How hot ham and rolls became a Sunday tradition in Milwaukee
Brian Schwellinger remembers what it was like to walk down the street in Milwaukee in the 1940s.
“Bakeries were a part of life,” Schwellinger said. “A local baker and a meat counter were a part of life in Milwaukee until the supermarkets started to take market share in the ‘70s.”
And a big part of those local bakeries was the hot ham and rolls on Sundays.
The meal has become a Milwaukee tradition over the years. Badger Ham, of which Schwellinger is now president, has long provided the hams for the sandwiches.
But where the tradition comes from remains a mystery to many non-natives, who probably never heard about it before moving here.
We looked into its origin as part of our What the Wisconsin? series that explores readers’ questions, large and small about our city and state.
Where did hot ham and rolls come from?
Schwellinger said the meal’s origin boils down to several different things.
One, he said, is the strong German heritage in the Milwaukee area. Like bratwurst, processed ham is seen as a German delicacy.
Lisa Yanke, owner of C&R Market, begs to differ. She believes the tradition has Polish roots in the south side of Milwaukee. Her market has been offering hot ham and rolls ever since the baker down the block moved out.
“We took over the Sunday crowd,” Yanke said, “but before that my dad and grandfather were doing it on Saturdays for 10 years.”
Religion may be another reason for the food ritual.
“There were so many churches that the church tradition was a strong part of the community, and after service is when you had your first meal of the day,” Schwellinger said.
The hot ham and rolls would serve as a simple, filling meal for hungry congregants.
Several businesses were part of building the tradition
Schwellinger credits Meurer Bakeries of Milwaukee with making hot ham and rolls a sensation. Although there are no more Meurer bakeries in the city, the family continues as Meurer Brothers Bakery in Fond Du Lac.
Dick Meurer is the former owner of Muerer Bakeries of Milwaukee. He said his father started the bakery back in 1928. At one point, they expanded to 12 different locations.
When they did, they started looking for more ways to draw people in. This, Muerer said, is when they created the hot ham and rolls promotion, which gave people a half-dozen free rolls with the purchase of a pound of ham.
“When we started, it was just a shot in the dark. We started with maybe (selling) half a dozen hams, and it just grew and grew,” he said.
At one point, they went through close to 35 to 40 Badger Hams every Sunday morning.
“One would tell another and it just kept growing,” Meurer said.
The bakery was known for its butter crust rolls; the bakery made hundreds of dozens of them. While people waited for their ham, they would walk around the store and pick up other things like doughnuts or danishes, Meurer said.
They chose Sundays because most people were off work and they’d come after church, Meurer said.
It wasn’t long before others started to pick up on the trend.
“Once they saw that we were successful, other bakers tried it too,” he said.
One of these bakeries was Grebe’s Bakery, a staple in the Milwaukee community since 1937.
Since the bakery opened its location on West Lincoln Avenue in the late 1950s, hot ham and rolls have been a tradition.
Colton Grebe, vice president for Grebe’s Bakery, doesn’t know why the trend started. But he said that each Sunday, they have a line out the door for the special, which includes a Badger ham topped with their secret family seasoning and six free traditional hard rolls.
On Mother’s Day this year, the line wrapped around the parking lot.
Even though people can pre-order their hot ham and rolls and get it in half the time, they still would rather wait in line, Grebe said.
For Milwaukeeans, he said, it’s as much about the experience as it is about the hot ham and rolls. He recalled how one group of guys would rotate someone in and out of the line for the Sunday treat. While one was waiting in the line, the others were drinking beers at the bar.
“What hot ham and rolls signifies is that familial feeling of getting a family together, sitting down on a Sunday and eating some ham,” Grebe said.