Tulare County Biographies

MISS MARTHA H. RADKE

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
        If a thorough preliminary training counts for anything in business, it 
is no doubt responsible for much of the success of Miss Martha H. Radke, 
proprietor of a millinery store on West Main street. Visalia, California. As a 
young girl she was reared and educated in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Upon 
leaving school she entered the wholesale millinery house of Strong & Warren in 
that city, where she learned the art of trimming hats. Later she was with the 
wholesale millinery firm of Robinson & Strause, also of St. Paul, where she 
became recognized as an expert trimmer.
        Robinson & Strause sent Miss Radke to various cities as an expert to 
assist local milliners in building up a trade in St. Paul millinery. She was for 
some time in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as well as other leading cities in that state 
: then went to Kalispell, Montana,  from there to Portland, Oregon ; was for 
some time with Mrs. Abrams in Aberdeen, Washington ; and came to California as a 
trimmer for S. H. Gill in Selma. In 1920 she came to Visalia, and liking the 
appearance of the city, determined to make it her home.
        Relying upon her knowledge of the millinery business and her ability to 
please the women of Visalia in the matter of headwear, Miss Radke purchased the 
millinery store operated by Mrs. Bodie. For some time the business was conducted 
under the name of Radke & Walton, but Miss Radke is now the sole owner. Her 
trade has grown and she is the proprietor of the only exclusive millinery house 
in Visalia. She is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church, owns a 
comfortable home, which she has built since coming to Visalia, and is regarded 
as one of the city's progressive business women.
 
Source:  History of Tulare County and Kings County, California � Kathleen 
Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. II, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1926., pp. 38-39