~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special thanks to Burgert brothers descendants Diane Heflin Dowling (great granddaughter of Al Burgert) and Harold "Hal" Chesney Burgert III (great grandson of James Harold "Harry" Burgert) for sharing their family history and the stories handed down to them about the Burgert family which appear in this feature, and for allowing the use of their photos from their personal collection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The Burgerts in Tampa "William" is an error, this was Willard and his wife, Fe Arcadia Aviles The Burgerts subsequently moved to Tampa around 1896 to 1897.  The 1899 Tampa city directory listed three Burgerts engaged in the photography business. Samuel and Willard C. Burgert constituted the firm of S.P. Burgert and Son, Photographers, and Jean Burgert also worked for his father and older brother. Samuel introduced the various children to his craft, and always retained a close relationship with them.

 

A prairie schooner in Tampa, circa 1890, by Burgert Bros.
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/34491

 

 

1900 - Samuel P. Burgert (right) and José Ramon Sanfeliz in the Burgert studio, Ybor City.  The photo was taken by Jean Burgert.   Cuban born Sanfeliz's pictures were taken between 1897 and 1905, and the film was developed and printed in Burgert's studio.  From the University of Florida Digital Collections José Ramon Sanfeliz The photo as it appeared in Sanfeliz' personal scrapbook JOSE RAMON SANFELIZ From the University of Florida Digital Collections José Ramón Sanfeliz was born in Havana, Cuba, on September 21, 1870, and by age ten was working in a cigar factory. He found employment at the Hijos de Cabaña y Cajal Factory stripping the stems from the tobacco leaves. Two years later he worked with his father at La Concordia Sugar Mill and then, at age fourteen, began an apprenticeship at El Nuevo Mundo Cigar Factory. Sanfeliz would later write, “I distinctly remember this place as I received many beatings, many blows, and very poor food.” At age twenty he decided to leave the revolution torn island and come to America.     J. R. Sanfeliz and his daughter, Noemi, 1920 From the University of Florida Digital Collections Once in Tampa, Sanfeliz found employment at Lozano, Pendás and Company. The cigar industry in Ybor City was growing in 1890 and there was plenty of work for someone with his experience. In later years he worked in other factories such as Ramón Monet and Ybor-Manrara as well as for Pancho Arango at Seidenberg and Company who produced La Rosa Española cigars. But Sanfeliz held a variety of jobs throughout his life. In addition to cigar making, he worked as a clothing salesman, bartender, dishwasher, timekeeper, rent collector, laxative salesman and notary. He also was a bookkeeper at a racehorse track, worked in the shipyards, at a theater, newspaper, and liquor warehouse–AND–he took photographs. In 1922, he created the photograph album today housed at the University of South Florida, Special Collections Library. This album consists of 35 black and white prints taken between 1897 and 1905, which profile life around Ybor City. According to a note in the album, commercial photographer Mr. S. P. Burgert–whose sons founded Burgert Brothers Photography–developed the photographs. Sanfeliz dedicated the album to his good friend D. B. McKay, mayor of Tampa and publisher of the Tampa Daily Times. Sanfeliz went on to work for two local Spanish newspapers: the Prensa founded in Ybor City by Francisco de la Vallina and La Traducción (The Translation). As a Cuban patriot, raising money to fund the revolutionary forces in his homeland remained a priority for Sanfeliz. He was involved with two revolutionary clubs– The 24th of February Club and Los Vegadores de Maceo (Avengers of Maceo). Later in his career he became one of the founding members of Club Nacional Cubano (Cuban National Club), now known as the Cuban Club. The 1910 census of Tampa shows Sanfeliz was working in the shipping department of a liquor warehouse and  lived at 1603 Nebraska Ave., with his wife Carlota and their children, Eliezer, Benjamin, Esther, Josephine and Noemi.  Jose and Carlota had been married for 18 years.  Only 5 of their 8 children were living at the time of this census. José Ramón Sanfeliz died December 7, 1957, and is buried with his wife Carlota in Myrtle Hill Memorial Park in Tampa. This photo of cigar workers on strike in 1899 is a Burgert Bros. photo which was probably taken by Sanfeliz. In May of 1899 Latin cigar makers went on strike first at the Ybor-Manrara factory when owners installed scales, thereby challenging the integrity of the workers. Large numbers of Cubans left Tampa during the lean months of "la huelga de la pesa" (the weight or scales strike). From the University of Florida Digital Collections The preceding information about Sanfeliz are excerpts from a Cigar City Magazine article written by Marilyn Esperante Figueredo and online at http://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/history/item/cigarmaker-photographer. You can also see there some of Sanfeliz’s photos and read more about his work. Ultimate source was Life History of Jose Ramon Sanfeliz at UNC University Library Southern Historical Collection.  Many of Sanfeliz’s photos can be found by searching at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/  for “Burgert” without the quotes, but they are not identified as his.

