Ready At the Back Door

This is another of my "found' Drucks photos I began to show last month.   The back is stamped  "June 2, 1967, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern."  I thought it might be used for an advertisement touting their repair services but I didn't find it published in any Northwestern editions from June of 1967.  So, it is what it is.  If nothing else, it gives us a taste of the alley atmosphere behind the Main Street businesses.  

Good Grief

March 24, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Perennial favorite amongst school productions is the  play, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, shown here being put on by Maplewood Junior High.  Charlie Brown, that lovable loser, never seemed to get a break but he was always supported by his best friend, Linus.  Even in criticizing him, Linus was a gentle soul.  In  A Charlie Brown Christmas, the worst Linus could ever utter was, "Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest." Now that's a friend!

The Coming Spring?

March 6, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Here's a mood shot for your mid-work week appreciation.  I have a strange passion for these atmospheric, "artsy" type photos that staff photographers would occasionally feature in the newspaper.  One might argue that they were "filler" for those "slow" news days, but aren't these also the ones that win the awards, not the snaps of boring old city council meetings or a traffic accident on Main Street? 

A Study in Concentration

 March 24, 1970, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Nicolet Kindergarteners put their skills to the test in a demonstration of hair care.  Having a little experience with two daughters of my own, I'm sure it took nothing to prompt these girls into action.  I'm just amazed how the camera captured their intensity at just the right time.  

Best Buy, by Far!

 September 19, 1949, Twin City News-Record

It seems like most of the appliance ads featured in the blog have been attributed to Drucks.  Guess that's a function of how much advertising Drucks did versus other entities like Becher Electric, for example.  But today's example here challenges that thought and today, Becher Electric is top dog.  Regardless of who was selling, those two retailers had Main Street covered from one end to the other, that's for sure.

Editorial Commentary

 

September 19, 1949, Twin City News-Record

In what I promise will be the last word on this newspaper's birth, I offer a part of the editorial section of the paper, welcoming the reader to its birth.  While it is a pep talk for the Twin Cities, or "Good Towns" as the editor playfully calls them, I find it more interesting to have included the thought processes that occurred over naming the newspaper.  I cannot imagine a name like The Neenah-Menashian, though it DOES have a unique ring to it.  Perhaps if we'd have heard the term "Menashian" bandied about more often, it wouldn't have sounded so far-fetched.  But I DO like that the idea was an homage to The New Yorker.

Offer

 

September 19, 1949, Twin City News-Record

In keeping with all the newspaper history from yesterday's blog post, here's an exciting offer that potential subscribers of the News-Record had in 1949 when the two newspapers merged into one...three weeks free when you subscribe for 13 weeks.  That's rather enticing.  Of course, the ad doesn't tell you the rate.  You have to search for that within the newspaper.  And a nice photo of the Menasha offices of the News-Record at 418 Racine Street.

Newspaper History

March 26, 1931, Appleton Post-Crescent

None other than George Banta, Jr. gives Rotarians a history of Menasha newspapers.  This article gives a good overview of the history of the news trade in our fair city up to 1931.  If one remembers that the Menasha Record merged with the Neenah-Menasha Daily News-Times in September of 1949 to become the Twin City News-Record, then you've pretty much gotten the entire lesson  Yes, there'd be abortive attempts in future years to create other city newspapers but they didn't last very long.  The Neenah-Menasha edition of the Oshkosh Northwestern, wasn't really a Menasha or Neenah paper per se, but rather the Oshkosh paper wrapped up in Neenah-Menasha indicia while padding itself with a bit more news from the bureau in the Twin Cities.

September 19, 1949, Twin City News-Record

No Lost Marbles

March 2, 1931, Appleton Post-Crescent

Would a child today even know what to do with a bag of marbles?  Yes, they were a mainstay at every five and dime in America while I grew up in the 60s and 70s, yet I was hard pressed to find any kids my age who played marbles.  Aside from just collecting them and admiring their glass complexities, marbles in my world were more often an integral part of some other whole, like the marbles that were used as tokens to go around the Chinese Checkers board, or the "steelie" that provided the action in the game of "Mouse Trap."  Granted, this wasn't 1931 when childhood pastimes were smaller and less grander in number, a time when jacks and jump ropes also vied for child attention, though girls seemingly had a monopoly on those two and they were popular in any era I knew.  

Big Oops

March 27, 1884, Saturday Evening Press

My sympathies to Mr. Reuter for the accident he endured on the rail line.  Parenthetically, I've always been amazed at the journalism of this era, so focused on the gory details of the injuries incurred by the accident victim(s).  I'm glad we have better sensibilities about such topics these days.

Waif?

 March 27, 1884, Saturday Evening Press

Obviously, this young girl likely didn't fit the definition of what a proper young lady in Menasha should be, at least by Officer Schiffer's standards.   Of course, I know this was 1884 and I know full well there weren't any social workers or other benevolent  patrons milling around on a Friday night to stick up for her when the cop was mansplaining what she should be doing. 

Leave it to the judicial system of 1884 to throw a young girl into jail for a month for the perceived sins of  what was likely termed "moral turpitude," a legal concept that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community." This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning in the 19th century.  As described above, a moral crime can be one that:

         · Shocks the public conscience

         · Acts against rules about one’s neighbors or society

         · Is inherently depraved and vile

         · Is conducted with evil intent

         · Is the result of reckless behavior

         · Is morally reprehensible

         · Is intentionally wrong 

The trickiest part about a crime involving moral turpitude is that this is a category to label a crime and does not define the crime itself. This means that the designation of a crime of moral turpitude can be assigned to any crime that the law decides it should be.  That's a bad place to find yourself.  

