Merry Christmas!

As we gaze upon the Christmas tree on the ol' city square, let me offer my thanks for your interest and support in making this blog a success. 

I will take a short break from blogging, but I will return after the New Year.  Until then, may your world be filled with warmth and good cheer this season and with peace and love throughout the year! 

I wish you the happiest of holidays and the merriest of Christmases.

WNAM Christmas Music

December 22, 1973 NM Northwestern

 

Not so long ago, this ad from my high school years told me that the new Blue 128 would serenade us with the old favorites to color our Christmas season.  Here's hoping your last weekend before the big day is filled with good times.  The treasures of the present will become the golden memories of tomorrow.

 

Happy weekend!

Malenofsky Home Revisited

A few days back we first visited the Malenofsky home.  Today we glimpse the children in the throes of Christmas cheer.  On the left is William and on the right is Lucille.

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library. 

Ponkratz Christmas Tree

 

 

A table-top Christmas tree in the home of John and Mayme Ponkratz. They lived at 224 Chute Street.  John was an employee at the Menasha Wooden Ware. 

 

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

Malenofsky Christmas Tree

 

The Christmas tree in the home of Michael Malenofsky Jr. at 300 Water Street.  The picture on the left is Michael and Mary Malenofsky. Michael, a papermaker at Bergstrom's in Neenah, made the play chest for his daughter. 

 

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

Christmas Display at Laemmrich's

Pictured above is the Laemmrich Funeral Home at 312 Milwaukee Street, considered the “Catholic” funeral home in Menasha for parishioners at St. Mary’s, St. John’s, and St. Patrick’s Churches. During the holidays, for many years its Christmas display was a tradition during Menasha’s holiday season. 

This photograph was featured in the Menasha book, but in the spirit of Christmas, it is brought to the blog by reader request. 

Putting Up Christmas Decorations

I found this photo in my archives today and the caption said "putting up Christmas decorations."  Judging from the fire truck and the jewelry store, I'd judge this to be a scene from the late 1940s/early1950s.  Notice the snow chains on the back wheel of the fire truck, a good safety feature. 

With Christmas only 11 days away, I hope you have your holiday plans well in order. 

Have a great weekend! 

A View from the Square

This 1906 photo from the city square shows off the recently built Hotel Menasha, completed in 1905.  In front of the hotel, a carriage waits patiently for a fare while cyclists ride by.  The building directly to the right of the hotel is the newspaper office of the Menasha Daily Press and to the right of that is the First National Bank, built in 1887.  In the coming years, in 1917, the newspaper office will be torn down and a new bank will rise on the site, the stately four-columned bank that served the city for the next 48 years. 

Henry Fitzgibbon

Henry Fitzgibbon's home at 329 Chute Street.  An attorney with an office at 148 Main, he was born in New York in 1849 and died in February,1933,  He was a one term former mayor of Menasha (1901) and was also city attorney and a member of various boards.  His wife was the former Emma Stilp (1856 - 1935).  The obituary below highlights his notable life, so much so that upon his passing, it appeared on the front page of the Northwestern. 

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

February 27, 1933 Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Happy Holidays from Golden Griddle

December 22, 1969 Appleton Post-Crescent

Holiday wishes from the staff of our favorite Valley Fair eatery. 

Badger Highways

19 July 67 Appleton Post-Crescent ad

Pictured above is the Badger Highways quarry located between 9th Street and Airport Road. It had been used by Badger Highways since 1947, when the company moved to Menasha from Oshkosh.  Quarrying operations were halted at this location in 1979 due to the residential growth around its location. Materials are now hauled in from Badger’s operating quarry located in the Town of Center in Outagamie County, north of Appleton.   But Badger Highways' main office, shop, and equipment yard are still located at the original Menasha site.

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

St. Mary's Convent

Pictured before the addition of the "'62 building" to the campus, this 1959 postcard shows the convent that was built in 1950 to house the School Sisters of Notre Dame who taught at the grade and high schools. 