 

 

The Death of Samuel P. Burgert Samuel expanded his work in photography in Tampa and became a respected citizen of the growing community, being elected Master of the John Darling Lodge of the Masons in 1913. He never retired and worked until his death on September 29, 1918 during the Influenza epidemic in Tampa.  He died in a small three bedroom apartment in back of one of the Burgert Brother's photographic studios in Tampa, where he had lived with his widowed daughter-in-law, Nettie, and her children Hal, Thel and Rose. He is buried in the old section of Woodlawn Cemetery in Tampa, at a Masonic memorial of the Hillsborough Lodge No. 25.  Atop the memorial is a tablet inscribed with the names of lodge members, with a number for each, corresponding with a marker on the ground surrounding the memorial.  S.P. Burgert is number 9.   Photos courtesy of Diane Heflin Dowling

 

The third Hillsborough County courthouse in Tampa, Lafayette St. entrance, looking east from the intersection of Franklin St., 1887.
North is to the left.  The intersection seen at the right is Lafayette St. and Monroe.  Today this is Kennedy Blvd. and Florida Avenue.
From the University of South Florida Digital Collections**
**described there as "Madison St." which was the north side of this courthouse

The earliest Hillsborough County courthouse was a log cabin that burned down at the outbreak of the Second Seminole Indian Wars fought in Florida, around 1835.  At that time, fewer than a thousand people lived in Hillsborough County and cattlemen came to the courthouse most often to complain about stolen livestock. And, of course, judges and attorneys traveled long distances by horseback or stagecoach to cover their “circuit," a name still in use today.

When the first Commissioners met in 1846, the general topics were taxes, transportation, a new courthouse and jail, and downtown development. The next year, the Commissioners accepted the bid of Captain James McKay to construct the 2nd courthouse, a two-story structure which was 20 ft x 45 ft and cost taxpayers $1,358.

The 3rd Hillsborough County Courthouse, seen above, was erected in 1855 at a cost $5,000 and was used until 1891. It faced south and was two stories high, nearly twice as large at 76 ft long, by 45 ft wide. The first floor was dedicated for City Hall, Judges of Probates, Clerks, Sheriff’s Offices and the Grand Juror’s room. A 42' by 45' courtroom was on the second floor. In addition, the courthouse was mounted with a dome and tower and was finished in a combination of Grecian, Ionic and Corinthian orders. Of course, it also had a picket fence to keep the animals out of the courtyard.

In August of 1892, an ornate, red brick courthouse with a silver dome was built, occupying a square block in downtown Tampa, at the same location of the previous one, but facing west. The architect, J.A. Wood, also had designed the Tampa Bay Hotel.  This courthouse is seen in the large photo near the top of this page, and here.

From the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Hillsborough County website

 

In Tampa, Willard and Samuel set up a Burgert studio in Ybor City on 7th Ave. in the late 1890s. But Willard's interests soon went in a different direction.  He founded the Tampa Photo and Art Supply Company, in 1902 at 207 Lafayette Street--his most enduring and financially rewarding job and one that provided work for all the family at one time or another.  Over the years, Will employed his father, Simon Peter Burgert, as a supervisor, brother Albert as a film developer, brother Alfred as an accountant (Jean would later teach him to be a photographer when those two went into business together years later); nephews Harold (Hal) and Thel Burgert were given jobs after their father James Harry Burgert suddenly died in the prime of his life, so that his widow, Nettie, would have a little financial help without looking like a hand out.  Even Nettie's daughter Rose, little sister to Hal and Thel, worked there when she was old enough.

