The Waitresses
The Lunchroom Waitresses
One of the most iconic parts of the lunchroom was the waitresses. They were known not only for their blue uniforms with white aprons but also for their kindness and diligence. The workers created a family atmosphere that made the customers feel as if they were getting a home-cooked meal at their grandmother’s house. Most of the waitresses began their work while in high school and stayed employed at the Exchange until their retirement, most of them being in their 80s and 90s. Even into its later years when the consignment shop saw fewer visitors and consignors, the Exchange used its lunchroom to offer secure work for the young women of Baltimore. The lives of a few of the most popular waitresses are documented below.
Rosalie Simon Maczis
Rosalie Mary Simon Maczis was born on March 15, 1925, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Adam Edward Simon and Nettie Lee Jefferson. She had 11 siblings.
Rosalie was Catholic and married Stephen Joseph Maczis on February 1, 1947.
Patricia Hall
Patricia “Trish” Hall worked as a waitress at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange, specifically during the 1990s.
Margaret Brogna
Margaret Brogna was born around 1912 and worked as a waitress at the Exchange for years until around 1995 when she was about 84, but it is unknown exactly when she started at the Exchange. When she started at the Exchange, she worked in the tearoom and had moved to...
Loretta Tarbert
Loretta Tarbert once described her job at the Exchange as incomparable to other job opportunities in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun). Dorothy Loretta Willback was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1915. She worked at the Hochschild-Kohn tea room, Hutzler’s, Stewart’s, and
Doris Sticher
Doris Sticher lived and raised her family in Cressona, Pennsylvania. She later moved to Maryland where she became a waitress at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange during the 1980s. In 1983, she was featured in a photograph in the Baltimore News-American newspaper with...
Charlotte Zimernach
Charlotte Zimernach, the “breakfast girl,” at age 85, was a waitress at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange until the 1990s; it is unknown when exactly she started work at the Exchange. She worked with waitresses such as Marguerite Schertle, Carrie Geraghty, and Margaret Brogna.
Anna Schertle
Anna H. Klaus was born in 1901 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the identical twin sister of Marguerite Klaus. Anna, Marguerite, and their three siblings were the children of immigrant parents from Germany.
When she was 15, in 1915, Anna began working at The Dutch Tea Room in Baltimore as a…
Marguerite Schertle
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…
Phyllis Sanders
Phyllis Sanders was born around 1923. She began to work at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange in 1939 when she was about 16 years old, after graduating from vocational school. She was best friends with fellow waitress Rosalie Simon, to whom Phyllis referred the...
Layne Bosserman
Layne Bosserman was known as “The Baby” when she worked at the Woman’s Industrial Exchange for about 2 ½ years from the late 1990s to around 2000, when the Exchange was being revitalized. When she began working at the Exchange, Marguerite Schertle had recently retired...
Famous Guests of the Lunchroom
The lunchroom kept a book that held the signatures of every guest who dined at and visited the Exchange. The book holds the names of wealthy and well-known Baltimorean families as well as more modern-day celebrities. Judith Rousuck recalled that former State Senator Julian ‘Jack’ Lapides “was a regular too but he ate upstairs most of the time. However; for his 70th birthday, he rented the place on a Saturday. There was a buffet set up and a couple waitresses. I don’t know how often, or if ever, they rented the place out.”
Layne Bosserman, an Exchange waitress, remembers serving Donna Hamilton, a former WBAL-TV news anchor, and her daughter. She added that she “was way down on the totem pole and if someone came and sat in her section that was famous or if it was one of the other waitress’ regular, [the other waitress] got them, not me. I would just get one of the tables in her section.”
In terms of national celebrities, Miss Willie (Wilhelmina Godwin) who worked the baked goods counter in the consignment shop would read the society news section of the paper to discover which famous celebrities would be visiting Baltimore. She would then write to them and invite them to come dine at the Exchange. A few even accepted her invitation and stopped in to visit one of the most iconic places in Baltimore. Katharine Hepburn was one of these celebrities. Her name is recorded in the guest book and the Exchange even received a letter she wrote to thank them for some heart-shaped cookies they had sent her.
Rousuck also mentioned that a lot of the actresses and actors performing at Ford’s Theater or the Mechanic stayed in hotels near the building for work and would come to the Exchange for their breakfast. This was how Jessica Tandy’s and John Waters’ names were found in the guest book.
Letter from Katharine Hepburn (1977), WIE Archive