The View From Fourth Street

Looking south towards St. Mary's from Fourth and Appleton Streets, circa 2005.

As I lived a block east, in the shadow of St. Mary's, it was, undoubtedly, the tallest object in my world.  It was defintely a landmark; it even appears on nautical navigational charts for the area as a point of reference, labeled as "spire." 

Wednesday's Menu

Misspellings notwithstanding, $2.95 in the mid 1970s was a pretty good price for a corned beef and cabbage dinner.  But if you didn't like that idea, you could always step into that phone booth, look up another restaurant in the phone book and call for their dinner special. 

Sad Days for The Left Guard

November 2, 1976 Milwaukee Sentinel

Sad days, indeed for the football-themed steakhouse chain.  Oh, and the "...restaurant featuring Mexican food..." that Max McGee converted the Minneapolis location into...that became a little something called ChiChi's. 

Menu cover from the Left Guard.  With all the licensing restrictions on NFL properties, I can't imagine the NFL of today allowing the use of one of their team's helmets to be incorporated into a pseudo coat of arms for a player's restaurant, even with the payment of what I am sure are hefty licensing fees.

St. Mary's Washington Street March

These two photos from late 1959/early 1960 show the St. Mary High School Band marching down Washington Street.  My brother John is the drum major shown above, near the John Strange plant as they approach the Tayco Street bridge.  In the top photo, you can see the rear of St. Patrick's in the background as they pass the Consolidated gas station.  The sign is obscured, but I think gas might be 30.9 cents per gallon then. 

15th Anniversary of Valley Fair

from the February 23, 1969 Appleton Post-Crescent...44 years ago, tomorrow...we all shopped there but some of us had friends and family who worked there.  Is anybody listed that you knew? 

Charley's Barber Shop

July 2005.  A race security monitor sits outside Charley’s Barber Shop at 9 Main Street during the Superweek Pro Tour (International Cycling Classic).  This, in case you didn't recognize it, is the old Brin complex. 

photo by Mark Czerniec at MarkCz.com

Greetings From Menasha Wisconsin

This is a popular postcard format that showcased many different views of the subject hometown.  These postcards became prolific in the 1930s, lasting into the 1950s.  Generally known as "large letter" postcards, they most often were printed on linen in quite colorful inks.   Black and white photo postcards were also common, especially in the "real photo" format, as is this card from the Morris W. Beck Company.   

How many of Menasha's "landmarks" can YOU name? 

Water, Water, Everywhere

This 1973 photo is from the governmental series titles, DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency's Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, compiled 1972 - 1977.  The photo's official title is "FOX RIVER CHANNEL AT MENASHA, A PAPER MANUFACTURING CENTER ON LAKE WINNEBAGO." 

Most photos of Menasha seem to be taken from the other direction; many don't photograph from the Little Lake Butte des Morts side.  I think this composition really speaks to Menasha's identity and dependence on waterpower. 

Tayco Street Bridge Museum

 

I'll be the first to admit that there are some things I don't know. This 1999 article plainly states that only three of the four towers remain.  But when the bridge was rebuilt in the early '90s after its collapse, there were still four towers.   I know the southwest tower is now missing.  Can anybody tell me why it was removed? 

Great black and white photos of the bridge (with four towers), dated August 1992 at the following link:

http://bridgehunter.com/wi/winnebago/tayco-street/

New Menasha High School

December 2, 1936 Oshkosh Northwestern

March 17, 1938 Appleton Post-Crescent

March 23, 1938 Appleton Post-Crescent

The new Menasha High School at Seventh and Racine Streets, was completed in 1938 as a WPA project to serve as a junior and senior high and vocational school.  Costing $600,000 and employing 197 workers on its construction, the school exhibited a style known as Colonial Revivalism, incorporating Georgian detail with a neoclassical auditorium.  

Main Street 1910

This recently found postcard view from around 1910 is reminiscent of the Menasha book's cover (third photo) and of the photo below.  We discussed this comparison with the cover back in June.  The street has been recently paved which we know was done in 1910.  At the right, you can see the Ice Cream Soda sign which is a constant with all three photos. 