 

	Triumphant pilot Tony Jannus waves as he lands in Tampa on the first leg of his first regularly-scheduled airline flight Jan. 1, 1914. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/28205

 

On Jan 1, 1914, when Tony Jannus reached the dock in Tampa from St. Pete on his historic, first ever scheduled airline service, he was greeted by enthusiastic cheering, clapping, and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. A moment later, there was a rush down the three narrow planks connecting the platform to the shore, and men, women and children fought to get down to greet them. The police had to assist in holding back the crowd so that Willard C. Burgert could take moving pictures of Jannus and his passenger, former St. Pete Mayor Abram Pheil, bowing, smiling and waving to the crowd.

 

 

Active in many aspects of photography, Will frequently traveled away from his company store to market theatre supplies. He represented Pathe newsreels, and owned his own hand grind camera on which he cranked out newsreel footage.  At the 1916 South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival, he represented and presumably shot footage for the Mutual Weekly Film Company.

	Lion tamer Jack Bonavita From The Rise and Fall of Coney Island's Dreamland

Will appears to have been a true bon vivant. This element in his character probably found its greatest occupational satisfaction in his theatre work, which according to his grandson, Thel, was his primary occupation.  Will booked vaudeville theatre acts through the Empire Theatrical Exchange, a company based in Atlanta. In late 1908, Empire opened a booking office in Havana, Cuba, which Will managed.  In 1913, Will was involved in a motion picture company that starred the apparently incomparable Captain Jack Bonavita in such tropical extravaganzas as Voodoo Vengeance (1913) and The Wizard of the Jungle (1913).

 

Will was able to secure many of the best acts for one-night stands at his and his brother's theaters in Tampa, the Sans Souci and others,  because they would be traveling from New York to Havana and could easily work the stopover with minimal added expense.

 

 

 

 

	The Dolly Sisters, Jennie & Rosie Deli, from here

 

Willard brought in acts such as the famous Dolly Sisters, who then traveled on to places like Key West where his brother Harry would book the performers for his own theater there, the "San Carlos."  He treated vaudeville stars like royalty and would go to great expense to host them, often feeding and entertaining them at his own home.

The brown-haired, blue-eyed Will Burgert was known as a romancer of women, a free spender and a snappy dresser. "He was a free spender, not a freeloader" and liked to be the center of attraction. He was a great dancer, and always meticulously groomed.  According to family legend, in his early years Will liked to romance the women who shone as stars--or just glowed as members of the ensemble in vaudeville, though he did not restrict his romances to vaudeville.

His nephew, Thel Burgert, said that Will could have owned half of Tampa if he had known how to manage his money. However, sometimes he stayed away from his business too long, and when he traveled allowed others to mismanage his affairs.  He was a member of the Gasparilla Krewe--Tampa's socially elite holiday revelers, and he liked snazzy cars. At one time he owned an aluminum-bodied Marmon.

 

 

 

Willard projected an image of physical well being and vitality. He was a great swimmer, and according to family history, a champion swimmer of the southeast United States. Willard learned to swim in Florida's then pure and lovely St. John's River. Stories abounded in the family chronicling his prowess as a swimmer. For 25 years Will was a legitimate long-distance competitor, and he felt any swim less than ten miles wasn't much of a workout. He would swim across shark-filled Tampa Bay from Tampa to St. Petersburg. Every fourth of July he would compete with the best swimmers from the region and he also raced in fresh water contests at places like the Sulphur Springs pool in Tampa. In these less taxing (for him) contests, Will would usually out-lap the other competitors who often had to be pulled exhausted from the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A record crowd showed up to watch one race in the Gulf of Mexico off of Clearwater Beach, where each lap was a mile. Will was declared the winner when his opponent, Emil Fritch, was pulled from the water unconscious by a rowboat tender after completing 4 3/4 miles of the scheduled 10 mile race. Burgert continued in the water after Fritch was taken out, until he had completed five miles, the Tampa Tribune reported. "The winner apparently suffered no fatigue as he ran up and down the beach several times when he came out of the water and stated that he could have easily finished the course."  Will was awarded a silver cup by the Whitledge Hotel, and a prize of $1,000 by the Clearwater Beach Amusement Company, sponsors of the event.  Part of his secret was that he was very buoyant--he had a tremendous chest and remarkable expansion that helped keep him afloat.

