October 2004 Odd Wisconsin
Dateline: Oct. 31, any year. Halloween seems so cheerful and pleasant these days, but there was a time when Wisconsin children really were afraid of haunted houses. See for yourself in our collection of Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles....
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Posted in Curiosities on October 29, 2004
Dateline: Wilmington, Del., Oct. 27, 1938. On this date, the Du Pont corporation announced the invention of nylon, a textile fabric that so widely used for women's stockings that it became synonymous with them. What did people wear on their feet and legs before synthetics? These images from our Museum's online Children's Clothing Collection show some of the choices. Browse...
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Posted in Children on October 26, 2004
Dateline: American's living rooms, Nov. 2, 1948. We've become so used to sophisticated media campaigns that it's easy to forget how primitive the coverage of elections used to be. This photo shows the studio in Chicago where the first broadcast of presidential election returns originated. Note the high-tech data management system at upper left....
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Posted in Curiosities on October 21, 2004
Dateline: town of Burke, Nov. 6, 1931. Albert Larson, a resident of rural Burke, drove this behemoth into Madison as the Great Depression made increasing numbers of city dwellers poor. Even the Tin Lizzie's at far left must have been more efficient than this method of vegetable transport (with which we inaugurated Odd Wisconsin some months ago)....
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Posted in Curiosities on October 18, 2004
Dateline: America's living rooms, Sept. 26, 1960. This famous television program is thought by many people to mark the beginning of the end of serious political debate in the U.S. In front of the TV cameras, Kennedy's charming manners and good looks thoroughly out-classed Nixon's two-dimensional, somber exterior. The former vice-president went home to California, surrounded himself with public relations...
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Posted in Curiosities on October 12, 2004
Dateline: the Caribbean, October 1492. Columbus has been much romanticized over the years, as in this 1893 catalog art and in annual parades on innumerable main streets like this one. Communities all around the nation even named themselves after him to celebrate his role as a great leader and explorer. But, as this weekend’s demonstrations remind us, Columbus was also...
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Posted in Odd Lives on October 11, 2004
Dateline: Freeport, Ill., Aug. 26, 1858. Wisconsin editor Martin Rindlaub was on hand that day to hear the two famous candidates go at it. In this interview he compares the polished eloquence of Stephen Douglass with Honest Abe's humble but sincere approach. The Society owns several copies of the transcripts of these famous debates, including one inscribed by Lincoln to...
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Posted in Odd Lives on October 8, 2004
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