You're Invited

December 31, 1964 N-M Northwestern

Listening (or dancing to) WNAM's "music of yesteryear" was but one option in 1964 to help welcome in the New Year. (And what an eclectic array of sponsors...from mufflers and pizza to jewelry and hamburgers.)

Little Cosey

This 1910 photograph of the "Little Cosey" looks to have been taken right before Main Street was paved that same year.  Run by Eugene R. Robbins and situated at 121 Main Street, the "sample room," as it was termed in the 1910 city directory, was located next door to the Eagles Club and across the street from the old Fire Department/City Hall.  In later years, the address shows this location as the Cozy Tavern and the Cozy Bar.

Stately

Shown in its heyday is the First National Bank, as featured in the architecture journal, The American Architect, in 1921. As reported in the Appleton Post-Crescent last week, these four columns have been put aside for future use.  This site, as well as the site of the older bank next to it and the former Hotel Menasha, will be used for a planned six story, 100,000 square foot office tower.

Merry Christmas!

Somewhere around 1960/61

Yours truly sitting with the jolly old elf.   I will be taking the next week off to enjoy the holiday with family but I plan to return to the blog on the 29th to help welcome in the new year.  Until then, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. 

DX Train

November 6, 1964 N-M Northwestern

 

What lucky kid wouldn't have welcomed this under their Christmas tree?  The Menasha DX station was a half block from my house and somehow this escaped my attention.  Seeing as it was 1964, I'm sure my attention was diverted by GI Joe as that was the first year of his existence; I was a fervent fan.

So Long, Fuzzy

October 10, 1969 Milwaukee Sentinel

With the recent loss of Fuzzy Thurston, the Left Guard naturally came to mind. I recently found this article via the Milwaukee Sentinel which portrayed how prevalent it was for NFL players and other professional athletes going into the restaurant business. We've covered the Left Guard and Fuzzy's involvement in Menasha in former blog posts as evidenced here:  http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/04/left-guard.html  and http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/02/sad-days-for-left-guard.html . 

Godspeed, Fuzzy.  

Power Plants

It's interesting how so many of these postcards from the early 20th century refer to the mills along the Fox as "power plants."  I'm not sure if that is just postcard industry shorthand for anything with a smokestack or if the authors of the cards were too lazy or too busy to care.  That's George Whiting Paper in the left foreground. 

Mill Street

The Mill Street entrance to the old Hotel Menasha looks rather busy on this day in 1910.  New-fangled automobiles rule the day with nary a horse in sight.  This "real photo" postcard is unusual in that most postcards of the Hotel Menasha of that era take their view from a Main Street vantage point.

Gift-Spotter

December 12, 1958 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

With Christmas, 1958 quickly approaching, the Post-Crescent was only too happy to offer their daily gift suggestions in conjunction with local merchants.  This day's edition offered slacks from Grove Clothing, Texaco products from Verbrick's Service, and a furnace from Menasha Sheet Metal.  Of special interest are the TV lamps of Music Box Associates at the Brin Building.  And just in case you've forgotten, during that first decade of mass television adoption, there was that common belief that watching TV in low light could damage one's eyesight. So the TV lamp was invented to add a little light to the room and dispel people’s fears. The one atop our Zenith was also a planter. 

MHS Original

The original Menasha High School, constructed in 1871, demolished in 1896. 

courtesy Neenah History via Flickr, common usage license

Cheer Up Time

Back in those early days of television when every TV station across the country had a live kiddie show, the then-CBS affiliate, WBAY, Channel 2 from Green Bay presented Cheer Up Time, a daily 60 minute cartoon show presided by none other than Colonel Caboose.  It came on right before Captain Kangaroo and I was an avid watcher.  This 1958 ad most likely graced newspapers and TV Guides across the Fox Valley.  We first encountered Colonel Caboose on this blog back in 2012:
http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/08/fizz-nik-party-with-colonel-caboose.html

Stoic Ladies

Since colonial times and the beginnings of the paper industry in New England in the late 18th century, women had always been a part of the work force, cutting and sorting rags or in "parting packs," i.e., separating the sheets between the different processes of pressing.   So it was natural that when paper became a prime industry in northeast Wisconsin that these same roles were followed.  These unnamed women, provided the very foundations of the mill, engaging in such dusty, disagreeable work for little pay. 

Steckling's DX Service

Calendars like these were once sent out or given to regular customers as a way to engender goodwill and pass along Christmas wishes.  Once located at 746 Racine Street, Mr. Steckling's filling station property was long ago taken over by Menasha High School as it grew and expanded its athletic facilities to the area north of the school. 

Famous for Home Smoked Hams and Sausages

I ran across this photo in my files recently.  I recall taking this picture on a trip home to Menasha, years after Wanserski's had closed.  Being in a nostalgic mood, and with the holidays coming and the focus on food and all, I thought I'd feature their famous sign that graced the side of their building for all those years. (Not to mention all the interest generated from the blog post about Wanserski's some weeks ago.)

