Back to School Winners

September 2, 1959, Appleton Post-Crescent

A couple of fine clothiers, on opposite ends of Main Street.  These look like great prices, though in retrospect, it is hard to gauge due to inflation, cost of living, etc. 

Uniform Assist

August 24, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

I think we all want to remember our school days like this- the thrill of new clothes or uniforms and unspoiled school supplies, pristine notebooks and papers, freshly minted pencils and Bic pens.  We basked in the promise of a new school year- making new friends, getting reacquainted with old ones, new teachers to feel anxious about, fresh challenges to face.  It was all a jumble, a mixed bag, rife with intoxicating joys, yet filled with the inevitable mind-numbing labors and tedious exercises.  The exhilaration we enjoyed just a few short months before at the dawn of summer, sadly revealed its ugly counterpart come late August/early September.  It remained for us to learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff, life's lessons with a capital "L."  Our school days prepared us for the workaday world ahead, fresh uniforms or not. 

Cruisin' on the Fox

August 31, 1988, Twin City News-Record

What a neat way to end the summer after reading lots of books, all summer long.  I think when I ran through that program, the best I ever got was some pencils or a bookmark.  Call it sour grapes today, but in retrospect, I was probably the better man (boy?) for it.

Doty History

August 8, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Though largely Neenah-centric, Doty Cabin, or the Grand Loggery as it was called by Mrs. Doty, should not be dismissed so easily for its role in Menasha's history.  As noted in the article, Governor Doty perhaps could be described as the founder of the Twin Cities, if only because of his settlement on the island that bears his name and his bringing together of the more recognized founders of Neenah and Menasha.  It may be hard for us to envision what a wilderness the area must have been when first settled, but our forefathers' perseverance and fortitude somehow carried the day. 

Oral History

September 27, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

More memories, courtesy of Dr. Michael O'Brien's oral histories of the Twin Cities.  Many of these stories are reminiscent of things I heard from my own parents- odd jobs during the Depression, hand-me-down clothes, and stretching the food budget via gardens, canning, and making soup out of leftover bones, etc.  Regardless of the adversity, kinship and family values ruled the day and saw these residents through the hard times.

Jumping for Joy

July 22, 1961, Appleton Post-Crescent

Growing up, it wasn't summer until I nagged my parents to take me to Wittmann's for some mini-golf or trampolining.  I even remember attending occasional birthday parties there.  But today, you'd probably have to sign a waiver or at least wear a helmet and padding to do this.  Back then, we were daredevils and we didn't even know it. 

Buckle Up for Savings

June 18, 1968, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Time for yet another blatant ad masquerading as a news story within the local newspaper.  If anything, I always found the drive-through interesting as it had that tunnel feel and might have been a welcome respite on inclement weather days.  Of course, with too many pre-emissions testing cars in line, it might have been more detrimental than helpful!

Midget Racing

August 19, 1939, Appleton Post-Crescent

I found this story to be interesting as to how Menasha had a history with midget racing in the years before World War II.  The track was located at Ninth and Racine Streets and the midget auto association was formed by Menasha's own Joe Gazecki.  We first met him in the blog in 2012:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/10/banjo-joe-gazecki.html.

Dock

June 5, 1958, Appleton Post-Crescent

As summer wanes, we take a look at the iconic dock area north of Smith Park when it was all shiny and brand new.  Love the fifties' era kids and bicycles.

Oral History

September 24, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Here is another in our series of oral histories of Neenah-Menasha.  This edition is particularly fascinating in that it examines the tension and rivalry between the two cities.  There is an interesting note at the beginning by Dr. O'Brien in that his observation was that Menasha residents were well aware of the tension but few in Neenah were aware of it.  When I read this, the first thing to come to mind was the quote, "Let them eat cake," attributed to Marie Antoinette, who allegedly spoke it in regard to her people having no bread to eat.   I'll leave it to you readers to make of that what you will. 

Scam Carnival

August 21, 1937, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Let this be a cautionary tale to you, dear readers, to hold tightly to your wallet or purse when dealing with nefarious individuals associated with carnivals.  And lest you think this wasn't such a big loss, $660 in the year 1937 had the same buying power as $11,141.98 in July 2017, according to the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator I found online.  Yikes!

A Couple of News Items

August 9, 1880, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

August 31, 1880, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

So often the newspapers of this era have such dry and stilted prose that the copy is unreadable.  But I still get a kick out of reading the news of that era. 

Here's a couple of stories that are entertaining, even for today.  Plus, they come complete with language of the day.  When's the last time you saw the word "vagabond" used twice in one paragraph, or a woman referred to as a "man eater?"  And "humbug"?  I think we only get that every December when we watch Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and hear it used by Mr. Scrooge. 
 
In the top story the bank referred to as Hewitt's is the Bank of Menasha.  It's charming to me that the population of Menasha was still so small and apparently everybody knew everybody, that it could be referred to by the operator's name instead of its legal business name and there was no confusion over that.

Joy in the Ride

August 16, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Just the simple joys of riding one's bike as the waning days of summer lead us on the path back to school and the inevitable day-to-day drudgery of it all.  Ah, freedom!

