1893 Advertisements

from the 1893 Menasha City Directory

 

These advertisements, in that matter-of-fact Victorian style of the day, kept the city directory in the black, as well as adhering to long standing advertising principles that still resound today. In the ad game, the bigger the ad, the more prosperous the business is generally seen as by the target audience.  Since the primary users of the city directory were business people to begin with, this might have made such considerations unnecessary.  Whereas a general newspaper or magazine might feature an ad for the general populace for Woodbury's Facial Soap, for example, there nothing quite sexy about a dealer in lime and cement products, large sized text or not.  However, it is right at home in a directory of merchants and craftsmen for consumption by the business community. 

News Items

April 25, 1890 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

News filler, to be sure here.  But then the St. Mary's story....  I had just assumed that when St. Mary's was built in 1883, the tall spire was built at the same time and that the church looked then as it does now.  Now I read this, that it wasn't built until 7 years later?  I've never come across a photo of those in-between years.  Did the original church have a spire?  And if so, was the existing one damaged?  Or was the cost so prohibitive that more fundraising had to be conducted at a later date? Sounds like a call for more research.

Green River Ordinance

September 18, 1963 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

As a boy, my grandparents lived out on Airport Road and on the way back home returning from visits to them, I was always greeted by the city limits sign which stated at the bottom that the Green River Ordinance was in effect.  I never knew what that meant.  Until now.  The ordinance is named for the city of Green River, Wyoming, which in 1931 was the first city to enact it.  However, I recall quite a number of door-to-door salesmen coming to my parents' door as a boy, to include vacuum cleaner salesmen and the Fuller Brush man.  I suspect the signs were intended as more of a deterrent than an enforceable law, as there had to be more pressing matters at police headquarters than chasing down peddlers.

H. C. Prange

 

While not a part of Menasha, everyone still knew Prange's in Appleton. And notice how this ad was taken from the Neenah-Menasha City Directory's classified business section; they counted on the Twin Cities' business. 

 

Prange's was probably most kids' first experience of a large, multi-story department store, usually reserved for the "big" cities like Milwaukee and Chicago.  Except for the occasional trip to Milwaukee, the more frequent excursions to Prange's were, to me, quite special.  I think my first elevator ride was in Prange's and, call me naive, but to a little kid, that was so cool. 

 

Outside of that, my consciousness of large department stores was due to the mentions of Macy's every year during the Thanksgiving parade or the references to Macy's and Gimbel's in movies like Miracle On 34th Street and other TV shows.  Shows like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners were set in New York and Lucy liked to shop in Macy's.  Didn't she even disguise herself as Santa there in one of the episodes?  And speaking of Christmas, who can forget those magical Christmas displays in their front windows each season, with the moving animatronic figures?    Whenever I think of Christmas, memories like these are always some of the first that come to mind.

Stoebe Island Vice

February 4, 1902 Eau Claire Leader

Although we discussed Stroebe Island last week in the blog, here's a leftover item I ran across as I researched that blog post.  Cockfighting was outlawed in Wisconsin in 1889, but apparently in 1902, that law wasn't necessarily enforced.  By the sound of this news item, it was still a viable means to lose your paycheck and the existence of such contests must have been an open secret to the area's wagering class. 

"...A Favored Child of Nature..."

from The History of Northern Wisconsin (1881), The Western Historical Company, Chicago

 

The above illustration is from yet another old history which gives the story of northeastern Wisconsin in quite some detail up to 1881.  As befitting the originators of this town, their focus was initially largely upon a certain island and indeed, the portion of the quote titling this post is taken from the author's recollection of Doty island in its early days. 

 

 

Football's Back in Town!

From the 1922 Nicolet, Menasha High's Yearbook

 

This being the midst of football season, let's take a look back at Menasha's efforts in 1922 at restarting a high school football team after a layoff of many years, when it was deemed too dangerous a game.  In an era of leather helmets and no face masks, except for the occasional leather noseguard that some would wear, there was nothing between a defender's forearm and a bloody (or broken) nose, or worse.

In a past blog post, we detailed the 1898 attempt at a football team and gave the back story of how President Theodore Roosevelt helped save the game in the early 1900's by gathering the football powerhouses of the day (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) to a meeting at the White House to modernize its rules in an attempt to minimize the violence:
http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/12/1898-menasha-high-football-team.html

Tandem Cabooses

Two Wisconsin Central cabooses sit side by side on the tracks near Fourth and Appleton Streets in this 1971 photo.  Because of the time frame, the thought occurred to me that perhaps this was one last inspection to see which caboose would be accepted by Menasha to display in Smith Park.  I cannot vouch for that idea but magnifying the picture indicates that the caboose on the right is indeed labelled as "104," which IS the caboose number of the one in Smith Park.  The gentlemen pictured below just might be the same fellows exiting caboose no. 104 in the photo above. 

