Championship Dining

June 8, 1962, Oshkosh Northwestern

One wonders what WAS provided at the grand opening, as the full page ad specifically stated that dinners would not be served.   Was it hors d'oeuvres and drinks?  Was lunch served?  Needless to say, I'm sure it was a lot of hand shaking, back slapping, networking, and mingling among all involved.  I would have loved to have seen that all played out.  

Truckin'

I chanced upon this photo of a Gear's Dairy truck, from the early 60's, based on the telephone number on the truck as well as the sticker which states 1962-1963, Menasha Milk.  I do not know the context of the photograph but I thought it a wonderful display regardless.  Can't you just see a white clad figure disembarking from the truck, a metal carrier of milk bottles in his hand?  

Grand Opening

June 8, 1962, Oshkosh Northwestern

Sixty-one years ago, this was the talk of downtown...a restaurant fronted by a Green Bay Packer.  Imagine the hoopla, thinking that you might see the likes of Lombardi, Hornung, Taylor, or Starr at the establishment on any given night.  And that is what happened, as well as being the host establishment for the 1000 Yard Club banquet held annually beginning in 1964 in dear ol' Menasha for many, many years before moving around the Valley.  The last one was held in Milwaukee in 1977.  Here a link to a former story about that banquet: http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-lost-era-1000-yarders-club.html

Hocus Pocus

June 23, 1961, Oshkosh Northwestern

Here's a nice human interest story- boy magician gives profits to charity.  David had his heart in the right place, though he might need a better business manager.  One cent admission seems rather low, even in 1961 terms.  But perhaps that was the real magic, making his talents affordable for a number of neighborhood kids who weren't made of money.

Eat Me

 June 15, 1961, Oshkosh Northwestern

Continuing the long standing advertising tradition featuring the smiling food mascot, comes this ad for the Hotel Menasha smorgasbord.  Like that pig who beckons you to consume him at the barbeque restaurant or the cow at the steak joint, this fish and lobster welcome you to what today we'd likely call a seafood buffet, all the while with smiles on their little faces.  Or perhaps they are just oblivious to their fate, unlike today's Chick-Fil-A cows who knowingly tell the consumer to just "eat more chik'n."

Relax in the Parks

June 10, 1955, Appleton Post-Crescent

Here's a nice piece on the beautification efforts the Menasha Parks Department put forth to make the city's parks beautiful showplaces.  Especially interesting is the description of how Smith Park comes together (or, at least how it did in 1955).  

Sign of the Times

November 19, 1915, Menasha Record

We discussed one kind of sign yesterday, and today, another sign (this one more directional than inspirational) is the subject of our post. And it further underscores the oft-heard animosity between the two cities. 

I recall commuting to college in Oshkosh and returning to Menasha via what was then US 41.  Every day I encountered a sign at one point that read "Menasha 9, Neenah 8" which, of course, was the mileage to the two separate communities.  Now, the friction between the Twin Cities was known far and wide.  In fact, one of my marketing professors made a joke in one of our classes one day mentioning this exact thing.  He cited seeing that exact sign and then quipped that it was a rare occasion where Menasha one-upped Neenah...in anything.  (Big laughter.)

So, despite the "slight" of coming second most of the time, it only makes sense to anyone (and to this lady who complained) that when giving directions, it is only logical to cite the first city one comes to (Menasha),in spite of the naming convention that puts it as second usually. It made sense in the late 1970s and I'm sure it made sense in 1915.