A blog which supplements my two books, Menasha, and Neenah and Menasha: Twin Cities of the Fox Valley
Pages
Downtown 1958
Friday, December 24, 2021
Holiday Wishes
Thursday, December 23, 2021
The Beer of Good Cheer!
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Toy Town!
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
A Christmas Wish from the Heart
Monday, December 20, 2021
Anatomy of a Snowstorm
December 7, 1927, Menasha Record
December 8, 1927, Menasha Record
December 9, 1927, Menasha Record
A typical December in the Menasha area as the "Appleton road", or as we know it today as Highway 47 shuts down due to excess snow. Eventually, this stretch of road, at least within Menasha, was named as "Appleton Road." The Record, did its best to keep people informed. "Autoists," as drivers were known then, had to rely upon their local newspaper for news of the road reopening because, as we know, cell reception in 1927 Menasha WAS pretty weak. Seriously though, radio was not the mature medium it later became and news was not instantaneous as today.
Friday, December 17, 2021
Automatic Sleeping Comfort
December 20,1947, Menasha Record
Electronic and appliance gadgetry for Christmas is the watchword at Drucks this 1947. Styles may have changed since 1947 but these are timeless things in that there's always going to be some type of coffee maker, electric razor, toaster, and a device to produce music. Some of the products offered here seem positively prehistoric now, but they were state of the art for that era. I don't think electric blankets have changed that much since their invention, though I could be wrong.
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Christmas Special
December 23, 1939, Menasha Record
Back when long distance calling was a "thing," consumers really had to pay attention to the rates because those charges could really pile up. In today's day of unlimited calling via cell phone, no one gives a second thought about it, unless they need to call internationally perhaps. Back in the day, the local phone directories had charts in the front of the books with rates in state and out of state to the big cities like New York, Chicago, and L.A. to give one an idea of what they faced if they called there. I don't necessarily miss those days, but it sure made for shorter calls.
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
A Union Girl
January 5, 1865, Island City Times
In the Yuletide spirit during the Civil War, comes a local Neenah girl imploring her local citizens to write to those local soldiers helping to save the Union. At first glance, it is a nice Christmas gesture but then it becomes more about helping to save their moral souls. While her motives are pure, I do not think that regular letters from Mother and Father might be enough to salve the weary constitution of the fighting solider and keep him "safe" from the "drunkenness and profanity of camp." Nevertheless, take a moment to admire the flowery prose of this mid-19th century writer. I'm sure she was a faithful sister and generous friend to her correspondents, despite her temperance leanings.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
A New Look for the Square
Monday, December 13, 2021
Santa Shops Menasha Dry Goods Company
Friday, December 10, 2021
Treats for the Children
December 1, 1969, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
We've been dealing with themes about Christmas ever since Thanksgiving and we have touched upon the subject of Santa's Gingerbread House. So, here it is, as posted in Bowlby's ad from 1969. As evidenced in past blog posts, the house resided in different locations within the downtown area and in this year, Bowlby's was fortunate enough to have it situated next to its store.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Melodies for Christmas
December 19, 1924, Menasha Record
The Menasha Music Shoppe was located at 177 Main Street, which has the same address as the Hotel Menasha. And since the hotel barber shop and cigar stand had the same address as well, there must have been some extra space for a purveyor of fine music to sell their wares. The artists featured here are not household names by today's hindsight, though I cannot vouch for their popularity in 1924. For all I know, they could have been very popular. Radio had not hit its heyday as of yet so as years go on, more and more Americans will be exposed to commercial radio big bands and orchestras and that will fuel another rise in record sales.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
City Hall
Every now and then I feel the need to remind our blog followers of the once-stately city hall Menasha used to have. This view is from about 1908. Over time, the city offices moved elsewhere, the grand tower above the building was removed for safety reasons and by the mid 1980's, the building was on its last legs before it was demolished. Yes, there were some efforts to preserve it. We reported in October about a proposal for it to become a restaurant but that also fell through. Still, we appreciate this grand old building for its beauty and for what it meant to Menasha.
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Case Dismissed
December 23, 1918, Menasha Record
John Strange, noted industrialist, president of the John Strange Paper Company, and a one-time Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin was a strident supporter of Prohibition. This article reflects the aftermath of a speech he gave where he likened the major brewers of Milwaukee to our enemies in Europe during World War I, saying, "the worst of all our German enemies, the most treacherous, the most menacing, are Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz and Miller." As evidenced above, Mr. Pabst was not amused. Personally, I do not follow the judge's reasoning for dismissal of the suit, though one might surmise it might have seemed to be a frivolous lawsuit to him or perhaps he read the political waters and felt it best to have the whole thing disappear.
Monday, December 6, 2021
Give a Useful, Practical Gift to the Home!
December 8, 1927, Menasha Record
Menasha Furniture offers a vast variety of Christmas gifts because they ask, in another ad, why not consider a furniture store when giving gifts? Of interest to me is the children's furniture containing nursery rhyme characters, sort of an endorsement to the idea of kids having a childhood as we now know it. It wasn't that long before the date of this ad when children were routinely working in factories and at other jobs, foregoing school to help contribute to the family's upkeep. And though a congressional amendment was first approved by Congress in 1924, it wasn't ratified by the required number of states until 1938 to become law. And while that law placed limits on many forms of child labor, agricultural labor was still excluded.
Friday, December 3, 2021
Set in Stone
November 25, 1970, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Fifty years is a long time and is it no wonder things evolve, even in education? Starting life as a junior high, Maplewood is now a middle school, according to the Menasha School District web site, serving grades six through eight, whereas the junior high had taught students in grades seven through nine. According to my newspaper research, Maplewood then became a middle school in 1991, reopening after being used for a time by the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley. But then, around the mid 1990's I see it once again being referred to as a junior high. I'm confused by all the back and forth. Needless to say, things change.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Golden Egg Pocahontas
From the 1938 Neenah-Menasha City Directory comes this ad. I guess I didn't know the popular types of coal, as I had no idea what this ad was talking about . But a little more research yielded the following:
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Hail, Santa
November 25, 1961, Oshkosh Northwestern
Santa moves into Menasha's famous gingerbread house for the first time in 1961, delighting the hearts of local children. In years to come, that gingerbread house will be moved around to various locations in the downtown area, but never wavering will be the enthusiasm shown by visitors to the jolly old elf inside. Coming soon on the heels of Thanksgiving, the holiday has traditionally been a launching pad for the Christmas merriment to come.