THE INTERNATIONAL Polka Association has elected New Ulm’s Harold Loeffelmacher (standing),leader of the Six Fat Dutchmen, to the Polka Music Hall of Fame. This photo of the group was taken about 20 years ago when it recorded for RCA Victor.

For 30 years, Harold Loeffelmacher and the Six Fat Dutchmen averaged 325 performances annually.

“I’m not as active as I used to be,” Loeffelmacher says however. “I’ve cut it down; I’m 70 years old.”

For him, cutting it down means playing between 70 and 100 dates a year. There is one date New Ulm’s polka band leader will make sure to attend. It’s an Aug. 2 engagement in Milwaukee, Wis.

THAT IS when Loeffelmacher becomes the first Minnesotan to be inducted in the Polka Music Hall of Fame.

He was elected this year along with Steve Adamczyk of Chicago and the late Johnny Pecon of Ohio by members of the International Polka Association.

“I consider this the biggest honor I’ve ever had,” Loeffelmacher says. “I consider this a bigger honor than being named top polka band in the country for six straight years.”

The recognition is more than just a reflection on his talents and those of his band. To some extent it is a reflection of his longevity as well.

IN 1932, he started his orchestra, first named The Continental Band, then The Broadway Band and finally The Six Fat Dutchmen, a name which wasn’t always accurate as the group often numbered up to 11 members and often was not made up of musicians who were either fat or Dutch.

In days preceding 1932 he got into the music business by selling talkies (motion pictures).Among the other jobs he had when starting out was that of a liniment salesman.

He took his first music lesson on the violin from a Lutheran minister and later learned how to play a mail-order trombone from A.P. Boock of New Ulm.

He started out making $2 to $3 a night. After the group was formed, they traveled in a special Buick which was proportional in length to a dachshund. Since that time, they switched to a conventional bus and they’ve gone through seven of them.

THE GROUP has recorded between 700 and 800 numbers, traveled about 3 million miles to get to performances, recorded under RCA Victor for 15 years and made appearances on the Dave Garroway Show and with Lawrence Welk, whom Loeffelmacher calls “one of the finest men I’ve ever known.”

“It means to me,” he says speaking of the hall of fame nomination, “that I put a lot of effort into the music business all my life. It’s quite an honor that I do appreciate.”

But while the induction is probably the highlight of his career, it’s plain that Loeffelmacher doesn’t intend the honor to be the end of it.

Six Fat Dutchmen have played the Nebraska State Fair 26 consecutive years, and he says the group plans to be there again this year.

But the trips won’t be as frequent or as long anymore. He plans to keep the performances down to under 100 a year and within a 200 mile radius of New Ulm.

“I’d like to spend the rest of my days around New Ulm,” he points out. “I just hate the long trips; I don’t like going on the long trips like I used to.”

BEFORE the big trips began and the Six Fats became nationally known, he played at the wedding dance of Henry Klinker in Fairfax. That was back in 1926.

In 1951 he performed at Klinker’s silver anniversary. Now, he says, if he can just stick around another, he’ll play at Klinker’s golden anniversary as well.

“I can hardly believe I’m 70 years old. I’d like to do the things I did when I was younger,”he states. “If I was younger, I would go right back on the road and buy me a bus again.”

That’s why he’s in the hall of fame.

New Ulm Daily Journal

June 15, 1975