Ice Cream Days

 

These two students, featured in the 1940 Renard, enjoy their 5 cent ice cream cones, no matter what the weather.  I wish I could narrow down the location of this establishment, but needless to say it must have been a popular spot for young and old.   

And with that, let me wish you a Happy Labor Day weekend and the happiest of ice cream days!  I'll see you back here on Tuesday, September 3rd. 

Three Trains Each Way Daily!

This poster from ca. 1886, advertises the Wisconsin Central railroad that ran through Neenah-Menasha.  As described in this blog previously, the Wisconsin Central was organized at the National Hotel in 1871, the site of the present day Hotel Menasha. 

The Wisconsin Central, or WC, was quite active in the late 19th century.  But after 1909, the Wisconsin Central became primarily a holding company, as the Soo Line operated the WC's property, bearing the Soo Line colors. 

In 1987, the Wisconsin Central came out from under the shadow of the Soo Line after their parent company acquired the bankrupt Milwaukee Road.  Since then, the familiar burgundy and yellow painted engines are a common sight in the area. 

Smith-Keifer Clothing

From the 1940 Renard, advertising for the "New Store for Young Men."  I assume Mr. Smith was also an alumnus of St. Mary's, though the way this is written, I am not sure.  This location would have been two doors west from Morton's Drugs. 

Hidde's Pharmacy

from a 1940's Neenah-Menasha phone directory

 

Al Hidde got his start working at Island Drug on Doty Island, later moving his operations to Menasha with the purchase of Menasha Drug at 196 Main Street.  Looking back on it, it seemed there were always the three pharmacies in downtown Menasha- Hidde's, Morton's, and Lang's.  In retrospect, one wonders how they managed, in a town that size, to be competitve and make a go of it.  Though my family's loyalties were with Morton's, we'd still make occasional forays into the other two for various and sundry items as the situation dictated- perhaps pick up the aspirin while paying the phone bill, for instance. 

Potential Canal

 

 

Related to the blog post last week about Old Ben of Yorktown, the potential canal featured on this map was considered by the US Army Corps of Engineers as an alternative to the familiar canal closer to the downtown area. 

 

As described last week, Old Ben was to guard the Menasha dam that was suspected in causing flooding in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac by raising the levels of Lake Winnebago.  Correspondence between the Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of War, as a result of a Senate resolution to investigate these claims, led to the above map being drawn up in 1876 as one part of the solution to the flooding concerns. 

 

In the end, the present canal stayed and the dam was replaced with a new one, constructed just below the old one in 1886-87.  Despite appearances, the new dam remained the same height as the old one but four sluice gates were added to the structure to be opened when the levels of Lake WInnebago rose to a designated mark to preclude flooding.   

Coonen's Complete Service

I picked up this ad scan from the Historical Society while doing research for the book in 2011 and never really found a place for it.  

Judging this to be from the late 60's/early 70's, Coonen's was so familiar to me since I lived at 2nd and DePere.  From my earliest memories, this gas station in its various incarnations was in the background of so many family snapshots as well as being my father's first resource for getting the ol' Chevy serviced. 

I spent a lot of time over there myself in those bays and if the day is right, I can still recall the sounds and the smells of the gas and oil and rubber tires, not to mention the consistent ringing of that hose you'd drive over when you got gas.  It was my source of free air for my Stingray bicycle as well as a quick run to the cigarette machine (remember those?) for my Dad before the era of convenience stores attached to gas stations.  There are very few stations like this anymore.   

Old Ben of Yorktown

A blog reader recently asked me about "Old Ben," the cannon that reportedly guarded the Menasha dam for a period of time in the 19th century.  Reportedly, folks down the Fox River blamed Menasha for flooding and as a result, wanted to destroy the dam we had here.  Enter Old Ben.  Meant as a legitimate safeguard from such threats, Old Ben was thought to have been obtained through the efforts of Governor Doty, bringing the cannon down from Fort Howard to our fair city. 

"Old Ben of Yorktown," as the story goes, was originally captured from the British during the Revolutionary War and had been sent to the western frontier, to Detroit, where it was reclaimed by the British during the War of 1812.  After the US took the cannon back at war's end, it was sent first to Mackinac Island and then on to Fort Howard in 1816.  Until the early 1900's, the cannon was stationed at the Racine Street battery, the point where the current Racine Street bridge meets Main Street.  But over time, the cannon disappeared and no one seems to know where or why.  Few references even mention Old Ben. 

The following news item provides a bit more background on Old Ben:

Menasha Record, July 12, 1911

 

photo courtesy of Menasha Public Library and thanks to the Wisconsin Historical Society