Rustic Bridge

This colorized picture postcard sent in February 1908 features a "rustic bridge" in Menasha.  My bet is that it's in what we now know as Smith Park, perhaps to the present Isle of Valor.  But I could be wrong.  Interesting combination of black and white and color. 

Winter Arrangement

 

A couple of old ads from the Oshkosh True Democrat in 1849 when Menasha hardly existed and Neenah was still known as Winnebago Rapids.  Grand Chute we know as a village west of present day Appleton. 

Plenty Room in Menasha

June 7, 1855 Menasha Advocate

 

The editor here portends the future of industry and water power for our fair town.  The Mr. Temple referenced here built a chair factory which later, through acquisitions and sales, became part of the Menasha Wooden Ware

Fishing Shanties

A 1959 wire service photo showing fishing shanties along Little Lake Butte des Morts.  I like the captioned comments about it being too cold. 

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.

Halloween 1895

November 1, 1895 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

So, Halloween passed "rather quietly" in the Twin Cities, according to the Northwestern, shown here to be masters of the understatement.  And, oh...by the way... the railroad's roundhouse was burned down.  Say what?!  Totally destroyed, to include the engine inside?! 

If this was a "rather quiet" night in the Twin Cities, I wonder what passed for "excitement" on the other nights? 

Here's to a quiet night in your neck of the woods.  Happy Halloween! 

St. Mary's Church Fire

 

February 8, 1883 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

The above news item details the church fire for the first St. Mary's Church.  It was the demise of this church that led to building the structure we all know today. 

 

We've talked before about this, to include this blog post from 2013 which featured a photo of the original church and school:

http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/01/first-st-marys-church.html

 

But once again, this was one of those "found" items, while looking for something else.  (I love when that happens!)  And not to keep begrudging the journalism of the day, but I find it curious how the article just refers to it as the "German Catholic Church," not even by name. 

Pinder Cabinet Portraits

 

 

 

Photographs from the studio of W. H. Pinder, circa 1880s. 

 

In the 19th century, photographers tended to be an itinerant lot, moving from town to town to maintain business.  W. H. Pinder was a photographer in Menasha for a time, but a news article from the December 23, 1890 Oshkosh Northwestern revealed that he had since moved from Menasha to Freeport, Illinois.  The presumption is that his time in Menasha had passed. 

 

The portrait above is of the Peter Jensen family.  The lone woman at the top of the blog post is unknown. 

 

Photography in the 19th century was constantly evolving- from glass plates to tintypes to ever larger images on photographic paper.  The format of the above photographs was called a "cabinet card."  This was a larger, more refined version of an earlier format called the "carte de visite" or, CDV, which had replaced the tintype.  By the early 1880s it had nearly replaced all CDVs, and was the dominant portrait format until the end of the century.

Becher Electric

 

October 25, 1967 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

Despite what we'd view today as political incorrectness, I'll bet this promotion was, nevertheless, a big success.  And while I'm not sure what discounted pumpkin pies were doing at an appliance store (maybe it was a part of the whole Fall theme), that 40 pound box of detergent had to be a nice bonus. 

Industrial Atmosphere

This 1924 photo of the recently completed Washington Street bridge seems to highlight the city's pollution problem, courtesy of the many mills and factories lining the Fox River.  We touched upon this back in 2013 when we reviewed the bridge's dedication in 1920.   At the time, there was a news item about a petition being presented to the common council protesting the atmospheric conditions.  Apparently, four years later, little had been done. 

http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/01/washington-street-bridge-dedication.html

Menasha Girls Are....

 

August 21, 1886 Oshkosh Northwestern

 

Partisan comments from a local newspaper; very nice.  But wait!  What was that last part?!  Readers, take caution.   While I'm not exactly sure what that meant 128 years ago, I'm hoping the author meant "tomboys."  Today, that could mean something else entirely!   Ah, the evolution of language. 

Happy weekend! 

Curriculum

 

I found this page in the 1923 version of The Nicolet, Menasha High's yearbook.  I was taken by the phrase, "civic biology," which aroused my curiosity. 

 

As it turns out, "civic biology" was the shorthand term for a curriculum based on A Civic Biology: Presented in Problems, a biology textbook written by George William Hunter, published in 1914. From what I've read, it was a nationally known book, used in school districts all over the country in the early 20th century. 

It is the book which Tennessee required high school teachers to use and is best known for its section about evolution that was ruled by a local court to be in violation of the state Butler Act.  The Butler Act was a Tennessee law which prohibited public school teachers from denying the Biblical account of man's origin. It was for teaching from this textbook that John T. Scopes was brought to trial in Dayton, Tennessee in the famous Scopes "Monkey" Trial pitting William Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow.

If things had been different and Menashans had been a bit more intolerant, who knows?  We might have been thrust into the national spotlight instead of the small town of Dayton, Tennessee.