 

Will Burgert marriages and children

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Around 1898, Will married New York native Fe Arcadia Aviles, a daughter of Cienfuegos, Cuba native Fernando J. and Adela Aviles. Fe was a gorgeous dark haired beauty who carried herself well, with great dignity, stature and poise.  

Will and Fe had their daughter Emma A. around 1899, and their son Cedric Earl around 1905.  

Cedric married a young Ethel M. Thomas in 1927 and worked as a salesman for Tampa Photo and Art Supply in the late 1920s .  By 1935, Cedric was the VP and Treasurer of W. C. Burgert, Inc., (President Willard C. Burgert) a theater equipment & supply company at 117 S. Franklin Street.  Cedric died at age 29 in December of 1935, with no children surviving past infancy.  It is believed that he died from a black widow spider bite.  Emma married twice, first to a Mr. Andrews, then to Cespedes Javier Perez.  Emma died in 1967 in Tampa, and it is believed that she too had no children.

 

Tampa Tribune, July 21, 1941

According to Burgert family lore, Fe died of tuberculosis.  City directories of Colorado Springs, Colorado, show Fe A. Burgert lived there from 1916 to 1918, as did her daughter Emma.  It appears that Fe may have died there around 1918 or 1919, while attempting to recover.

By 1920, Willard and his second wife Leone, a North Carolina native, lived only a block from the photo and art supply store, but soon moved to an apartment in Hyde Park.  In 1929, they had a home at 5701 Taliaferro.  In addition to being president and manager of Tampa Photo and Art Supply, Willard was manager at Peninsular Seating Co. and Amusement Supply Co.   In 1934, Will and Leone divorced, and in 1936, Willard married Texas native Lynn Daniel in West Palm Beach.  Will died on July 20, 1941 at age 66 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Tampa.  The order for his funeral was given by Mrs. A. P. Burgert, his sister-in-law.  Will's funeral was modest and paid for by his brother, Alfred.  Will died practically destitute.  His obituary and death certificate name another wife at the time--Ruth.

At one time or another, most all in the family worked at Will's Tampa Photo Supply company, some as a stepping stone to something else.  Will based his hiring on family needs, and not company needs.  Among family members he hired were his father, S.P. Burgert as a supervisor, brother Al as an accountant, treasurer and assistant manager, brother Jean as department manager,  brother Bert in numerous capacities and his wife Drewtina, as a sales clerk, as well as his own son Cedric and nephews Hal and Thel. 

 

 

 

 

Trolleys in Hyde Park, 1913, by Burgert Bros.
In the distance in the bay can be seen the grassy islands that became Seddon Island and Davis Islands
From the University of South Florida Digital Collections

 

 

	James Harold "Harry" Burgert and his camera Photo courtesy of his great grandson, Harold Chesney Burgert, III

Harry Burgert

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James Harold "Harry" Burgert was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sept. 22, 1876.   Harry was one of the most promising of the Burgerts, but his early death deprived the family of one of its most respected members. It is said that some time in the 1890s he joined the "Cincinnati Light Rifles" a volunteer military group. The group may have been formed in preparation for the war with Spain over Cuba, though there is no historical evidence of it and no family stories exist suggesting that Hal actually ever participated in this war.  After moving to Florida with his parents and brothers, he became extremely successful in his business ventures, which were at times quite diversified. 
 