In 1983, after 33 years in the present building, the sisters moved out. Two Christian Brothers moved into the convent with a vision to develop a faith community and called it the La Salle Center. Supported by the residents of the Fox Valley, the center provided youth retreats and ministry services. Eventually the center was purchased from St. Mary’s Parish and in 1999 its name was changed to the Mount Tabor Center.

As the only staffed youth retreat center in the Diocese of Green Bay, the Mount Tabor Center serves more than 3000 people annually with youth retreats as its primary focus.

Marathon Trade Ads

Back in July, we took a look at Marathon's paper specialty field of food packaging.  These trade ads portray some of the types of wrapping products the company produced for the food industry. 

1898 Menasha High Football Team

Football was first introduced to Menasha High School in 1895 but it was mostly an intramural affair and died a quick, unheralded death.  In 1898, the team pictured above was organized until Nick Wagner broke his collar bone.  As a result, interest again waned until 1902.   This was no surprise as football at the turn of the century was a violent affair.  Little protection for players, illegal forward passes, and a five yards per down system made the game a grinding, bone-crunching free-for-all.  Typical formations consisted of players locking arms in wedge formations to protect their ball carriers while using their bare heads as battering rams against the defense. 

The general consensus among Americans was that the game should be banned.  The newspapers were filled every season with sad obituaries of young men, who succumbed to skull fractures, fractured ribs piercing organs, and twisted spinal cords from the violent game.  President Theodore Roosevelt is largely credited with saving football in 1905 by calling meetings at the White House with various college officials to revamp the game.  These men were the forerunner for the NCAA.   They legalized the forward pass, abolished the dangerous mass formations, created a neutral zone between offense and defense and doubled the first-down distance to 10 yards, to be gained in three downs. The rule changes didn’t eliminate football’s dangers, but fatalities declined—to 11 per year in both 1906 and 1907—while injuries fell sharply. An increase in fatalities in 1909 led to another round of reforms that further eased restrictions on the forward pass and formed the foundation of the modern sport as we know it today. 

Boy Scouts

Boy Scouts from Troop 9 pose on the steps of the Menasha Public Library on Mill Street in 1925.  At the time of this photo, the troop was only two years old.  Scouting in the Fox Valley was fairly new; the Valley Council of Boy Scouts had only been formed in Appleton in 1920. 

Photograph courtesy of the Menasha Public Library.

Late 19th Century Street Views

These views of Broad and Chute Streets in 1887 give one a good feel as to the rusticness of the city streets during that time.  Menasha's Main Street itself wasn't paved until 1910, so one can infer that it took the remainder of the teens and '20s to see the paving of neighborhood thoroughfares like this when the city budget allowed.  No shortage of trees, was there?!

Scandalous Hijinks, 1890's Style

June 27, 1890 Oshkosh Northwestern

Another mention of the Mystic, as seen previously on this blog.  

Here's hoping your weekend is a lot less "scandalous!"  See you next week! 

Cozy Bar

Cozy Bar in left center of above photo at Old Style sign. 

Aluminum token,  reverse says "Good for 15c in merchandise," presumably the price of a beer at the time of this token's use.   

Bars and taverns sometimes issued tokens which could be used in payment for future drinks.  When buying a round of drinks for friends, the bartender would give a token to those patrons already having a drink, and collect the full sum from the round-buyer. The owner would collect immediately, and the drinkers would have a token for later use. As the token cost less to produce than the value of the drink, there was a significant profit to the bar owner. Sometimes, drinkers would take the token home, and forget to bring them back. This has been cited as the reason bar owners loved tokens, and they were found in virtually every drinking establishment.  Tokens were also used as change, where the price of the drink was odd. For example, in America for many years, drinks were two for 25 cents, or one bit (12.5 cents) each. Thus some tokens exist with one-bit denominations.

