Marguerite Schertle
March 20, 1901-April 18, 2001
Marguerite Klaus was born on March 20th, 1901 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the identical twin of Anna Klaus. Marguerite, Anna, and their three other siblings were the children of German immigrant parents. Marguerite married William Schertle in 1924, a Baltimore city fireman and younger brother to Charles Schertle, who was married to Anna. The sisters both worked at the Exchange throughout their adult lives, and Anna passed away in September of 1991. As adults, Marguerite and Anna lived next door to each other in Hamilton, Baltimore, and their husbands would take turns driving them to work. Marguerite and William had a son named Kenneth A. Schertle.
When they were 15, Marguerite and Anna began waitressing at The Dutch Tea Room. Marguerite worked in the pastry kitchen and in the dining room at lunchtime. To be hired for this job in the kitchen, Marguerite was tasked to bake a cake for the boss. Some of the cakes she made during her time at the Dutch Tea Room included Lady Baltimore, Wellesley fudge, and orange cake. In an interview, Marguerite recalled memories such as serving Wallis Simpson and even making her own wedding cake with icing from the Tea Room. She stayed at the Dutch Tea Room for 13 years before moving to The Lovely Lane where she worked while taking night classes in hat and dressmaking. She began working as a waitress at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange in 1947. She woke up every weekday morning at 7:00 AM, left the house at 7:50, and rode two MTA buses back to Carney, Maryland in the afternoons. She was chauffeured to work by her son in her later years at the Exchange. Marguerite would always work the midday lunch. She only took a break from work when she fell in the tea room’s kitchen after tripping on Charlotte Zimernack’s foot, days after her 95th birthday. She broke her foot and fractured her hip after the fall and moved in with her son and his wife. In an interview, Marguerite commiserated that she was not planning to have to stop working at such a young age, especially since she and her son had a deal that he would not retire before she did.
Over the years, Schertle became a staple at the restaurant. She had met and served generations of families who introduced their children to the Exchange, and she felt a connection to such loyal customers. In a 1989 Washington Post article, Marguerite described how the Exchange had changed since 1947. In the 1940s, the tearoom served regular female customers of the higher class who were dropped off by chauffeurs. The male customers, who were often on a lunch break, would eat in the basement in what became known as the Down Under Club.
Marguerite was a mentor for the younger waitresses at the Exchange (even those in their 80s) by training and advising them on how to improve their customer service skills. She stressed the importance of never complaining about customers or managers and never serving one person before the others at a table of multiple patrons. She would also place photographs of famous Marylanders, like Emily Post, on the tables in the tearoom while stressing the importance of proper table settings and customer service. Marguerite’s practical ways earned her the title of head waitress at both The Dutch Tea Room and the Exchange.
In 1992, Schertle filmed a scene at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange for the 1993 movie Sleepless in Seattle, playing herself. Despite her small role, Marguerite’s cameo has been credited on various websites, and following the success of the film, customers from different states would come into the Exchange asking to meet Miss Marguerite. Many sought to have an autograph signed, but she would often have to decline because she was busy working, and she insisted that she did not want to be known just for her acting career. Marguerite would, however, get checks from her cameo every other month. She was also interviewed and featured in the 2004 book by Alison Owings, “Hey, Waitress!”, about the history and importance of waitresses in America. In this book, Miss Marguerite was named as possibly the oldest waitress in America. She and two other waitresses from the Exchange, Loretta Tarbert and Carrie Geraghty, were also featured in the 1994 book Vanishing Lives by John Sherwood. Schertle’s friends and family even organized autograph and tea parties after she retired at the age of 95. In 2001, she returned to the Exchange to appear and be interviewed for the documentary Not a Lady Among Us.
Schertle passed away in Towson, Maryland on April 18th, 2001, at the age of 100. She continues to be remembered as an icon in the Exchange’s history and popularity, from her distinct Baltimore accent to her chicken salad served with tomato aspic and deviled eggs.