Thanksgiving Eve

 November 26, 1959 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

With the holiday season upon us, let's look back to the holiday preparations across the Fox Valley in 1959.  For Menasha, extended shopping hours and a visit from Santa via the firemen's float. Some things never change. 

 

I will be taking a respite from this blog for the next few days to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family.  At this time, my thoughts turn gratefully to you with warm appreciation for your interest and support for this little endeavor of mine.  I wish you a holiday filled with warm moments and cherished memories of time with your families.  See you Monday!

Menasha Print Shop

 

November 10, 1959 N-M Northwestern

 

An assortment of Twin City business ads, as well as a highlighted article about Eldon Beattie's print shop on Konemac Street graced the Northwestern's Tuesday business section in November,1959. 

Congratulations Bluejays!

March 23, 1953 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

It's been a lot of years, 61 in fact, since Menasha High has brought home state honors of such magnitude.  Congratulations to the Bluejays, to the coaching staff, to all their supporters, to the high school, and the city of Menasha on their state football championship.  I'm sure the celebration was just as enthusiastic, if not more, than what was experienced in 1953, as seen above, for basketball.  Way to go, Jays!

Traffic Jam on Main Street

Small economy cars for their time head a line of traffic stopped at Main and Racine Streets, circa 1980. 

photo courtesy, Menasha Public Library

Menasha Furniture Block

Gundi's Lanes; Dale Tetrault, Optometrist; Harder's Barber Shop; The Paper Store; and Menasha Furniture make up this Chute Street block, circa 1979.  WEMI radio and the Fink law offices upstairs complete the line-up.

photo courtesy, Menasha Public Library

Pail Factory

June 8, 1861, Weekly Manufacturer

 

While still running his dry goods store, Elisha Smith purchases a failing pail factory in 1852 for $1200 and runs it himself, operating the machinery and delivering products by horse-drawn wagon. The business grows, and he is able to hire his first employees and sell products as far away as Chicago. By this time, his primary product is barrels, used for shipping wheat. Wisconsin is one of the largest growers of wheat at this time.

American House

November 12, 1853 Appleton Crescent

The above passage from P.V. Lawson's 1908 History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its Cities, Towns, Resources, People, tells the tale of how important Mr. Burroughs' hotel was to the community and the area around Appleton and Broad Streets.  Since the steamboat landing was, essentially, at the end of Appleton Street, the hotel was practically guaranteed to attract clientele.  And, as so often happens, it only takes one successful business to attract others. 

 

Smith Dry Goods

Elisha D. Smith's original 1853 newspaper ad touting the opening of his dry goods store.  This was just the first step in a long and fruitful career in Menasha, culminating in the Menasha Wooden Ware.  As we detailed in a blog post last year, Smith was all set to move to Atlanta, Georgia and open a dry goods business there until he received a letter from his friend, Dr. J.B. Doane.  Doane invited Smith to visit the Village of Menasha and join him in business there.  Together, they opened a store on Water Street near Tayco.

Deli

Here's a 1982 photo of Wanserski's deli.  The family in front of the deli case was unidentified, but I hope they bought some of that delicious ham salad my Mom used to pick up there.  I had so many lunches from that, I probably have it in my veins.

photo courtesy, Menasha Public Library

Funny Money

The above photos are of paper money issued on the First National Bank of Menasha in 1929.  National Bank Notes were US currency banknotes issued by National banks chartered by the United States Government. The notes were usually backed by United States bonds the bank deposited with the United States Treasury. In addition, banks were required to maintain a redemption fund amounting to five percent of any outstanding note balance, in gold or "lawful money." 

 

These were retired as a currency type by the U.S. government in the 1930s.  During the Great Depression, US currency was consolidated into Federal Reserve Notes, United States Notes, and silver certificates.  Privately issued banknotes, as these above, were eliminated. Despite appearances of the photos, these looked very similar in size and color to today's money. 

Sometimes these notes are referred to as "hometown" notes, with their popularity deriving from the wide range of towns and cities that issued them.  In the hobby world of collecting paper money, these notes are avidly studied and collected. Some were issued in large numbers and remain inexpensive. Others include examples of rare banks, towns, states and combinations thereof and are quite valuable. The above examples were up for auction on eBay earlier this year and were sold for $325 each.

