Advertising Time Warp?

July 31, 1905, Menasha Record

I am a fan of old newspapers, as readers of this blog can probably tell.  But this string of ads caught my eye. Can you see why?  Remember, this is 1905 and the prevailing advertising style for print ads was the one represented by the John Strange Company, The First National Bank of Menasha, and The Menasha Paper Company as shown above.  Now look hard at The Menasha Woodenware Company ad.  That ad looks like something out of the 1960's or '70's.  If it was in color, it'd be olive green and day-glo orange!  Check out the stylized curves on the h, m, and n.  All it is lacking is a row of daisies acting as the border!  Now granted, there are still some 19th century touches there, to include the commentary: "Always on Hand."  But I am just amazed at this.  The biggest change was definitely moving the company's name to the extreme left of the ad.  And the excess white space as well.  Forgive me if it seems I've lost my head on this, but I am dumbfounded.  My wife has always said I get excited at the strangest things.  Here's a good example.

Standing Tall and Looking Good

January 15, 2003, Twin City News-Record

With all the recent news coverage of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, it is only fitting to find some military oriented photo representative of the Twin Cities. The Back in Time editors deemed this photograph as undated, but my guess is this is late 1930's, perhaps 1940-41, judging from the uniforms and helmets. 

Ambling Along the Mill Street Bridge

September 4, 2002, Twin City News-Record

You don't find that many photos of the Mill Street Bridge in its heyday, up close and personal.  Most are from a distance, or the bridge acts as a backdrop to something else entirely- fishing in the river or focusing on a paper mill or riverboat, etc.   This "Back in Time" picture, courtesy of the Historical Society shows a dreary day in late fall or early spring, judging from the trees.  Notice the slow speed limit; however, a check of newspapers around this time period leads me to believe the year is not right for this photo, as there are many instances of fines for speeding over this bridge, all mentioning a TEN MPH speed limit.   And for you completists out there, the fine was consistently $10.

Tennis Anyone?

September 7, 2005, Twin City News-Record

I saw an earlier version of this photo one time in the Back in Time column and it didn't have any of the detail listed here.  In fact, it was just thrown out there as a tennis fan in the 1920's.  But judging from the fashion, I knew this was taken much earlier than the '20's and now I'm glad I was hesitant to publish it with the lack of details.  Being that this was John Strange's daughter, it totally brings it into Menasha's orbit.  The News-Record inconveniently cuts off the caption which places the Athearn Hotel in Oshkosh.  There's a good post about the Athearn at this blog site:  https://williamwatersoshkosharchitect.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-athearn-hotel.html

A Noted Romantic

December 31, 2003, Twin City News-Record

From another "Back in Time column: I love the idea that Mr. Smith was so demonstrative with the Missus, despite the social mores of the era.  I'm sure there was enough petty whispers and cluck-clucking and tsk-tsking behind the Smiths' backs.  But as hypocrisy goes, those arbiters of public decency would likely be the first to drop all pretense of morality when it was time to welcome the riches and benefits the Smiths gave to the city- the library, and the park, just to name a few. 

The Tale of Peter Grossman

 April 10, 1894, Neenah Daily Times

April 12, 1894, Appleton Post

April 14, 1894, Saturday Evening Press

April 21, 1894, Saturday Evening Press

May 2, 1894, Oshkosh Northwestern

May 3, 1894, Appleton Post

June 2, 1894, Saturday Evening Press

July 19, 1894, Appleton Post

August 25, 1894, Saturday Evening Press

As detailed here last week in the smallpox scare of 1895 in Menasha, today brings the fuller story of what that article was talking about.  Evidently, Mr. Grossman put his political ambitions far ahead of any public safety, to include the safety of his own family and child as well.  Sadly, his son lost the battle with the disease and Mr. Grossman became as detested as the later pariah,Typhoid Mary, who didn't become a dubious celebrity until the early 1900's. It is not sure what became of the Grossman family once they fled Menasha. 

As for Typhoid Mary, she was originally released from quarantine once she had promised to never cook again for large groups of people.  But she broke that vow and resumed work as a cook within five years of her first release.  As a result, more people were infected, the health authorities traced it back to her, and she was exiled to a New York hospital for the remainder of her life, 23 years.

Bridge Traffic

July 5, 2000, Twin City News-Record

I found this in a "Back in Time" compilation from the News-Record recently.  I hadn't seen it before but it definitely shows the area as a hotbed of activity on a warm day in 1940.   And seeing as how we've featured bridges a lot lately, why not give a shout out to both the Tayco Street and Washington Street Bridges in one photo.