Souvenir Postal Cards

November 1, 1904, Menasha Record

At the height of the post card craze, pre-World War I, and when the best postcards came from Europe (mainly Germany), Menasha's local druggist John Rosch was on it.  For all I know, some of the cards in my collection might have come from his store.  We've spoken a little bit about Mr. Rosch before.  He was a one-term mayor of Menasha (1894) and was said to have been the first druggist to have a soda fountain in the city.  A Democrat, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention several times and even entertained William Jennings Bryan at his home during a speaking engagement in the city. He served on the Menasha school board and was even nominated as the Democratic candidate for the governorship, which he declined.  In 2014, we spoke about his distinctive residence in the blog:  http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2014/06/george-stein-house.html 

January 15, 1887, Saturday Evening Press

Monotype Machine

October 13, 1920, Menasha Record

From its earliest days on Main Street, the Banta Company was devoted to quality printing.  With its then-new location on Ahnaip Street, the company finally had the space to expand its operations and extend its production line, using the most modern equipment available.  Banta, in this ad, showcases some of that technology it was so proud of.

Alien Permits

October 24, 1918, Neenah Daily Times

June 8, 1917, Menasha Record

A while back, I lamented that I hadn't kept us up to date with what Menasha was experiencing during our involvement in World War I as we commemorate 100 years since the war ended.  I first touched upon this particular issue in 2013 after I had located an article about renaming Berlin Street as Paris Street in the midst of World War I.  Evidently, anti-German sentiment had run high enough at the time, despite Menasha's extensive German heritage, to cause this change to be passed by the city council: https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2013/07/95-years-ago.html  In that blog post, I detailed and showed the identity papers my grandfather had to carry around for the rest of the war, despite having gained his own American citizenship in 1906.  

In researching the war year of 1918, I came across an evolution of the alien registration act, now requiring women to be registered, as evidenced by the first news article.  Of course, one can argue that special times dictate special circumstances and we were at war.  America took its xenophobia to a higher level when it imprisoned Japanese-Americans and their families during World War II.  I'll get off my soapbox now, but I shudder when I see the anti-foreigner biases in this country today and the potential for that.  History often repeats itself. 

New Fire Truck

October 22, 1946, Appleton Post-Crescent

What could be better on a fine Fall afternoon...gathering with friends down by the river, watching the new fire truck in action.  At least for the time being, it beat raking leaves.  

Father Hummel

October 20, 1953, Appleton Post-Crescent

Growing up, I was regaled with stories of this man by my mother.  Even though he had passed on before I was born, Father Hummel had baptized my mother, performed her marriage, and had baptized several of my siblings before I came along.  In that "that was the way it was back then" voice, she told me of how strict he was.  Of course, it was a different era- the Latin Mass was the norm, he expected his students to tow the line, and he did not suffer fools gladly.  But at a time when the parish needed leadership, Father Hummel led St. Mary's through two world wars and the Great Depression.  His life was that of service, and he freely gave his all, as attested to in this article. 

Doty Island Love Letter

November 18, 1979, Appleton Post-Crescent

This is a nice snapshot in time of almost forty years ago when the writer expressed, what I feel were the feelings of many residents, about how they felt about living on Doty Island.  While my own time in Menasha did not include residing on the island, I was, of course, quite familiar with its residents and haunts.  My father worked there, my best friend lived there, I played there.  Crossing the bridges was a no-brainer and one didn't even think of the distinction from "mainland" Menasha.  Yet, as the author says, the island was and is a melting pot of socio-economic classes, of homes, of businesses, of industries.  There is no one typical resident of Doty Island, yet the use of the word "community" seems to sum up its existence; at least it did in 1979.  I suspect it is still true today.  Common ground, indeed.

Playerphones

October 16, 1918, Menasha Record

December 14, 1918, Menasha Record

I was intrigued by these "talking machines" and then I realized it was just a term for record players or phonographs and Playerphone was just a brand name.  Evidently, most phonograph companies used the "phone" or "play" in their names- Gramophone, Qualitiphone, Playonola .  My research even found a trade journal for the industry titled The Talking Machine World, so that phrase was a thing.  Like "horseless carriage" for automobiles, it didn't withstand the sands of time, but just serves as sort of a benchmark for an innovative time when recorded music was all the rage.  In a few short years, network radio would develop and having "wireless sets" (as they were first known) would be the new rage.  Remember when "world wide web" was synonymous for the internet?  Nobody says that anymore either. 

FYI, Mr. Swenson was a jeweler in Menasha at 209 Main Street for about thirty years until his death in 1939.  During this time period, his advertising often suggested watches and other gifts to be sent to the "boys over there," serving in The Great War.  Here's a trade ad for the Playerphone I was able to find.  Sorry it isn't larger and more readable.