Model Life

March 29, 1954, Appleton Post-Crescent

The villages the students are building remind me of those figure sets sold on the backs of my comic books from boyhood.  If it wasn't soldiers in battle, it was cowboys and Indians.  Those came with teepees and corrals.  There was also a Revolutionary War set and one featuring Roman Legions, if memory serves me.  I never succumbed to those mail offers- it was enough to find bags of green Army men in the dime store for my antics, and likely, they were cheaper that way.  But once G.I. Joe came to the forefront, those little green Army men just didn't cut it anymore for me. 

Moral Drive

March 17, 1894, Saturday Evening Press

It used to be that the city government or police force or what have you, would engage every now and then on a moral crusade to right the wrongs of the town and to vanquish those bad influences that tempted the local populace.  To curry favor with voters before an election or whenever the mayor felt a moral urging to make the streets safe for young ladies or the youth, the purging could begin.  Be it saloons, pool halls, or gambling dens (or even worse), the expulsion would last for so long before vice would eventually drift back gradually into the sphere of public consciousness.  So here we are, in 1894 with Mayor Lawson's latest dictum to clean up Menasha.  It all smacks of the "Trouble in River City" number from The Music Man.  And I wonder how long it was before those slot machines made their way back into the saloons.

Campaign Stop

    

March 22, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Minnesota's own, Hubert Humphrey made a campaign stop at Germania Hall in Menasha during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972.  He ended up losing it to George McGovern in the end, but his visit made it a worthwhile event for visiting students who came to hear the Senator speak on the issues of the day.

Works of Art

March 2, 1977, Twin City News-Record

Some people collect baseball cards, some collect stamps, some collect comic books, but until I read this article, I hadn't heard of anyone collecting candles, especially such ornate ones.  Heck, I didn't even know such candles existed.  Guess I needed one to be brought into the light (groan).  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)  Anyway, pretty fancy stuff, I'd say.  

Spring Travelers

March 23, 1967, Twin City News-Record

An annual rite of passage, the Senior class trip.  It seemed the destinations of choice were most often Washington, D.C. and New York.  Even my class at St. Mary's some seven years later went to the same two places.    But be that as it may, a trip like this would provide long-lasting memories and experiences, no matter the destination.  

Nicolet Anniversary

March 1, 1977, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Be it ever so fitting that a portrait of Jean Nicolet should adorn the Nicolet School, just blocks from Nicolet Boulevard and blocks from the Nicolet Monument in Smith Park.  It makes so much sense that one wonders why it took fifty years to happen.  

Bock

 

March 1, 1935, Appleton Post-Crescent

Good ol' Chief Oshkosh, available anywhere in the Fox Valley, had its own version of Bock beer.  We've also seen Gem Bock beer in past years on this blog.  Bock traditionally was known as a winter beer, sometimes coming right before the Christmas holidays, but its availability always bled into the spring season as well to cover Lent and Easter as well.  Get ready...I just discovered there's a National Bock Beer Day and it is coming up on March 20th.

Flivver

March 18, 1925, Appleton Post-Crescent

The boy scouts' vehicle must have been quite something for it to be called "Asthma."  With a name like that, it must have sounded like Jack Benny's Maxwell (now there's a reference for us older folks, lol.  Feel free to Google it.)  But leave it to fundraisers and the indomitable spirit of the boys to make their world a little bit better.  I've no doubt in my mind that they came through with the necessary funds to purchase something new.

Awardee

 

Here's another treasure I chanced upon somehow.  The back of the photo said "1969."  That's it.  Obviously, Mr. Drucks was giving an award to one of his employees but that's all I can ascertain.  In spite of that, I am amazed at the number of different, and what I presume to be, General Electric, irons on display in the background, a definite necessity before permanent press was perfected.  So many models.  And I'm guessing the header in the back says "Housewares and Radios" as my original guess of "horseshoes" just makes no sense!    

Menasha Manufacturing

March 8, 1965, Twin City News-Record

History students gather examples of manufacturing in their fair city to put on display in the foyer of Clovis Grove School.  The display looks to have rivaled some of the better displays we used to see at the public library.  

Another "What If"

 March 16, 1966, Twin City News-Record

From our periodic  "what could have been" department, Copp's had had its eye on the Plank Road area of Menasha for a new store but, for whatever reason, it never happened.  Weeks before, the mayor hinted at this possibility without naming names. He did say that the company was determined to locate in Neenah-Menasha and though I don't know the timing, I wonder if this all fell through because Schmitt's Department store on West Winneconne Avenue in Neenah eventually sold out to Copp's and the company then didn't need to build a new property.  Another loss for Menasha.  One wonders how Plank Road might have grown commercially if this store had been out there.

Button Sale

March 14, 1966, Twin City News-Record

The watchword of any club or extracurricular activity eventually becomes "fundraising."  It seems like this has been the case since time immemorial; it wouldn't surprise me if Socrates' students were sent out to raise funds to cover a field trip to Sparta, for example.  But St. Mary's band students found interesting ways to circumvent the money shortage in creative ways, a couple of them are highlighted above.