Pete's Repair Shop

Peter Merten was born in 1897 and married Clara Schaefer (daughter of John) in 1921. Shortly thereafter he tore down an old shed and built a new garage at 105 Buchanan Street. He operated his auto repair business under the name of Pete's Repair Shop. According to Pete's son, Joe, this garage was the location of the first automobile hoist in Slinger.

Peter Merten was born in 1897 and married Clara Schaefer (daughter of John) in 1921. There used to be an old chicken coop at this site. Shortly after marriage, Peter tore down the old shed and built a new garage at 105 Buchanan Street. He operated his auto repair business under the name of Pete's Repair Shop. Later, his son, Joe helped him. According to Pete's son, Joe, this garage was the location of the first vehicle hoist in Slinger.

Please see the attached audio file from Joe Merten's interview with Slinger students for a Future Author's Camp visit in 2015. He was also interviewed by Slinger history students Mallory Wiest and Josh Kitzke in 2015 for a Slinger History class project. The following excerpts are from that interview:

Q: Why did your dad start the garage?

A: “Well he was interested in repairing automobiles.  He said there was an old chicken coop there.  They were repairing the roof there and his neighbor was Dr. Maxon.   Dr. Maxon wanted to tear down the chicken coop.  When he saw my dad repairing the roof, Dr. Maxon, well, I can’t use the words he used but he said, “What are you doing Pete?”  Dad said, “I’m gonna patch this up and start repairing cars here.”  Then after that he built the first part and about ten years later he built the second part. He had the first car lift in Slinger. Somebody took it down and then put it up in his shop.”

Q: Did your dad run the garage for a long time?

A: “Yeah, he ran it for a long time and then I joined him in 1949, and he started it in probably middle 20’s. He was with me until he died in 1979.”

Q: What type of customers did you have?

A: “Well a lot of farmers came. We worked on cars and light trucks. We couldn’t get the big ones on the hoist. I was interested in cars a bit, but I never enjoyed driving. I always enjoyed working on cars, but I wasn’t that good actually. I came at the right time before all the computers and stuff. Nowadays if you want to be a mechanic you have to know computers really well and have a college degree. It’s very competitive and technical. The cars have changed over the years. A lot of them today wouldn’t even fit on my hoist. But the 1930 cars, we put some pretty wide ones on there. The worst thing I ever had was a man that used to make wood and sell it. That’s how he cleared his land, that’s how he paid for his farm, with the wood he sold. They were out with their pick up truck and they busted a brake line. They brought it in with a big load of wood on it and that thing (the hoist) really grunted. Boy, I was glad when we got that fixed and it was out of there.”

Merten, Joe. Personal Interview with Mallory Wiest and Josh Kitzke. March 2015.

Merten, Joe. Personal Interview. Origins of the Garage. Future Author's Camp students with Nate Grimm, Paul Walter, and Robyn Bindrich. July 2015.