Mark writes:

When he was a boy on a farm near the village of Iola, Wis., during the Depression, Chester Krause's aunts gave him Whitman penny boards used to display coin collections. Those gifts launched a lifelong hobby that led him to create a publishing business with hundreds of employees in Iola, about 60 miles west of Green Bay.

Started by the World War II veteran on his dining-room table in 1952, Krause Publications eventually published scores of periodicals and reference books for collectors of coins, stamps, vintage cars, comic books and other items. Mr. Krause became by far the largest employer in Iola, whose current population is 1,300, before selling his interest in the company in the late 1980s and focusing on his own collections and philanthropy.

He died June 25 at age 92 from complications of congestive heart failure.

Chester Lee Krause, known as Chet, was born Dec. 16, 1923. He grew up in a house without electricity or an indoor toilet. During the Depression, the family was still using a horse-drawn plow and harvesting corn by hand. His father did masonry and other construction work on the side. His mother wrote local news items for the weekly Iola Herald. Chet's schooling ended with high school.

After noticing the lack of information available to coin collectors in rural areas, far from clubs and dealers, he created his ownpublication, Numismatic News. The first issue was printed on one side of a newsprint sheet. He included a short introduction to himself: "Ifyou are like I am and I suppose you are, I imagine you are wondering just who Chester L. Krause is. Well to start with I am just plain Chet. I'm not30 yet and still a bachelor." He described himself as neither a dealer nor a printer but "only a carpenter" and added: "I am going to need a lot ofhelp to put this paper over."

The fledgling publisher also promised readers he wouldn't be an "ad jumper," taking advantage of advertised offers before they could.

The business flourished, eventually employing more than 400 people, and included publications for collectors of many kinds. The company also held hobby shows and published reference books, such as the annual "Standard Catalog of World Coins." Mr. Krause traveled the world, seeing sights and attending gatherings of coin collectors.

To read the complete article, see:
Chester Krause Built a Big Hobby Magazine Publisher in a Tiny Wisconsin Town (www.wsj.com/articles/chester-krause-built-a-big-hobby-magazine-publisher-in-a-tiny-wisconsin-town-1467989682)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MORE ON CHESTER KRAUSE (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n27a14.html)

David Alexander
David T. Alexander writes:

Books About Chester Krause and Krause Publications
Bruce Smith writes: