling. They married on September 11, 1965. Mary Jane’s parents were Markus Joseph Vierling (1916-1972) and LaVerne Elizabeth Kerber Vierling (1921-2012). Her grandparents were Joseph Peter Vierling (1873-1947) and Josephine Mathilda Wampach Vierling (1886-1978); and Joseph Paul Kerber (1892-1969) and Josephine Williams Kerber (1894-1982). And Mary Jane’s great-grandparents were Heinrich Henry Vierling (1841-1920) and Anna Margaretha Rein Vierling (1845-1909); Nickolas Karl Wampach (1857-1898) and Susanna Lander Wampach (1858-1933); Aloysius Anthony Kerber (1859-1933) and Elizabeth Ann Lizzie Schutrop Kerber (1867-1953); and Wilhelmus William Williams (1858-1951) and Ida Mary Neutgens Williams (1863-1959).
William “Willy” Carl Rein and Mary Jane Vierling Rein continue to support Shakopee sports teams. Though they no longer go out and shoot rats, they still support the Sabers against Chaska, and their grandchildren, when going to the Chaska Theatre, always remember to keep their feet up to prevent the river rats who run beneath their feet in the theatre! For sure!