Bunny Time

March 20, 1980, Appleton Post-Crescent

I've seen better representations of the Easter Bunny and I've seen worse.  This guy falls somewhere in-between.  Whatever Nicole thought, it didn't seem to matter as it looked like she was in store for a Happy Easter.  I'll be back Monday with more blog news.  Have a great Easter weekend!

Library Follow-up

November 1898, The Library Journal

This is a description of the October 21, 1898 dedication of the Menasha Public Library.  This is a follow-up to yesterday's coverage of the library's history and design  from the 1897 Library Journal.

Library Noted In Journal Dec 1897

December 1897, The Library Journal

Yes, we've gone over this story many times before but never have I seen in print a better declaration of how enthusiastic the townspeople were to have their library idea come to fruition.  The description of how the citizenry chipped in with their help- from the poor woman who had nothing to offer but scrubbing the floors to help, to the small boy who made the borrowers' cards- this Horatio Alger story of people coming together just made me smile.  The foundations of what made Menasha great were in those kind people's good intentions and giant hearts and the city was all the better for it.   

One of the Most Modern in the State

March 22, 1938, Appleton Post-Crescent

Eighty years, the public toured Menasha High School and termed it one of the most modern in the state.  High praise for a replacement school that took the place of the one that tragically burned down in 1936.

I apologize for the challenging quality of this article today and if you have trouble reading it, hit ctrl + a number of times to expand the screen.  Then hit ctrl - the same number of times to revert to normal.

Watch Your Feet

March 31, 1965, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

It's been a while since we featured a streetcar of any sort on the blog.  Horse-drawn streetcars began operation in July of 1886.  At first there was just the simple route from downtown Menasha to downtown Neenah.  Electrified cars were instituted in Appleton in 1896 and interurban lines to Menasha and Neenah and parts beyond came into being two years later.  As described in previous blog posts, a passenger could take the interurban from Neenah to Menasha for 5 cents, to Waverly Beach for 10 cents, or to Appleton for 15 cents.  The rise of city buses and automobiles and a reluctance by the traction companies, as they were called, to pay for bridge upkeep sounded the death knell to streetcars for Menasha in 1925.  By 1930, Appleton's had made their last runs, too.

Snow Bunny

March 20, 1965, Twin City News-Record

Easter was late in 1965, April 18th to be exact.  Unlike this year when it falls on April 1.  (That last happened in 1956, the birth year of yours truly.)  Besides the obvious joke of combining the two and having an Easter egg hunt MINUS the eggs (April Fools!) a snow bunny like this could still be around.  Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

March 7, 1959, Appleton Post-Crescent

As what seems to be (hopefully) the last major storm of the season rolls towards the northeast, we look back at the good and bad aspects of a Menasha storm in 1959.  Making for pretty, mood shots of drifts against the park swings, etc., the snow also provided lots of fun for a bunch of neighborhood kids as shown below, albeit the kind of fun that would undoubtedly send some of today's parents into shock. 

Lockwork

March 21, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

After all those years, I'm a bit surprised it took almost 130 years to convert from wooden gates to steel ones, but the old adage must have applied- if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  And kudos to the city of Menasha for having the most important lock on the river. (There I go being irreverent again.)  But seriously, the lock has been closed since 2015 due to the invasive round goby and hopes are there for it to be reopened in 2018. 

Buckets, Pails, and Tuns

March 9, 1962, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

We've discussed the Menasha Wooden Ware on this blog on many occasions, to include its selection of products.  By the time of this historical meeting, the long era of wooden pail and bucket production was over.  Corrugated boxes and other items were the new watchword in protecting products in shipment.

Just Ask the Magic Leprechaun

March 10, 1965, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Your special treat for St. Patrick's Day- tender, juicy, delicious corned beef.  Just ask the leprechaun...though I think he really has his eye on those 29 cent fryers.

Feel Right at Home

March 12, 1965,  Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

With Easter looming in a few short weeks, the thoughts of buffets and brunches begin to appear in our collective psyches.  Here's a thought for your 1965 dining...how about spending your hard-earned $1.75 for some roast Tom Turkey or tenderloin tips?

