Between 1870 and 1900 the United States became the world's foremost industrial nation, emerging as the leader in meatpacking, timber and steel production as well as in mining. The nation experienced a stunning growth in the scale and pace of industrial production, which transformed business, the environment, the workplace, the home, and everyday life. In Wisconsin, early manufacturing was primarily extractive - - removing raw materials such as fur, lumber, and lead from the landscape and processing them for market. In contrast, by 1860 Milwaukee had become a center of modern manufacturing - - creating finished consumer goods from those... more...
| The Sheboygan Press covers the strike in Kohler, 1934 |
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| How aluminum becomes Mirro cookware |
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| A tariff advocate seeks worker support, 1880 |
| Parker Pen trim lathe |
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| A gas powered tractor for small-scale farmers |
| The history and making of Holeproof Hosiery |
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| Three new flour mills open in Superior in 1893 |
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| A trip through an instrument factory in Elkhorn, 1920 |
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| A colorful and opinionated guide to Milwaukee businesses, 1877 |
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| The many products of the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, 1948 |
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| Susan Frackelton's manual on ceramic arts, 1886 |
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| Annual summaries of Milwaukee industry, 1919-1929 |
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| A history of aluminum manufacturing in Manitowoc |
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| An 1888 milling catalogue from the Allis Company |
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| A bathing suit catalog from Gimbel Brothers of Milwaukee |
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| A guide to Milwaukee's commercial industries, 1882 |
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| A catalogue of industries from Milwaukee's Industrial Exposition in 1881 |
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| A Labor Day souvenir from the 1900 celebration |
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| A look at Wisconsin industry on the eve of the Depression |
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| The Kohler Company celebrates industrial progress, 1934 |
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| Kohler: A place to work and live (1920) |
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| Kohler workers strike for Union recognition |
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| The National Labor Relations Board tries to settle the Kohler strike, 1934 |
| Advertisements for farm equipment |
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| Photographs of automobile manufacturing in Wisconsin, 1905-1968. |
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| Photographs of Wisconsin workers and factories, 1900-1909 |
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| Images of the Winther Motor Truck Company |
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| Toy carriages and wagons from a Sheboygan factory, 1873-1875 |
| Papers of ceramic artist Susan Frackelton, 1882-1953. |
| The Kohler Company Complex in Sheboygan |
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| The Harley-Davidson Motor Company |
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| The Kissel Motor Car Industrial District |
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| The tendency of youth to leave farm life, 1898 |
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| State regulations for women workers, 1920 |
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| A study of women laundry workers in Milwaukee, 1913 |
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| Wisconsin Blue Books |
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| A history of the rubber industry in La Crosse, 1925 |
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| The economic and agricultural riches of La Crosse, 1904 |
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| "Billie" the button describes how pearl buttons are made in La Crosse |
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| Photographs of Wisconsin's heavy industrial manufacturing |