Though he lived for a time with the rest of the family in Jacksonville, Harry appears to have been the first of the brothers to leave home and live away from the family.  According to Rose Burgert Baker, Harry traveled to Cuba in 1898 to photograph a flag raising ceremony on the island for Leslie's Weekly, one of the country's most popular magazines. None of the Spanish American War photographs which filled so many of Leslie's pages during of the war are directly attributed to Harry.

 

Harry was also the first Burgert brother to venture into his own business apart from his father. He opened his photographic studio in Key West, Florida around 1896 at age 20, and established the first vaudeville and motion picture house there, the "San Carlos". 

 

 

 

 

Harry felt that the best advertisement for his theater was word-of-mouth praise, so  he offered the first performance of any new bill at his vaudeville house free to all the patrons who could fit into the theatre. He was also the first entrepreneur in south Florida to show color films, hand-tinting every frame of the film himself.  Harry managed the theatre, usually playing one night only, with his brother Will working in Havana to book the acts for their theatres in Key West and Tampa.  Cuba was lucrative hot spot for American entertainers of the day to perform.  By booking their acts in sequence, Will and Harry were able to attract some of the biggest names in the business.  At one time or another, Harry owned and/or managed at least four theaters, at times with a Mr. Ratcliff, in Tampa--the Sans Souci, the Pathe, the Orpheum, and in Key West, the San Carlos.  These theaters featured movies and vaudeville acts booked by his brother, Will.

 

 

 

Burgert Theater Listings in New York Newspapers, Billboard and Variety

"W. J." Burgert was probably a reference to Will and James (Harry) as manager and owner	The Sans Souci and the Pathe were theatres in Tampa owned and managed by J. H. Burgert and Ratcliff.

This listing shows Burgert & Ratcliff also managed the Orpheum and names the acts that were currently playing.
In 1909, the Orpheum closed for a time, then reopened in July with only J.H. Burgert listed as manager.	This listing shows the Pathe theatre was in West Tampa

Listings for Burgert & Ratliff theatres in Tampa: Orpheum, Sans Souci and Pathe, and J.H. Burgert's San Carlos in Key West	This Sep. 10, 1910 listing in The Billboard may contain some errors. It omits a Tampa section, and lists Tampa's theatres under St. Petersburg.  Platt & Parker Streets are in Hyde Park, Tampa.  Central Ave. could have been St. Pete or Tampa.

	Harry Burgert and wife Jeanette "Nettie" Johnson Burgert, with their sons Thel (left) and Hal, 1911. Photo provided by Harold Chesney Burgert, III great grandson of Harry Burgert
In 1904, Nettie and Harry had their second son, Ethelbert "Thel" James Burgert.  (Thel is the source of some of the information in this feature.)  Thel, and his brother Hal, would eventually become well-known photographers and work for newspapers in Detroit, MI.  In 1906, Samuel, Harry and his wife Nettie, and Jean were in Savannah, Georgia where they owned and operated the Burgert Art Studio.

While in Key West, Harry met Jeanette "Nettie" B. Johnson, Key West native and a daughter of John V. Johnson and Sophia L. Knowles.  They married on Dec.13, 1898.  In 1900, Harry and Nettie's first son was born in Key West--Harold "Hal" Chesney Burgert.  Nettie worked as a ticket taker at Harry's silent movie theatre, the first one in Key West, and watched over Harry's interests while he was back in Tampa with his business as a commercial photographer, as well as his own photography studio in Key West, sometimes called Burgert Brothers, and sometimes with a partner under a different name.  Harry also owned two fishing boats, manned them with crews, and engaged in commercial fishing.  He commuted by steamboat between Tampa and Key West frequently.

Nov. 23, 1911 There was an ad for the San Carlos in every issue of the Key West Morning Journal from Nov 23, 1911 to April 18, 1912, except the Dec. 23, 1911 issue.

The last ad for the San Carlos in the Key West Morning Journal, April 18, 1912. You can see all the ads here, each is on the bottom of the front page of each issue.

Whether Harry liked to travel or had to so he might advance occupationally, he was also a strong family man and sometimes took his wife and children with him. His son Thel remembered that after coming to Tampa, his father became an itinerant photographer, venturing as far west as Texas and Oklahoma and as far north as the Carolinas, taking his wife, Thel, and Hal with him.  Harry and his family would set out on a tour of the states, spending a few days in each town, and photographing everybody and everything presented.