Those Pesky Taxes

March 12, 1965, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Here's a timely ad for this time of year. Looking like any headache or neuralgia remedy ad for its time, the Bank of Menasha takes the whole job of record keeping for your income taxes and sums it all up in this guy's expression.  And for a guy whose parents didn't have a checking account until he was in high school, I cannot imagine the headaches their tax returns might have caused them. 

Gates Closed

March 21, 1980, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

This is sort of timely, in that the big Nor'easter storm of March 2-3 recently eroded the beach area around York, Maine, revealing a lot about the history, to include a Revolutionary War ship.  Wow!  No big reveals here, but it is amazing to see what we normally DO NOT see when events like this occur.

Good For Everyone

March 8, 1966, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Another week and another business profile presented, this time under the guise of a "cycling is healthy for you" headline.  We first encountered this bike shop in 2013:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/02/menasha-bike-and-toy.html.

New Book!

I have exciting news to end the week!  I have written another book, which will be published on April 23.  And, I am doing the above program at the Menasha Public Library on April 29th. My book is Neenah and Menasha: Twin Cities of the Fox Valley and features picture postcards that depicted the Twin Cities in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Old postcards can evoke memories of the past and provide glimpses into our history and culture. During the “Golden Age” of postcards (1898-1918), millions of postcards were sent because they were an affordable, fast, and colorful way of communicating. Later, postcards became mainstays of resorts, hotels, restaurants, and roadside tourist attractions in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s. 

I will speak about the postcard craze and show postcards from my personal collection that depict Neenah and Menasha from over 100 years ago along with some of their long past messages. Books will be available for sale after the event.  You can even bring your own postcards to discuss with the group if you like.  https://www.facebook.com/events/150563975583855/

My book is available now for pre-order at the web site below, or come out to see me on April 29th. The book will also be available at local retailers in the Fox Valley yet to be determined.
https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467128261

The Other Shoe Drops

March 8, 1987, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Mr. Tuchscherer's brother-in-law Peter Kemmeter later opened a neighborhood grocery at 303 Ahnaip Street.  The one which, according to Memories of Doty Island : A Link Between Two Cities (1999), he apparently had not found his "niche" in life until after World War I when he built the store. His family lived upstairs and all members helped wait on customers, stock shelves, and did whatever else needed to be done. By the time World War II was over, Clarence, his son, took over the running of the store and it continued to do business until the supermarkets gave too much competition.

And of course, as alluded to in the last paragraphs, being on the south side of Main Street, the whole block east of Mill Street was later razed to enable the construction of an office building and parking lot that opened in 1991. 

New Flag

March 11, 1959, Appleton Post-Crescent

The seldom seen (or remembered) 49-star flag makes its short-lived appearance at St. Mary's some 59 years ago to mark the admission of Alaska as a state.  The next year, when Hawaii was admitted to the union, this flag, as they say, was history.

Some Local Items of Interest

March 7, 1878, Green Bay Advocate

Scanning the local papers from yesteryear brought to light the above two items of local interest to Green Bay readers.  Since there was no Green Bay Packers yet to talk about, what better way to fill the pages than with news of surrounding communities.  But seriously, information from outlying communities was, of course, vital to the local reader when essentially, there was no other outlet for news.  Radio was decades away and newspapers were king.

Down the Street

March 9, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

The fates were not kind this go-round as the Jays lost to Fondy by three in overtime that night, ending their best season since 1965.  But it gave us a great view of a Main Street that doesn't exist anymore, long since supplanted by the marina.

Winter's Symphony

March 7, 1980, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Like a conductor leading a symphony, our intrepid Northwestern photographer takes the viewer on a local odyssey of the season, leading the eye around the city and riding the crescendo eventually into the Town of Menasha for a final burst of the winter delight.

Breaker Breaker

February 1, 1979, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

It must have been transported on a slow boat from China to have taken a week.  But there I go being snarky again.  Still, a mammoth piece of technology we all take for granted.