Pride in Speed

July 24, 1963, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

Sometimes the mission of the local newspaper isn't just the reporting of current news, but also educating its readers with anecdotal accounts of historical items that they might not have known.  Such is this case with this accounting of the streetcar "speed", designed to delight the early 1960's sensibility of what speed truly is.  For that era, when solid steel-finned automobile gas guzzlers ruled the roads, it must have seemed laughable to imagine a vehicle traveling so slowly on city streets.  Such stories provide an interesting contrast with current life.

Birthday

June 11, 1977, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Some of the dates in this article make no sense, but until I realized that, I thought it was a nice timeline depicting the history of the organization.  If it was founded in 1852, wouldn't its 127th birthday be in 1979?  This article is dated 1977 so that makes it seem like the company was founded in 1850 but then the timeline in the article says its 127th birthday was in 1974, so that equates to an 1847 start.  Maybe the writer was calculating from the origins of the pail factory that was in business before Mr. Smith purchased it in 1852.  Still confusing.  Other than that, the other dates make sense from what I understand from history.  Maybe the writer was having a bad math day. 

Rite of Summer

June 13, 1960, Appleton Post-Crescent

I suppose we could wax poetic about the annual rites of summer, little league and the like.  Write like George Will or Roger Angell or some other famous baseball writer, of how it's a timeless game, with no clock, and how the game is a metaphor for life somehow.  But just to know that it was good clean fun for all those years for thousands of Menasha kids over the decades is enough testimony to its value.

Waterfront Project

June 19, 2003, Twin City News-Record

It seems longer than fifteen years ago that this project took root and once again transformed the downtown area.  The sands of time disguise our day-to-day routine and before you know it, we're standing on the sidelines wondering where it went.  

Pack the Kiddies in the Car....

March 28, 1961, Appleton Post-Crescent

Could this be the inspiration for the famous (infamous?) Fox Point jingle?   Or just an illustration of it?  We first ventured there in 2013:  https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/01/fox-point-shopping-center.html#comment-form

Fill 'er Up

June 14, 1978, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Though the Menasha lock is closed (yet again) for the 2018 season, here's a happier picture from forty years before when things were a bit more normal.  With hopes that the round goby will be eradicated someday, scenes like this will become commonplace once again.

Smith and Banta

June 22, 1969, Appleton Post-Crescent

We've read their stories before, but to me, there cannot ever be too much emphasis on these two individuals who helped make Menasha great.  As the article states, chance, or fate may have helped to bring their successes to the fore, but their acumen helped them maintain their high position in Menasha's business world.