Mom of 17 takes on 3 more

Sea Girt was a family affair in the 1950s, and no family was more well-known than the Muellers.

George and Caroline Neuchwander Mueller raised 17 children on a farm that extended from Sea Girt Ave to Manasquan High School from around 1910 to 1936. The farm had a restaurant and a rooming house on Route 71 where the family also sold flowers and produce. Caroline fed the children, the residents of the rooming house, and the occasional vagrants who slept near the train line.

After the death of their father at age 48 with 12 children still living at home, the adult Mueller boys looked to expand the business beyond their own farm.

They successfully sold the farm's flowers to shop owners in New York and Philadelphia, so Fritz and two of his brothers dove into the wholesale flower business.

Fritz set up shop in Newark to be close to the airport as air cargo was just becoming feasible and he built the customer network. Richard leased farms in Howell, North Carolina, and Florida to create a year-round supply of flowers for his company Mueller Supply. Charlie shipped the flowers all over the country. Brothers Henry and Bobby and sisters Martha, Gretchen, and Frieda all helped Fritz with the business.

At one time, the Mueller Brothers Flowers sold more baby’s breath than any other grower in the USA. The three brothers lived in Sea Girt and commuted together to Newark daily, affectionately calling themselves, "Three Jerks from Sea Girt". Fritz decorated his house with elaborate displays for Christmas. Their house on 4th and Trenton became a tourist attraction. His reindeer and Santa still decorate the Sea Girt library, and he was the genius behind the “Smile You’re in Sea Girt” sign.

Fritz Mueller was known for his Christmas displays

Their brother George Mueller was handy. He was a contractor and he opened a garage in Wall. He ran for Mayor of Manasquan and when elected moved to build a new grammar school for the children of Manasquan, large enough to accommodate half the children of Sea Girt.

It was a time for kids’ activities. Sea Girt’s Frank Lasheck won the NY Daily Mirror prize for the best flying model airplane in the Jet speed division. The Brownies and the Boy Scout troops reached record enrollment.

Elizabeth Warnke, the wife of dentist Dr. Fred Warnke of Sea Girt gave birth to triplets. “I’m Flabbergasted” said Elizabeth, as she had no idea she was carrying three. The babies were healthy, but Elizabeth contracted polio while she was pregnant. Fitkin Hospital allowed the full-term girls to stay hospitalized for a few weeks to grow. The girls did not contract the virus.

We have the Mueller family to thank for this iconic sign.

Jane, Elizabeth, and Margaret were ready to come home; Caroline Mueller stepped in. She had raised 17 children, so she thought three would be no problem. She asked two of her daughters-in-law to join her. Caroline would take charge of the day shift with one woman for each baby.

She asked the congregation of Trinity Lutheran for more volunteers to handle the night shifts.

George Mueller had purchased the old Presbyterian church building in Manasquan for $1 and gave it to the Lutheran Church. The congregation stepped up to help the Muellers.

They fed and clothed the triplets while Elizabeth got up her strength. Although it usually impacts children under five, polio can be contracted by adults and it weakens the muscles and damages nerves.

The vaccine, which eradicated this virus was developed by Jonas Salk. Using funding from the March of Dimes, he created his first version in 1950, and gained approval in 1955. Cases went from 58,000 per year to under 5,000, and in 1994 the US was polio-free.

The girls grew up in Sea Girt and were minor celebrities. Triplets were 1 in 10,000 before the advent of fertility drugs.