The early tokens were usually made of brass or aluminum and would have the name or initials of the bar on them, so that they could not be used anywhere else. Often, they had the landlord's name on them as well. This ensured that, when the bar changed hands, the new landlord would not have to honor old tokens. Many small, family bars still use tokens today, but modern tokens are generally made of plastic (brass and aluminum tokens are still made, but as they are more expensive, are less used). -- thanks to Wikipedia

Gear Dairy

from 1945 Neenah-Menasha Telephone Directory

May 4, 1967 Appleton Post-Crescent

Some images and memories of Gear Dairy.  About the time of the ad above, Gear's was finalizing its merger with Morning Glory, closing out a chapter that saw the demise of the many local dairies in the community selling out to corporate interests.  Today, its 1st Street location is home to a screen printing and embroidery concern and an insurance agency. 

Looking West

A view of Main Street, looking west, extracted from the 1975 centennial Nicolet, the Menasha High yearbook.  Looks like a messy day, weather-wise.  Judging from the cars on the street, this was no contemporary photograph though, merely a step back in time to the late 50s/early 60s to help celebrate 100 years of MHS' service to the community with period photos. 

Those ARE some classic cars to the left.   

Menasha High School Band First Uniforms

Though not what we'd expect when we think of today's band uniforms, I'm sure these sweaters and headgear brought plenty of excitement to the community (and the band itself) when they were first worn. 

Gala Opening

This program details the exciting movies to be shown at the New Menasha Theatre at 155 Main Street, opening on Thanksgiving Day, 1934.  Take a break from your own busy Thanksgiving weekend shopping and family time for some escapist entertainment.  Happy weekend! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 21, 1964 NM Northwestern

Here's wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hoping that what's on your table rivals what was on the Hotel Menasha's menu back in 1964.   Take some time to reflect on all the blessings bestowed upon our lives, big and small.  Despite all our political and socio-economic differences, it's still a great place to live!  

And to the readership of the Menasha book and my blog, I bestow upon you a very large thank you.  Your generous enthusiasm for Menasha history inspires me to seek out more and more interesting aspects of this great town of ours to share with you. 

Best wishes to you for family, fellowship, and friendship.

Morton Drug

from the 1945 Neenah-Menasha Telephone Directory, with the Hotel Menasha address

In 1932, Charles E. Morton opened a pharmacy on Wisconsin Avenue in Neenah.  Seven years later, he opened a second pharmacy in Menasha.  Originally located in the Hotel Menasha, it later relocated to 167 Main Street.  In time, the Morton family maintained pharmacies throughout the Fox Valley, which lasted until 2011 when they quit their retail businesses to concentrate on long-term care pharmacy operations.

Ralph's Beer Depot

from 1945 Neenah-Menasha Telephone Directory

1940s/50s price list

October 24, 1959 Appleton Post-Crescent

I can recall going to Ralph's as a boy with my Dad, getting the old time 24-count cases of Adler Brau or Chief Oshkosh bottles in the early '60s.   I love the above ad, how 'ol Ralph just put it out there in print about his dispute with his neighbor.   Needless to say, I didn't know what zoning laws were, but even I, as a little kid thought it a bit weird to visit a guy's basement with stocks of beer and liquor for sale in a residential neighborhood!

Gibson Company

This November 8, 1940 Buick ad from the Gibson Company definitely highlights the large span of time between then and now.  It is particularly evident by the ability then to buy a new Buick for "only" $935, but also note the use of the language.  How many of us today can even define what "millinery" is?  Try asking a young person what that means...you might as well ask them who Frank Sinatra or Ed Sullivan were! 

While millinery as a term applies mostly to the manufacture and sale of ladies' hats, I think, in this ad, Gibson was making the point that the upholstery, appointments, and accessories of the cars were not as important as the core performance of the car itself. 