1917 - The Burgert's studio at 1515 7th Ave., Ybor City in the Sanchez & Haya Real Estate Building From the University of Florida Digital Collections** **Misidentified as being owned by Walter Burgert Located on the south side of 7th Ave. between 15th and 16th Streets, the studio took advantage of indirect sunlight through its northern-facing glass-fronted 2nd floor studio.  The first floor was occupied by P.O. Grocery.  To the left of the studio can bee seen the 3-story F. Mayo building which housed a movie theater on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors.  To the right is seen the dry goods store of Isadore Kienitz, a Jewish merchant from Romania.

At least once during his Key West years, he shared a studio, in 1899 with E.F. Moffatt, as the 1900 Key West directory shows. But eventually he came to feel that Key West was not growing rapidly enough to sustain him and enable him to profit sufficiently from his different interests, and In 1911 or 1912, Harry divested himself from most of his businesses in Key West and moved with his family permanently to Tampa, where he opened a portrait studio in Ybor City.

The portrait studio was located at 1515 1/2 7th Avenue, Ybor City's main thoroughfare.  He selected this locale because Ybor City was a thriving Latin enclave inside the city, a community within the community with 25 to 30 cigar factories that constituted an important commercial center.  And it was a lively place punctuated by frequent festivals both religious and secular, providing ample opportunities for a good commercial photographer. His studio was on the second floor above a grocery store. The front of the studio was all glass--some forty feet long facing north, enabling him to use natural light in his portraits, a novel technique in those days, more pleasant and safer than the bright flash and big bang of powder. His studio was a one man operation with Harry taking, developing, printing, and if necessary retouching his own photographs.

Harry and his family had settled in a house and studio in Ybor City, the Latin neighborhood of Tampa, but his business there was so profitable that the family moved to a second home in November of 1913, a grand home in a very affluent suburb called Tampa Heights.  Nettie had just become pregnant with their third child.

Death of Harry Burgert

Upon returning from Key West on a steamboat trip earlier in 1913, Harry came down with pneumonia and was in ill health, but not considered seriously ill,  for several months.  Then suddenly, on Jan 22, 1914, Harry died of a heart attack in Tampa at age 37, leaving Nettie and two young sons, Hal and Thel, and Nettie expecting their third child (Rose).

Tampa Tribune, Jan 23, 1914

Nettie immediately sold the family's new home on Mitchell St. to get out from under their big mortgage, and moved the family, along with her father-in-law, Samuel, into the three room apartment behind Harry's photographic studio where they had a lease, and immediately set about learning the photographic portrait business.

In the years prior to this, Samuel and Adelina's marriage had soured and they found it desirable to live apart after their sons had married.  City directories and censuses from 1910 to 1917 show Adelina claimed to be a widow, while in 1910, Samuel lived nearby in the home of his son, Harry and his wife Fe and their children.  One anonymous observer believed the source of their discord was due to Adelina not getting along as well with the boys' wives as Samuel did.  No records of a divorce exist and other family and friends reported that Samuel and Adelina's  marriage was marked by a deep love for each other, yet harsh and divisive squabbling existed between them.  Adelina's father, John T. Barlow, lived with Walter and his wife Clymene in 1910. 

Jeannette "Nettie" Johnson Burgert

Nettie and Harry's daughter Rose Harryette Burgert was born August 5, 1914.  Out of necessity, Nettie took over Harry's Burgert Brothers studio on 7th Ave in Ybor city, and learned how to become a photographer herself, including mixing chemicals and developing the photos in a dark room, supporting her fatherless family by that income. Whenever she had a problem she would contact Jean Burgert, and he would jump on his motorcycle and ride over to her rescue, each time emphasizing to her that she needed to learn how to do these things herself. Will, the oldest Burgert brother, did his part in helping his beloved brother's widow, by employing both of their sons in his business after school and on Saturday to help the family financially, and teach them the photographic business in terms of supplies and retail. Nettie was quite a dynamic and resourceful woman, not to mention a wonderful mother. 