Steiner's (Neenah)

 

December 9, 1959 Appleton Post-Crescent

Across Nicolet Boulevard, down First Street into the Neenah side of the island on the way to Theda Clark, was Steiner's Food Queen.   This Christmas-oriented ad from December, 1959 beckons us with visions of fruit cakes and gift wrap.

 

Looking at the business hours on the ad, it belies the stereotype of most businesses being closed on Sundays in middle America in the '50s.  I thought the trend of having Sunday hours was a result of 1960's thinking, so it is surprising to see I was wrong. 

Veterans Day

Troops from Company I, stationed at the Cook Armory on Doty Island, pre-World War I.

Today being Veterans Day, please take a moment to remember the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have given of their lives to keep us all safe and free.

Early Pioneers

September 14, 1939 Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

 

While I'm sure there are no readers of this blog who had personally attended this particular Rotary event in 1939, it always amazes me that sometimes there are unexpected instances like this.  My gosh, we can find a Civil War widow, for example, still alive as recently as eleven years ago or, in this case, pioneers of our community from the 1850s who were still around to relate their experiences to our parents or grandparents in 1939. 

 

History seems like a slow-moving continuum but once in a while, the stars do align.  Oh, the stories they could tell! 

Fox-Wisconsin River Highway

 

Wisconsin's earliest transportation network was its series of rivers and lakes.   First used by European settlers in 1673 during the expedition of Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, it was one of the principal routes used by travelers between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River until the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 and the arrival of the railroads. As shown above in this 1888 illustration from Historic Waterways by Reuben Gold Thwaites, the Lower Fox River upon which Menasha sits was just one link in a network that could take a traveler from the bay of Green Bay all the way west to the Mississippi. Needless to say, the approximately 280 mile waterway was integral to the economic development of central Wisconsin.

Merge the Two Counties?

November 6, 1966 Appleton Post-Crescent

As if the talk of consolidating Neenah and Menasha over the years wasn't enough, the idea of merging Outagamie and Winnebago Counties into one was touted in this editorial 48 years ago today.  Perhaps it was said in the heat of a debate as the editorial writer says, but the Post-Crescent ran with it and frankly, this is the first time I am aware of such a thought. 

Now granted, I was ten years old when this idea first came to the fore and I was more intrigued at the time with convincing my parents we needed a color TV so I could better enjoy the twice-weekly Batman show!  Reading the Post-Crescent and following local politics wasn't exactly on my radar, or...make that my Bat-Scope.

So now I have yet another idea to put some research into, to see if it went any further than the musings of one of the PC's writers.  The politics and the scheming related to this area never cease to amaze me. 

Freight House

Knowing Wisconsin, it won't be too long before the ground looks like this.  But in the meantime, you can enjoy this photo from a nice sunny day in December 1981.  I give you the old Milwaukee Road freight house off Racine Street.

1984 Downtown

The charts above were the result of a 1986 survey of significant architectural and historical places and structures within the city of Menasha and were designed to be used by the city in planning development projects and establishing a local preservation agenda. Many of the downtown buildings at the time were deemed worthy by the survey to be on the National Register of Historic Places, which is the official list of the nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

However, National Register listings are mostly symbolic.  And while their recognition of significance does provide some financial incentive to the owners of listed properties, listing on the National Register does not guarantee protection, as we've seen with the changing downtown landscape. 
 
In light of recent developments downtown, please note that I provide this diagram and listing to not incite, but to educate.  Many times within this blog and in other history texts, I've made reference to the "Clovis" block or the "Masonic" block, for instance.  This handy chart provides a nice reference for future use and gives insight into the early developers of the downtown and their identities and the locations of familiar sites.

The Growth and Prosperity of Menasha

The future looked bright and beautiful to the writer of this tome in 1855.  It was only the mid-19th century and the paper industry hadn't even begun in the Fox Cities.  The railroad from the south was more than five years away and river traffic was the main route of commerce.  Menasha would remain a village for the next 19 years, but exciting things were happening in the little community at the mouth of the Fox River.