What To Do This Weekend (1940-style)

From the Saturday, November 16, 1940 Appleton Post-Crescent, 72 years ago today...there's lots of movie choices in the area.  If you want to stay in the ol' home town, it's Ladies Blue Ovenware Night at the Brin.  Plus, they're presenting the Amateur Nite Revue on the Brin stage; who knows who'll you see there. 

And if you really want to get your money's worth out of the weekend (if the Poultry Shows at High Cliff and Apple Creek don't excite you) you can go back to the Brin on Sunday to see Mickey and Judy in "Strike Up the Band", or hit the Sunday night dance at the Mem at 8:00.  Only 10 cents!

Best Bakery

The son of a baker, Dennis Manderfield established Best Bakery in Menasha in 1956 at Second and Appleton Streets.  Dennis sold it in 1972, but not before inspiring a third generation of bakers and the opening of a new store under the Manderfield's name at 811 Plank Road in the mid-1990s.

Stand Pipe

With recent talk on Facebook about razing the current Menasha water tower, let's head back to the early part of the 20th century before that water tower was a gleam in the city engineer's eye. 

In July 1904, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, reported that George Cadogan Morgan of Morgan

Engineering in Chicago had been hired to draw the plans and writing the specifications for the new

plant, which was to be powered by a diesel-fueled electric generator as opposed to a steam boiler.

Morgan had already built plants in New London, De Pere and Watertown and another was, at that

time, under construction in Sheboygan. Contracts were let in February 1905 and 11 miles of water

mains were laid and nearly 90 fire hydrants were installed; the water was turned on in November.

Aside from the plant itself, the system included an engine house, a home for the engineer and a 135-

foot-tall stand pipe to store water and generate pressure. The building was added on to by no later

than 1913 and also functioned as the electric lighting plant for the city (electric lighting would later

be provided by the River Street facility, See discussion for 199 River Street). Construction of a two-

story, water purification plant began in 1927 and was completed the following year and an additional

wing was constructed between 1947 and 1948. Finally, the eastern end of the facility appears to have

undergone more recent alterations. Indeed, in 1978, a collector system, piping and a decanter tank

were added; a chlorine room was also constructed. Ten years later, a new reservoir and pump station

were built and a $12.8 million upgrade to the filtration system was completed in 2008.36

In July 1904, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, reported that George Cadogan Morgan of Morgan

Engineering in Chicago had been hired to draw the plans and writing the specifications for the new

plant, which was to be powered by a diesel-fueled electric generator as opposed to a steam boiler.

Morgan had already built plants in New London, De Pere and Watertown and another was, at that

time, under construction in Sheboygan. Contracts were let in February 1905 and 11 miles of water

mains were laid and nearly 90 fire hydrants were installed; the water was turned on in November.

Aside from the plant itself, the system included an engine house, a home for the engineer and a 135-

foot-tall stand pipe to store water and generate pressure. The building was added on to by no later

than 1913 and also functioned as the electric lighting plant for the city (electric lighting would later

be provided by the River Street facility, See discussion for 199 River Street). Construction of a two-

story, water purification plant began in 1927 and was completed the following year and an additional

wing was constructed between 1947 and 1948. Finally, the eastern end of the facility appears to have

undergone more recent alterations. Indeed, in 1978, a collector system, piping and a decanter tank

were added; a chlorine room was also constructed. Ten years later, a new reservoir and pump station

were built and a $12.8 million upgrade to the filtration system was completed in 2008.36

In July 1904, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern reported that George Cadogan Morgan of Morgan Engineering in Chicago had been hired to draw the plans and writing of the specifications for the new plant, which was to be powered by a diesel-fueled electric generator as opposed to a steam boiler. Morgan had already built plants in New London, De Pere and Watertown and another was, at that time, under construction in Sheboygan. Contracts were let in February 1905 and 11 miles of water mains were laid and nearly 90 fire hydrants were installed; the water was turned on in November. Aside from the plant itself, the system included an engine house, a home for the engineer and a stand pipe to store water and generate pressure.

June 23, 1930 Oshkosh Northwestern