 

 

 

June 19, 1972 NM Northwestern

 

The caboose is in need of repairs and there is currently a fundraising drive to provide for its upkeep.  The article at this link showcases this effort:

 

http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/2014/08/26/menashas-little-red-caboose-appeals-help/14653759/

 

Any donations you may want to contribute may be sent to the Menasha Historical Society, P.O. Box 255, Menasha, WI 54952.

 

 

 

 

Cleaning Up

From the human interest files at the Menasha Public Library, this gentleman was the janitor at Menasha High School, circa 1913.  The back of the photo listed him as "August," no last name given.  I remember my grandfather having that very type of shovel, which he used to shovel coal to heat his house, the one I grew up in. 

Name Changes

June 14, 1968 NM Northwestern

Wisconsin is certainly awash in unique place names- French, German, and Indian influences among the origins of place names In 1908, P.V. Lawson sought to explain some of these in his History of WInnebago County and the Northwestern was only too kind to give us this concise guide in 1968.

 

Some of these make me scratch my head, particularly his explanation for the name Menasha. But others make much more sense, such as Tecos Point as the most likely root for Tayco Street, for example, even though it's not said here. The word Neenah for "water" is pretty consistent throughout the sources I've read but as for Menasha, I've seen it referenced in other works as a Winnebago word meaning "the settlement on the island," "thorn," or just "island."

 

"Mini-ha-ha," as used by Lawson here is close to the fictional Native American woman Minnehaha, as documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha and seems a bit too convenient to use here. A recent reference I've found states that the name is often incorrectly said to mean "laughing water", though in reality it translates to "waterfall" or "rapid water" in Dakota. Dakota is the parent language of the WInnebago or Ho-Chunk nation, so that part falls into place, but still, I'm skeptical that this is the definitive explanation for the name of our fair town.

Stroebe Island

This 1977 photo shows Stroebe Island, looking southwest towards US 41.  The 441 Bridge over Little Lake Butte des Morts is in the upper left of the photo. 

The article below from August 30, 1964 about a marina (farina?!) being built on Strooebe Island also gives a little history of the island.  What it doesn't say is that prior to 1866 when Mr. Stroebe bought the island, it had been known as Caldwell's Island.  I've provided an interesting story below about Mr. Caldwell. as told by P.V. Lawson in his history book.

from P.V. Lawson's History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People (1908):

As the tribesmen were gathered about the mission in 1835 an epidemic of smallpox broke out among them which swept over about one-third of the tribe. Col. George Boyd, then Indian agent at Green Bay, sent to their relief a surgeon of the regular army, stationed at Fort Howard, to give them the benefit of vaccination. But Mr. Archibald Caldwell, a trader at the settlement, benevolently took charge of the sufferers, nursing and nourishing the sick and watching by them night and day at the risk of his own life. He took the disease himself, suffered severely and barely escaped the fate of many of the unfortunate victims." He remained a resident and was still living in Winnebago Rapids many years after. He once lived in one of the block houses on Blair's farm, and once maintained a trading post on the sixty-acre island at the foot of Little Lake Butte des Morts, since known as Strobey island, but then and for many years known as Caldwell's island. He is said to have had six Menominee wives at the same time, but his Mormonism has been forgiven on the recollection of his heroic acts during the smallpox plague.

Brighton Beach Hotel

A postcard from 1908 features the familiar hostelry at Brighton Beach at the east end of Third Street. This card was from the end of the era where only the address was allowed on the back of the card.  All that changed around 1907/1908.  

As detailed here previously, the Brighton Beach Hotel lasted from 1899 until 1927 when it was demolished and a private home was constructed on the grounds. In later years, the acreage was sold to a religious order for use as a retirement facility for retired sisters.

50 Years Ago Today

September 11, 1964 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Calder Field.  In past years, we've commemorated that day.  You can read about it at the following link:

 

http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/09/calder-stadium-dedication.html

 

Oh yes...and Menasha beat Berlin 25-0 that day.  Nice beginning. 

 

Super Valu Travail

September 28, 1963 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

WIth the coming of a new supermarket on the site of the old Doering's/Ninneman's Super Valu, I found it interesting to look back when the idea was new.  Although the current residents of Menasha eagerly await the reopening of a supermarket on the site of the old market, the original version wasn't so welcome, as evidenced by the above 1963 news article.

