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June 26, 1972, Twin City News-Record
I'm sure every kid below the age of 10 wanted to be a firefighter after this demonstration. And especially if and when they were allowed to climb on to the fire truck.
June 26, 1959, Appleton Post-Crescent
Workmen move diligently in the summer of 1960 to get Butte des Morts ready to serve as a junior high school in the upcoming school year. As times change, so do the needs of the school district. Today, Butte des Morts is once again an elementary school.
June 19, 1957, Oshkosh Northwestern
Along the lines of no good deed goes unpunished, one of John Strange's heirs (with the same name, mind you), after grousing for 29 years about a provision in his will, finally wins a judgement to get that money. The senior Mr. Strange had all the best intentions towards his home town, but evidently something was lost in ensuring there was adequate management of the funds set aside to help beautify Menasha. No pun intended, but this is one of the strangest anecdotes about Menasha I have seen.
June 26, 1967, Twin City News-Record
Our favorite plumber pictured above has a wrench that's almost as big as he is. That's some plumbing job, but Drucks can fix it! And do people say they're in "hot water" anymore? I get the pun, but wonder how many younger people might.
June 19, 1964, Twin City News-Record
Just a quick reminder that Fathers Day is coming up very, very soon. Dads in 1964 had the luck to expect a Choco-Lotta Cake, perhaps, thanks to Best Bakery. It's something nice for your "very important pop!"
I'll be taking the next week off from the blog, so have a great week and see you soon!
June 5, 1923, Menasha Record
Drama at the ol' ball game! Methinks the writer of this piece was too kind in his language as to what transpired against the Menasha players. Roughly handled, indeed. For all I know it could have been a real barn burner of a fight, especially if the crowd got into it. I was hoping there'd be more coverage of this dispute in later editions or in later meetings between the two teams but I was sorely disappointed.
June 18, 1923, Menasha Record
We start off the week with a couple of stalwart businesses of Menasha in the heart of downtown. The bank was on Main Street obviously and the transfer company resided on Chute Street, after originally being on Tayco Street. In retrospect, it seems odd that the bank felt the need to sell the idea of a bank account to potential customers but that what was needed as mistrust of banking institutions had a long history.
June 13, 1967, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
We first met Banjo Joe back in 2012 in this blog: https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/10/banjo-joe-gazecki.html. Joe was a raconteur, a merchant, a racer, a musician, a humanitarian, an entertainer...simply, a man of many talents.
It seems like every town has a "renaissance man" and Banjo Joe was Menasha's.
June 8, 1962, Oshkosh Northwestern
One wonders what WAS provided at the grand opening, as the full page ad specifically stated that dinners would not be served. Was it hors d'oeuvres and drinks? Was lunch served? Needless to say, I'm sure it was a lot of hand shaking, back slapping, networking, and mingling among all involved. I would have loved to have seen that all played out.
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June 8, 1962, Oshkosh Northwestern
Sixty-one years ago, this was the talk of downtown...a restaurant fronted by a Green Bay Packer. Imagine the hoopla, thinking that you might see the likes of Lombardi, Hornung, Taylor, or Starr at the establishment on any given night. And that is what happened, as well as being the host establishment for the 1000 Yard Club banquet held annually beginning in 1964 in dear ol' Menasha for many, many years before moving around the Valley. The last one was held in Milwaukee in 1977. Here a link to a former story about that banquet: http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-lost-era-1000-yarders-club.html
June 23, 1961, Oshkosh Northwestern
Here's a nice human interest story- boy magician gives profits to charity. David had his heart in the right place, though he might need a better business manager. One cent admission seems rather low, even in 1961 terms. But perhaps that was the real magic, making his talents affordable for a number of neighborhood kids who weren't made of money.
June 15, 1961, Oshkosh Northwestern
Continuing the long standing advertising tradition featuring the smiling food mascot, comes this ad for the Hotel Menasha smorgasbord. Like that pig who beckons you to consume him at the barbeque restaurant or the cow at the steak joint, this fish and lobster welcome you to what today we'd likely call a seafood buffet, all the while with smiles on their little faces. Or perhaps they are just oblivious to their fate, unlike today's Chick-Fil-A cows who knowingly tell the consumer to just "eat more chik'n."
June 10, 1955, Appleton Post-Crescent
Here's a nice piece on the beautification efforts the Menasha Parks Department put forth to make the city's parks beautiful showplaces. Especially interesting is the description of how Smith Park comes together (or, at least how it did in 1955).
November 19, 1915, Menasha Record
We discussed one kind of sign yesterday, and today, another sign (this one more directional than inspirational) is the subject of our post. And it further underscores the oft-heard animosity between the two cities.
I recall commuting to college in Oshkosh and returning to Menasha via what was then US 41. Every day I encountered a sign at one point that read "Menasha 9, Neenah 8" which, of course, was the mileage to the two separate communities. Now, the friction between the Twin Cities was known far and wide. In fact, one of my marketing professors made a joke in one of our classes one day mentioning this exact thing. He cited seeing that exact sign and then quipped that it was a rare occasion where Menasha one-upped Neenah...in anything. (Big laughter.)
So, despite the "slight" of coming second most of the time, it only makes sense to anyone (and to this lady who complained) that when giving directions, it is only logical to cite the first city one comes to (Menasha),in spite of the naming convention that puts it as second usually. It made sense in the late 1970s and I'm sure it made sense in 1915.