A blog which supplements my two books, Menasha, and Neenah and Menasha: Twin Cities of the Fox Valley
Pages
Downtown 1958
Friday, March 31, 2023
Ready At the Back Door
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Good Grief
March 24, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Perennial favorite amongst school productions is the play, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, shown here being put on by Maplewood Junior High. Charlie Brown, that lovable loser, never seemed to get a break but he was always supported by his best friend, Linus. Even in criticizing him, Linus was a gentle soul. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, the worst Linus could ever utter was, "Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest." Now that's a friend!
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
The Coming Spring?
March 6, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Here's a mood shot for your mid-work week appreciation. I have a strange passion for these atmospheric, "artsy" type photos that staff photographers would occasionally feature in the newspaper. One might argue that they were "filler" for those "slow" news days, but aren't these also the ones that win the awards, not the snaps of boring old city council meetings or a traffic accident on Main Street?
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
A Study in Concentration
March 24, 1970, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Nicolet Kindergarteners put their skills to the test in a demonstration of hair care. Having a little experience with two daughters of my own, I'm sure it took nothing to prompt these girls into action. I'm just amazed how the camera captured their intensity at just the right time.
Monday, March 27, 2023
Best Buy, by Far!
Friday, March 24, 2023
Editorial Commentary
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Offer
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Newspaper History
March 26, 1931, Appleton Post-Crescent
None other than George Banta, Jr. gives Rotarians a history of Menasha newspapers. This article gives a good overview of the history of the news trade in our fair city up to 1931. If one remembers that the Menasha Record merged with the Neenah-Menasha Daily News-Times in September of 1949 to become the Twin City News-Record, then you've pretty much gotten the entire lesson Yes, there'd be abortive attempts in future years to create other city newspapers but they didn't last very long. The Neenah-Menasha edition of the Oshkosh Northwestern, wasn't really a Menasha or Neenah paper per se, but rather the Oshkosh paper wrapped up in Neenah-Menasha indicia while padding itself with a bit more news from the bureau in the Twin Cities.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
No Lost Marbles
March 2, 1931, Appleton Post-Crescent
Would a child today even know what to do with a bag of marbles? Yes, they were a mainstay at every five and dime in America while I grew up in the 60s and 70s, yet I was hard pressed to find any kids my age who played marbles. Aside from just collecting them and admiring their glass complexities, marbles in my world were more often an integral part of some other whole, like the marbles that were used as tokens to go around the Chinese Checkers board, or the "steelie" that provided the action in the game of "Mouse Trap." Granted, this wasn't 1931 when childhood pastimes were smaller and less grander in number, a time when jacks and jump ropes also vied for child attention, though girls seemingly had a monopoly on those two and they were popular in any era I knew.
Monday, March 20, 2023
Big Oops
March 27, 1884, Saturday Evening Press
My sympathies to Mr. Reuter for the accident he endured on the rail line. Parenthetically, I've always been amazed at the journalism of this era, so focused on the gory details of the injuries incurred by the accident victim(s). I'm glad we have better sensibilities about such topics these days.
Friday, March 17, 2023
Waif?
March 27, 1884, Saturday Evening Press
Obviously, this young girl likely didn't fit the definition of what a proper young lady in Menasha should be, at least by Officer Schiffer's standards. Of course, I know this was 1884 and I know full well there weren't any social workers or other benevolent patrons milling around on a Friday night to stick up for her when the cop was mansplaining what she should be doing.
Leave it to the judicial system of 1884 to throw a young girl into jail for a month for the perceived sins of what was likely termed "moral turpitude," a legal concept that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community." This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning in the 19th century. As described above, a moral crime can be one that:
· Shocks the public conscience
· Acts against rules about one’s neighbors or society
· Is inherently depraved and vile
· Is conducted with evil intent
· Is the result of reckless behavior
· Is morally reprehensible
· Is intentionally wrong
The trickiest part about a crime involving moral turpitude is that this is a category to label a crime and does not define the crime itself. This means that the designation of a crime of moral turpitude can be assigned to any crime that the law decides it should be. That's a bad place to find yourself.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Model Life
March 29, 1954, Appleton Post-Crescent
The villages the students are building remind me of those figure sets sold on the backs of my comic books from boyhood. If it wasn't soldiers in battle, it was cowboys and Indians. Those came with teepees and corrals. There was also a Revolutionary War set and one featuring Roman Legions, if memory serves me. I never succumbed to those mail offers- it was enough to find bags of green Army men in the dime store for my antics, and likely, they were cheaper that way. But once G.I. Joe came to the forefront, those little green Army men just didn't cut it anymore for me.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Moral Drive
March 17, 1894, Saturday Evening Press
It used to be that the city government or police force or what have you, would engage every now and then on a moral crusade to right the wrongs of the town and to vanquish those bad influences that tempted the local populace. To curry favor with voters before an election or whenever the mayor felt a moral urging to make the streets safe for young ladies or the youth, the purging could begin. Be it saloons, pool halls, or gambling dens (or even worse), the expulsion would last for so long before vice would eventually drift back gradually into the sphere of public consciousness. So here we are, in 1894 with Mayor Lawson's latest dictum to clean up Menasha. It all smacks of the "Trouble in River City" number from The Music Man. And I wonder how long it was before those slot machines made their way back into the saloons.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Campaign Stop
March 22, 1972, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Minnesota's own, Hubert Humphrey made a campaign stop at Germania Hall in Menasha during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. He ended up losing it to George McGovern in the end, but his visit made it a worthwhile event for visiting students who came to hear the Senator speak on the issues of the day.
Monday, March 13, 2023
Works of Art
Friday, March 10, 2023
Spring Travelers
March 23, 1967, Twin City News-Record
An annual rite of passage, the Senior class trip. It seemed the destinations of choice were most often Washington, D.C. and New York. Even my class at St. Mary's some seven years later went to the same two places. But be that as it may, a trip like this would provide long-lasting memories and experiences, no matter the destination.
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Nicolet Anniversary
March 1, 1977, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Be it ever so fitting that a portrait of Jean Nicolet should adorn the Nicolet School, just blocks from Nicolet Boulevard and blocks from the Nicolet Monument in Smith Park. It makes so much sense that one wonders why it took fifty years to happen.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Bock
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Flivver
March 18, 1925, Appleton Post-Crescent
The boy scouts' vehicle must have been quite something for it to be called "Asthma." With a name like that, it must have sounded like Jack Benny's Maxwell (now there's a reference for us older folks, lol. Feel free to Google it.) But leave it to fundraisers and the indomitable spirit of the boys to make their world a little bit better. I've no doubt in my mind that they came through with the necessary funds to purchase something new.
Monday, March 6, 2023
Awardee
Here's another treasure I chanced upon somehow. The back of the photo said "1969." That's it. Obviously, Mr. Drucks was giving an award to one of his employees but that's all I can ascertain. In spite of that, I am amazed at the number of different, and what I presume to be, General Electric, irons on display in the background, a definite necessity before permanent press was perfected. So many models. And I'm guessing the header in the back says "Housewares and Radios" as my original guess of "horseshoes" just makes no sense!
Friday, March 3, 2023
Menasha Manufacturing
Thursday, March 2, 2023
Another "What If"
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Button Sale
March 14, 1966, Twin City News-Record
The watchword of any club or extracurricular activity eventually becomes "fundraising." It seems like this has been the case since time immemorial; it wouldn't surprise me if Socrates' students were sent out to raise funds to cover a field trip to Sparta, for example. But St. Mary's band students found interesting ways to circumvent the money shortage in creative ways, a couple of them are highlighted above.