 

In late January, 1964, the supermarket opened to much fanfare and served the community for the next 40+ years, eventually closing in March of 2005.

 

 

January 29, 1964 N-M Daily Northwestern

 

"...with the best interests of Menasha at heart"

The Menasha Record was published in our fair town until 1949.  Mr. Clough was editor for the last 46 years of the paper's existence before becoming Menasha City Clerk forthe next  6 1/2 years after the paper's sale.  In 1949, the paper merged with The Neenah Daily News-Times to become the Twin City News-Record, as evidenced by this article from the Manitowoc Herald Times of September 22, 1949:

 

Pay attention to the final paragraph of the above article.  While this is the viewpoint of a Manitowoc editor about the Twin Cities, it's remarkable how perceptive the author is.  He knew what a lot of Neenah and Menasha residents and politicians were already thinking, and predicted the outcome of the future votes on consolidation of the two cities.   

Long Bridge at Night

The Mill Street bridge gets the colorized postcard treatment in this view from an earlier time. 

The Flambeau 400

The Chicago and North Western's most famous train, the Twin Cities 400, was introduced in 1935 to compete with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy's Zephyrs and the Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas. This train was named because it traveled the 400 miles between Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul in 400 minutes.

The Flambeau 400 was devised to transport the new American middle class in the Chicago area to their leisure time in northern Wisconsin. Starting in 1935, the earlier trains were called "The Flambeau," which operated on basically the same tracks as later trains did, except it skipped Green Bay and ran through Hortonville to Eland, which by 1937 was switched to run through Green Bay. In July 1949 the Flambeau was integrated with the Shoreland 400 and the Valley 400.  Between Chicago and Green Bay they were one train, past Green Bay they would be independent trains. Therefore the northbound trains would go via Fond du Lac, and southbound would go via Manitowoc.

Then starting in 1950 it received the new name, Flambeau 400, drawing its name from the Twin Cities 400.   For many years, it saw heavy tourist traffic, but by May 1968, it was losing thousands of dollars for the line.  The last Flambeau rolled out of the north woods on January 5, 1971.  Amtrak did not include Green Bay and Ashland in its initial route structure and the service ended for good on May 1, 1971, thereby ending passenger service to Neenah-Menasha as well.

a 1968 timetable shows the daily service to Neenah-Menasha

Let's All Go to the Drive-In

 

This 1981 photo looking south shows US 41 on the left and Pierce Manufacturing at the bottom of the photo. 

What finally killed the outdoor theater?  Attendance was already declining by the 1970s and the advent of the VCR and the influx of cable TV certainly didn't help matters any.  Over time, the economics of real estate had made the large property areas increasingly expensive for drive-ins to operate successfully. Land became far too valuable for businesses such as drive-ins, which in most cases were summer-only. Widespread adoption of daylight saving time made the shows start an hour later and they were subject to the whim of nature as inclement weather often caused cancellations. 

So drive-ins began to be less family oriented in a vain attempt at making sales.  New gimmicks like horror and shock programs and more adult fare filled the screens.  The last showing at the 41 Outdoor was on Sunday, September 25, 1983 and it ran a triple feature of Female Butcher, Body Snatchers From Hell, and Bloody Pit of Horror.  It was a far cry from this program in August of 1974:

Get In the Whirl

Another in our "fun in the summer" photos from days past.  If it wasn't Davy Crockett caps, it was hula hoops.  The 1950s certainly had its share of fads.  This September,1958 photo shows a hula hoop contest at the Valley Fair parking lot.

 

September 26, 1958 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

...and lots of places to buy that special hoop for the contest....

 

 

 

Wittmann's Funland

As we approach the end of summer, I can't help but remember summers past and all the fun we had at this place.  One of my fondest memories is cajoling my big brother, who was then on leave from the Air Force, to take me to this place when I was a small boy.  What more fun could I have had- having my boyhood hero all to myself for an afternoon at the greatest entertainment venue this seven year old had ever seen!  This photo from around 1965 is just as I remember it.

The Public's Morals Must be Protected!

July 20, 1932 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

Perhaps a bit late as we commemorate the end of summer, but we take notice of this ban on bathing attire in 1932.   I don't think Menasha was a pacesetter in the world of racy fashions, but the city fathers weren't taking any chances back then!  (Not sure what a "bandana costume" is.) 

I'm sure they were more comfortable with this, from years earlier, even though a portion of the public most likely thought this was scandalous at the time: