Tune That Dial?

November 21, 1929, Oshkosh Daily Northwestern

I found this intriguing item during a recent research session.  I never did find out why Menasha didn't get the radio station it desired at the time, though it might have been a question of timing.  I saw more than one instance of other communities being turned down as there seemed to be a band width cut back during the Depression years.  See the article below.

December 8, 1929, Wisconsin State Journal

Pillow Nite

April 24, 1929, Appleton Post-Crescent

Always a giveaway or some sort of game going on at "Menasha's Family Theatre." This is just about four months after the Brin had opened, so definitely a bit of competition going on, I'd guess.  The 1930's would see a definite upsurge for such giveaways such as Dish Night and Bank Night, and a healthy dose of double features to keep the customers coming in.  This would be right when the viewing public needed a morale boost, at the heights of the Great Depression.

View-Master

August 18, 1949, Menasha Record

Growing up, I don't recall ever playing with one kid who did not have one of these in his toy chest repertoire.   The View-Master was a relative of the old stereoscopic photos our great grandparents looked at in their parlors.  The View-Master system was introduced in 1939 at the New York World's Fair, four years after the advent of Kodachrome color film made the use of small high-quality photographic color images practical. Tourist attraction and travel views predominated in View-Master's early lists of available reels, most of which were meant to be interesting to users of all ages.So it is no wonder that this photographic shop in downtown Menasha would be the sales agent in town.  

This was my first exposure (no pun intended...really!) to the Van Dyke Card and Camera Shop.  A scan of my newspaper archive web site reveals it was active from May,1948 through August,1953 in Menasha and would have been located in what later became part of the expanded Drucks Electric, which began life at 234 Main and later carried the address 234-236 Main Street.

Cannot Be Excelled

April 1, 1910, Neenah Daily Times

Don't be confused with the Walter Brothers Brewery, the maker of Gem and Gold Label beers.  No, this was another brewery which had existed since the 1860's but was acquired by the Winz family by 1881 and went by that name for several years.  This version lasted from about 1888 until 1920 and was, like the preceding businesses, located at First and Manitowoc Streets, according to the 1913 telephone directory.  Formerly known as the Winz Brewery, the 1920 City Directory lists Werner Winz as President, and Peter Winz as Secretary-Treasurer, so evidently the only change was that name change in 1888.  We first talked about the Winz brewery in the blog in 2012: https://menashabook.blogspot.com/2012/06/winz-brewery.html

Let's Go Fly a Kite

April 24, 1967, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Pure joy at getting that kite in the air.  As a boy, I had more than my share of Charlie Brown-like incidents, with the kite getting caught in the tree, so I share this kid's happiness.  Of course, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the box either, insisting I could get the thing aloft with the ever-so-slightest of breezes, but maybe that was just childish enthusiasm.  Or worse, stubborness, which I carry onward to this day, for some things. Wasn't it Dirty Harry who said, “A man's got to know his limitations?"

Just Relaxin'

April 4, 1967, Twin City News-Record

I think I remember that storeroom, but what caught my eye really was the, what we'd call today, "retro" rabbit ears and console TV. I know as well as you do that this was state-of-the-art in 1967 and viewing at that time was limited to the three channels emanating from Green Bay.  They're probably watching a soap opera, even though it says they're watching news.

And just in case you really wanted to read that news article from yesterday, here it is in its rightful format.  (Hope you didn't get a stiff neck in trying to read it as presented.)

April Fools' Day

June 29, 1923, Menasha Record

Perhaps it was the Menasha Record's April Fools' prank that year of 1923, putting the origins of the day in a June issue.  Maybe they thought...we'll show them, we'll just wait almost three full months to explain it all away.  So, beware the day!  You never know who might be out to fool you.