May 20, 1955, Twin City News-Record
There's nothing like anthropomorphic auto parts trilling a tune to get you to tune up your car. One could only hope that there'd also been an audio version, perhaps played on WNAM, to listen to. That would be "duck soup" for me! (And for the unknowing, "duck soup" is an expression for an extremely easy task, as well as the title of a wonderful Marx Brothers movie from 1933.)
May 4, 1955, Twin City News-Record
Slow news day. Things don't always go smoothly, despite the best efforts of mechanics and maintenance specialists, hence the complaints from neighbors. It MUST have been loud, knowing the topography of the area, it wasn't like there were residences next door. And one wonders if the Tayco Street Bridge had its own telephone installed. It makes one think the Racine Street Bridge problem shouldn't be a problem at all.
April 19, 1927, Menasha Record
While this happened to a couple of Neenah kids, let this be a lesson to all you overly adventurous Menasha boys to keep on the straight and narrow and stay in school. Be careful what you wish for. More than likely, they paid for their adventure in more ways than one.
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April 19, 1927, Menasha Record
We welcome Tuesday with a couple of newsy items from 1927- the Menasha Record staffers trying to be snarky about the speeder from Kaukauna and a public service announcement to the public regarding the swindler. Thinking about it, the man's background as a former printer was totally in line with his newfound avocation as a forger. With Menasha's heritage of paper, print, and publishing, it's surprising we didn't develop a cottage industry here for bogus documents, etc.
Can you believe it's been 11 years since this journey began? Yep, April 24, 2012 was the very first entry in this blog, cobbled together to promote the Menasha book I wrote in conjunction with the Menasha Historical Society. Since that day, we've had our share of history and hilarity, boring details and inane activity about the little city we all love. But through it all, you've stuck with me. Thanks for being faithful readers of my little tome.
As always, I feature the very first photograph shown in this blog, my favorite Prospector Days postcard. This is post number 2,614. Wow! Here's to the future as we begin year number 12.
April 28, 1917, Menasha Record
Menasha was awash in patriotism and enthusiasm for the war effort in 1917. It was only a little more than three weeks previously on April 4, that the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. As Menasha tried to live up the motto they'd adopted- "Always to the front and never fails," the Honorable S. A. Cook, namesake of the armory, wrote an accompanying article urging Menasha to have its boys join I Company which was stationed at the Armory. I am not sure of the perceived difficulties Menasha was having in "coming to terms" with the Armory or with its boys serving with I Company. More research is needed.
April 12, 1979, Twin City News-Record
The local papers must have had a regular schedule to go into classrooms and photograph anything they thought was interesting and save these photos for slow news days. Menasha was well-represented, especially at Nicolet and Clovis Grove for some reason. Needless to say, the kids were doing some interesting things; far more interesting than when I was in school.
April 3, 1879, Saturday Evening Press
As we've spoken before in this blog, the early days of education in Menasha contained few high school graduates. Why, the high school's first graduating class was only three years before in 1876. Here is a link to a post from 2012 showing that, for many years early on, the number of graduates was only in the single digits (and usually exclusively female). Some years, there were no graduates at all:
https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/06/menasha-high-school.html
And notice how the graduates had to recite and read essays for the audience. With a class of just three, all were able to perform.
April 2, 1979, Twin City News-Record
Young students are studies in concentration as Oscar the Clown puts on his makeup. Knowing young children's fascination with clowns and circuses, to expect anything less would be surprising. Oh yes, I'm sure there were some kids during this era who were scared by clowns, the same way some kids are and will always be intimidated by Santa. But this was before clowns as villains became a de rigeur subject for horror stories and movies and there's nothing but innocence here. Besides, seeing how the "magic" is made can help a lot towards popping the balloon, so to speak, on the mystery behind it all.
April 11, 1963, Twin City News-Record
Today, we come back from hiatus to see some young artists in the Menasha school system. My goodness, an article like this hearkens back to a more innocent time when the cares (and scares) of today's world don't enter into the conversation. No locked doors, no metal detectors, etc. And look at the naming baby column at the bottom. There are full addresses, something you'd never see today. Yes, it was a more innocent time. I'm glad I lived through such a period and maybe it sounds Pollyanna-ish, but that's too bad. I wouldn't trade my growing up in Menasha.
April 11, 1963, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
As if the usual Friday night continental seafood smorgasbord wasn't enough to satisfy your Lenten cravings, the upcoming Easter Dinner Buffet would surely right your course. And with a price of $2.95 for all you can eat, it was a sure thing there'd be no room for Easter eggs later in the day.
April 6, 1966, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
As Easter gets closer, we're reminded to purchase our Easter treats and stuffed bunnies, just perfect for that special Easter basket. And of course, it wouldn't be Easter, Menasha style, without the Easter kielbasa, a delicacy celebrated within this blog far and wide. We can thank our Polish brethren for bringing this tradition to us.
April 5, 1966, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Young Master Schmidt is a rather willing accomplice to the appearance of an oversized Easter Bunny at Bowlby's Sweet Shop. Toddlers of less stronger stuff might have high-tailed it out of there, judging from their past experiences sitting on the lap of the "Jolly Old Elf", another holiday visitor who has been known to inspire frantic reactions.
April 5, 1966, Twin City News-Record
With Easter right around the corner, what better time than to celebrate these Scouts' accomplishment with decorating the ward at the hospital, and in a seasonal manner to boot. Hopefully, their work gave some solace to the kids who certainly didn't want to miss Easter by being shut in at the hospital.