September 19, 1897, Chicago Chronicle
I promise that this is the last word on the whole Columbus statue affair of 1897. But the depth of snarky commentary and needling of our fair city by this newspaper was just too complete and audacious to pass up and I needed to share this with you. Even the illustrations were a marvel. Did they send an artist to Menasha to do a sketch of the downtown area? Amazing.
July 14, 1966, Twin City News-Record
As you know, we at the blog love us some Prospector Days memories. This is a great parade photo from 1966 showing the enthusiastic crowd for a parade. Not a bad turnout for a Wednesday night.
July 19, 1966, Twin City News-Record
Future stars of the diamond get their licks in during the Rec Department's Tee League program. Maybe all of them won't be great hitting stars but then, it's all about the play, right? You have to start somewhere.
September 21, 1897, Oshkosh Northwestern
.jpg)
September 22, 1897, Oshkosh Northwestern
Well, this clinches it. The whole idea was a joke? I'll bet the other city fathers were really ticked off. As it played off, the statue was moved to the corner of the then-newly constructed Columbus Memorial Building, located on State and Washington Street in downtown Chicago. The Columbus statue lost its perch on the Columbus Memorial Building when the building was torn down in 1959. The statue was then moved to the center of a granite fountain in Columbus Plaza of Arrigo Park on the corner of Loomis and Polk Street in the Old Italian section of Chicago. In 2020, a monument project committee worked up a major report for monument management in light of the BLM demonstrations and the statue has now gone into storage. This was the oldest and one of three Columbus statues throughout the city that were removed.
September 11, 1897, Chicago Chronicle
The saga continues, the Chicago newspaper here making a plea to ensure the statue doesn't go off to the north without some consideration for the large sum expended for its construction. More tomorrow.
July 15, 1897, Oshkosh Northwestern
Menasha got wind of Chicago wanting to rid itself of a Christopher Columbus statue, seemingly erected in conjunction with the 1893 Columbian Exposition. And with it, the idea that it'd find a perfect home in Menasha was somehow launched. Of course, the local Chicago newspapers had a field day with the idea, complete with excessive snark to stick it to our fair city. More tomorrow.
July 24, 1963, Oshkosh Northwestern
It's July in the blog and that always brings memories of Prospector Days. Here's a couple of ads from 1963 to juice your memories of the event. I like that tickets for the rides were required, even though they were free. I guess that helped account for time or attendance?