The Marathon City Brewery sponsored local sports teams like the Wee Willy basketball team, originally known as the Catholic Youth Organization Team, which organized in 1936. Though the team temporarily disbanded during World War II, …
Arts & Entertainment
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organic Architecture
Born in 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright designed nearly 150 buildings in Wisconsin alone, as well as nearly a dozen churches across the United States. Wright’s philosophy of matching an architectural structure to its natural environment, …
Marge Engelman and Equal Opportunity at UW-Green Bay
In the 1940s, it was rare for young women like Marge Engelman to pursue higher education. Having grown up in Illinois on her parents’ farm, Engelman was pressured by her father to stay on the …
OBJECT HISTORY: The Land of the Freed-up Woman
Marge Engelman’s The Land of the Freed-Up Woman materializes the progressive thinking of the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s. Engelman’s decision to use two symbols of womanhood—birth control pills and bras—as the medium for …
OBJECT HISTORY: King Gambrinus Statues of LaCrosse
The King Gambrinus statue located in La Crosse, Wisconsin depicts the eponymous king of beer and brewing.[1] The origins of the statue, specifically its sculptor and construction date are unknown. Weighing in at approximately 2000 …
OBJECT HISTORY: World’s Largest Six-Pack
Located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the “World’s Largest Six-Pack” is a popular tourist attraction and landmark structure representative of the city’s renowned brewing history. At 54 feet tall, the six steel storage tanks, shaped and …
The Hearthstone House and Electricity to Wisconsin
Built in 1882, the Hearthstone House operated using the first system of central electricity designed by Thomas Edison and it was the first private residence in the nation powered through hydroelectricity. The house was originally …
OBJECT HISTORY: Hearthstone House Chandelier
Known as Edison Light Fixtures, the original lighting fixtures of Appleton’s Hearthstone House, were created by Bergmann and Co., in association with the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting, out of New York. They designed the …
The Fish Boil Tradition
Familiar to many Wisconsinites, the Door County fish boil is more than just a cookout, it is a social experience. It begins when guests arrive early to sit outside around a crackling fire, where they …
OBJECT HISTORY: Two-sided Spork
The Door County fish boil is a culinary event local to Northern Wisconsin and it involves a few custom tools not found anywhere else. The Master Boiler cooks a meal of fish, potatoes, and vegetables …