Fins!

August 11, 1959, Appleton Post-Crescent

While the above photo for the Buick Electra is a stock photo provided by the car company, I was still taken aback by that ad copy, describing the car as "sleek and low."  Compared to what people drove in years before, this car WAS just that.  The styling reflected America's entry first into the Jet Age, but now, for this era, the Space Age.  Is it any wonder, this America on the move, would want its autos to reflect its future hopes and dreams of a streamlined world?  These iconic auto designs are still looked back upon fondly.

Oral History

September 14, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Dr. Michael O'Brien brings us another oral history from 1979.  Today's installment covers memories of educators from the past.  If there is a common thread to all these oral histories, it's that perseverance goes a long way.  These residents endured economic downturns and historic upheavals that tested the wills of parents, teachers, employers...everyone.  The 20th century was a crazy roller coaster ride- World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war 1950's.  But having a dedication to one's work and a goal to achieve most often led to success. 

Aerial View

August 25, 1963, Appleton Post-Crescent

This is a nice aerial photo to go along with the dedication of what we at St. Mary's always referred to as the "'62 Building," even though this dedication by Bishop Bona took place in 1963.  I may have shared this before but the whole place was interconnected in the basement.  As first through fourth graders, our classrooms were in the "'52 Building."  Often, we'd take trips to the library in the "'62 Building" or to that building's new "A/V Room," where, if we were lucky, we might see a movie or something special.  (I think, one time, we watched the Davy Crockett movies there for some reason.)  In the warmer weather, we might go outside, but in the winter, we'd just travel through the basements to get there.  Of course, this also meant traversing part of the high school basement and it was so alien to see those "big kids"  milling around, changing classes and whatnot.  Often we'd encounter the maintenance man, Mr. Coopman and he was always so friendly to us.  (As you can see, for this little kid, it didn't take much distraction to make my day better!)

Alex's On the Water

February 17, 1961, Appleton Post-Crescent

I was taken with the interesting "photoshopped" quality of this ad, with the cutout photographs on the stark white background.  But Kentucky Fired Chicken at Alex's?   Colonel Sanders, after a go at running his own chicken restaurant, decided to franchise his product to independent restaurants which would pay a franchise fee.  Initially it was four cents on each chicken, in exchange for the Colonel's "secret blend of herbs and spices" and the right to feature his recipe on their menus and use his name and likeness for promotional purposes. If I recall, Marc's Big Boy on College Avenue in Appleton also had a franchise for Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Sometime later, Sanders abandoned this concept in favor of creating the fast food chain that we all know today.  We first saw this restaurant in a 2013 blog post:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-waterfront.html.

A Thing of Beauty

August 11, 1963, Appleton Post-Crescent

A black and white newspaper certainly does not do justice to these photographs!  And the irony of speaking of a "flood of color" can not be ignored. Since 1930, Smith Park has had some sort of gardens as we saw in the following post from last year:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2016/05/formal-flowers.html.  As far as parks go in northeastern Wisconsin, its beauty is a mark of pride for Menasha.

What's in a Name

August 21, 1958, Appleton Post-Crescent

Poking around this weekend, I chanced upon the item above.  Seems like the simplest things never get done.  I wonder who first noticed this oversight and worked to right this wrong?

Oral History

September 12, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Time for another of those great Dr. Michael O'Brien oral histories he conducted in 1979.  Today's installment covers the wide ranging social church history of Neenah-Menasha.  That comment about Catholics and Lutherans blasting each other is fascinating, though not without precedent in my own life.  Once upon a time in the early 70's I had dated a Lutheran girl for a short time.  She didn't come out and say it to me, but I got the impression our relationship ended because of her Mom's "problem" with me.  Guess old habits (and prejudices) die hard. 

Talent Show

August 7, 1964, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Seeing the date here makes me wonder how the musical group above was influenced by The Beatles, having conquered America only six months prior with A Hard Days Night coming to theaters in only a few more short days. 

And I'll bet these girls were having the time of their lives up on that stage.  I love the old time microphone that they can't even reach.

Kiddie Parade

August 2, 1973, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

It seems like a week of festivities, what with Monday's installment of the Prospector Days parade from 1969.  Today, we move forward four years, to Neenah-Menasha's centennial celebration which included, among other things, this children's parade. Notice the lack of helmets.

Dogtown Flag

July 22, 1969, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Does this monument exist anymore?  I found this during some random checking and was intrigued enough to do a Google Earth scan, but came up empty-handed.  I also found three different articles about the flagpole with three different locations mentioned, which to me makes no sense.  The original article from 1918, when the flagpole was planned, stated that it was to be at Garfield Avenue and Madison Street.  But those two streets run parallel to each other.  Then, an article a few months before this one in May 1969 talks about it being at Railroad and Madison.  But when you refer to the above article, and although it restates the Railroad and Madison idea, speaking about residents gathering there for the mayor's remarks, the article later says that the "flag staff was raised on the east side of Abbey Avenue."  But Abbey Avenue runs east and west so there is no east side of Abbey Avenue.  As of October 2013 on Google Earth, there is a vacant lot at the T intersection of Railroad and Madison.  Could it have been there?