Harold "Hal" C. Burgert - Son of Harry & Nettie Burgert

	Thel Burgert and his children, Jimmy & Geraldine, 1948 From the Burgert Bros. photographic collection at the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.  The photo is incorrectly identified there as Jean Burgert.  Thanks to Hal C. Burgert, III for proper identification

Thel Burgert - Son of Harry & Nettie Burgert

Ethelbert James "TheI" Burgert attended grade school in Tampa, but moved north to Alabama and Pensacola with his mother Nettie after she married Augustus Langley Brazil. He graduated from high school in Alabama.

On school vacations, even after his family had moved from the area, Thel would come back to Tampa and work with his brother Harold in their Uncle Will's photographic supply store. Thel's first job was in a Kodak finishing establishment where every roll of film was processed by hand-- the developing, finishing, and printing.  After this apprenticeship, Thel ran a photo finishing studio for a Tampa Tribune photographer who hired a boy on a bicycle to pedal from drug store to drug store picking up film and delivering it to Thel for processing.

Around 1926, Thel, took a job in Detroit at a photography finishing plant.  There he met Elon Robinson, son of the owner of the plant.  Robinson soon moved to St. Petersburg, and Thel decided to return to the area.  Upon returning, Thel married Emma C. Baker in 1927. 

Thel and his wife went to work for Robinson's Camera Shop in St. Petersburg, where Thel continued to work as a finisher and also engaged in some commercial photography.

Thel and Emma were then hired by the St. Petersburg Times in 1929 to supply the paper with advertising photos and news.  (Robinson went on to start Ro-Mo Photo Services with a man named Mohr.)  Thel and Emma had an office on the 3rd floor of the Times building and worked there until 1931, becoming the official photographer for the City of St. Petersburg.  In a 1971 interview with the Times, Thel said "They wouldn't let me take a picture of anyone with a coat on, even in the winter." 

During his days with the Times, Thel photographed the likes of baseball great Babe Ruth, judge and baseball commissioner Kenesaw  Mountain Landis, and author Faith Baldwin.  In 1931, while in Ft. Myers to photograph the dedication of the Thomas A. Edison Bridge on Feb. 11th, (which was also Edison's 84th birthday) he took the last photo of the famed inventor in Florida, before Edison returned to New Jersey where he died later that year. Thel's photos of Edison were so exclusive, he auctioned off his work over the telephone to wire services and newspapers. The New York Times, paid him $100.00 for his Edison photo and ran a half page story on the event.

Fort Myers to Celebrate Edison's Birthday, Feb. 11, 1931

Thel Burgert (upper right) and his Detroit News colleagues, 1934 From St. Petersburg Times article "From Coolidge to Foxx, He 'Shot' Them All" Sept. 20, 1971

Photography back then was bulky, with glass plates and open pan flash powder for indoor and nighttime shots.  In 1930 Thel arrived at the Beaux Ball in St. Pete to shoot the event.  He opened the windows, a necessary precaution when using flash powder indoors.  Unknown to him, someone closed the windows and when the flash went off, all the windows were blown out.

Thel was one of the few photographers Henry Ford trusted, since Ford had heard of an assassination attempt once on William Randolph Hearst by a would-be killer who hid his gun inside a box camera. In a memorable photograph, Thel was able to capture Henry Ford standing in front of the Ford Motor Company logo at his plant, as the Hindenburg zeppelin descended onto the company's property. He also covered the Detroit prison riots in the early 1960s and once had to remain in a sealed off prison for eight days. After he climbed the stairs leading up to a prison roof to take pictures of convicts burning a maximum security building, officials unknowingly welded the door behind him shut as a safety precaution. He had to be rescued from the roof by a ladder. His most life-threatening assignment however came when he was trapped in a cement tower while taking pictures of a fire at a Scott paper mill. Fireman had to pour enough water on the greatly heated concrete supporting Thel to cool it off sufficiently to enable him to descend by an elevator bucket.