Road Work

I'm judging this photo to be dated from somewhere in the late 1940s/early 1950s.  The 1939 City Directory I have access to doesn't even mention Schultz Brothers yet and the Hidde's location was vacant at that time; Al Hidde was at Island Drug on Doty Avenure in Neenah then. 

The machinery obscures the front of those two businesses but we know they're there.  Gotta love the two onlookers sitting on the stoop of Bach's, taking in the action. 

Gear Dairy Revisited

January 3, 1967 NM Northwestern

Despite the optimistic tone of this ad piece, the late 1960s were not kind to local dairies.  So many went out of business or were absorbed by larger operations due to rising costs.  We first encountered Gear's last July when we discussed the demise of local dairies in the feature on the Meadowview Dairy, and in November, we featured some imagery of Gear's.  This article provides a nice overview of the operation and was published only six months before Gear's takeover by Morning Glory. 



Parked On the Circle

This postcard view of downtown from the 1940s shows the original location of Morton's Drug Store between the Hotel Menasha and the 1st National Bank.  You can see the Morton's sign behind the flagpole in the photo's center.  Morton opened the store there in 1939; in later years, the store moved to the other side of the bank.  Notice the parking on the city circle. 

Island Water Tower Takes shape

September 28, 1967 Oshkosh Northwestern

I cannot say that the tower pictured above is the same water tower that was constructed in 1967, though it is of the same design.  After growing up with the tower on Second Street, I thought this was rather odd at the time. 

Drucks Electric

November 10, 1966 Neenah-Menasha Northwestern

June 13, 1967 Neenah-Menasha Northwestern

A long time fixture on Main Street, Drucks was Menasha's jack-of-all-trades appliance store for a major purchase like a refrigerator or range, down to the minor ones, like a radio or a blender. 

If you've ever seen the movie "That Thing You Do," the main character worked in his Dad's Erie, Pennsylvania appliance store named "Patterson's," not unlike Drucks.  As in Patterson's within the movie, Drucks sold records, too, to supplement the phonograph sales. 

Every time I watch that film, I can't help but think of Drucks.

Menasha Bike and Toy

November 8, 1966 Oshkosh Northwestern

Situated next to Druck's in the late '60s/early'70s, I was the lucky recipient of a Schwinn Stingray bike from that establishment.  As a boy, I had free rein of the town on that bike, back in a day when kids were allowed to do such things.  No helmets, no pads- my only concession to the dangerous world at large was a bike lock and even that wasn't used that many times. 

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the 200th post on this blog.  To all my readers, my sincere thanks.   

A New Bank of Menasha Innovation

January 30, 1968 Oshkosh Northwestern

I was never privy as to how this all worked; my parents' money was in the 1st National Bank, so I became a 1st National customer by extension.  I'd be curious to find out how long this experiment lasted though. 

Downtown Facelift

March 30, 1976 Appleton Post-Crescent

If the latter part of the news article above is true, what might have developed in Menasha if appearances had been different?  It would be sad to think that business opportunities might have been lost due to the preception of too many taverns concentrated in one area or that so-called abuse at City Hall. 

But one also wonders if this is just putting a better spin on a missed opportunity for the reporter.   Menasha, along with hundreds of other Wisconsin communities, prospered in spite of its many taverns and bars over the years.  Either the J. C. Penney rep had a particular bone to pick with Menasha or Mr. Engel or he just didn't understand our state!

Today, this block is totally gone.  But you can see the finished product in the photo in between the parked cars above at the right. 

Food Queen

October 21, 1975 Appleton Post-Crescent

Per the ad, Kroger seems to have vacated Valley Fair and the space now allocated to Food Queen.  I'm more familiar with Food Queen's presence in Neenah on the Island.

But hey...remember Alaska Pops?  Made locally in Oshkosh!  A happy childhood memory for me, I used to buy them at the little market on Broad Street next to the Broadway Tavern.  

Happy weekend!