ADOLPH VANDERTIE, who would become the “Grand Duke of the Hobos,” began his life in northern Wisconsin. He was born May 25, 1911 on a small farm near the Wisconsin community of Lena. His parents, who originally came from Door County, provided a 16 by 20-foot log cabin for Adolph and his six siblings.
Early in Adolph’s life, his parents moved the family to a hotel and tavern in Lena that became the family home and business. Shortly after the move, his parents divorced. Adolph’s mother continued to manage the business, but with Prohibition the family fell on hard times.
His mother moved the family to Green Bay when Adolph was about nine years old. During these difficult Depression years, Adolph’s mother worked as a custodían to support her family. While Adolph’s interest in tramp and hobo art can be traced back to his grandfather, who had learned the arts as a prisoner of war during the U.S. Civil War, the artist in Adolph was awakened by exposure to the “hobo jungles” the camps where hobos spent time when they weren’t riding the rails. Art Linkletter and H.L. Hunt were among the two million transients who rode the rails and congregated in the hobo jungles as the nation struggled to extract itself from nearly disastrous economic hardship.
Adolph preferred stories of adventure over his schoolwork. He spent much of his time creating cartoons and daydreaming, then began to ride the rails himself. He ate Mulligan Stew
with the hobos and watched as they whittled to pass the time. About this time Adolph saw a fellow hobo whittle a ball-in-the-cage, the quintessential trademark of a hobo whittler. Adolph was hooked! From the time Adolph created his first “ball-in-the-cage,” the magic stayed with Adolph throughout his life.
At the age of 21 Adolph put his hobo days behind him.
It was time to look for work and Adolph learned there were jobs available at a brewery in St. Louis. When Adolph announced he was leaving for St. Louis, his sweetheart Adeline proposed, they were married, and began their life together in Green Bay instead. Little did Adeline know that her future home would also be home to thousands of unique and interesting pieces of tramp and hobo art.
Adolph acquired his first tramp art piece, a beautiful two-tiered covered box, from his brother. This sparked his interest in collecting. Soon afterwards he began creating hundreds of his own pieces until his collection eventually his collection numbered 3,500 pieces. Most are Adolph’s own work, some are gifts from other hobo artists, and others are spectacular pieces that Adolph acquired because of their uniqueness and significance to the collection.
As he grew older, whittling became a form of therapy for Adolph, a focus that enabled him to overcome an addiction to both alcohol and tobacco and freed him to create more and more of his unbelievably intricate works of art. As the world celebrated a new millennium, Adolph personally celebrated fifty years of sobriety.
The end result of Adolph’s countless hours of whittling was a man who found peace and contentment in a sharp blade and a good piece of wood. A man who collected and created whimsies, tramp art boxes and frames, and incredible furniture pieces carved and whittled
in a way that only the most skilled hand could accomplish. Almost every type of hobo and tramp art can be found in Adolph Vandertie’s collection: chip-carved boxes and frames, ball-in-the-cage whimsies, long chains created from a single piece of wood, and “crown-of-thorns” that are fit without benefit of nails or glue. Adolph Vandertie amassed an amazing collection of historical and artistic importance.
A large portion of The Adolph Vandertie Collection of Tramp Art resides at the Ashwaubenon Historical Museum where the public, scholars, artists, and fellow whittlers can view and enjoy this body of work. The other major portion of Adolph Vandertie’s body of work resides at:
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
6o8 New York Avenue