Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Babcock Butterfat Tester

The Babcock butterfat test, developed at the University of Wisconsin, provided a simple, accurate, and inexpensive way to assess milk quality and to pay farmers accordingly. By improving standards and rewarding the best milk producers, the Babcock butterfat test transformed the dairy industry in the United States and set Wisconsin firmly on the path to…

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September 9, 2020

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Fishing Weir

A Cherokee weir similar to the one the people of Aztalan built, showing what it looked like 1000 years ago. Image courtesy of Western Carolina University's Digital Heritage Project.

Indigenous Wisconsin / Aztalan / Pre-1787 / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Jefferson County / Nature & Environment / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Fishing Weir

Fishing can take a lot of patience. A person could sit with their fishing pole for hours before they get a bite! Fishing weirs are time-saving technologies built in the water to trap fish. This fishing weir was created by the people who lived in the Early Mississippian settlement, Aztalan, sometime between the 10th and…

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September 9, 2020

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East / Settlement Cook Book

OBJECT HISTORY: Settlement Cook Book

The first edition of The Settlement Cook Book was published on April 1, 1901 with an original printing of 1,000 copies. Copies not distributed to the settlement’s cooking school students were sold at the Boston Store in Milwaukee for 50 cents each and sold out within the first year. Kander made notes on the recipe for Mocha…

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February 10, 2020

Agriculture / Industry / Wisconsin Made / Beloit / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Rock County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Clair Mathews' Feed Grinder

From Cow Feed to Korn Kurl

By the mid-1930s, the Flakall Corporation was trying to build up a customer base for its machine, a version of the feed grinder initially designed and built by Clair Mathews. But, as it turned out, the machine would end up being more useful for snack food manufacturers than farmers.

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September 23, 2019

Norwegians / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / Global Connections / 1877-1900

OBJECT HISTORY: Lefse Stone

Can you think of a time when someone wanted you to eat something new? Did you eat it? For many people, if they saw lefse on a plate, they would not know what it was. Lefse looks like a tortilla, but it…

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March 9, 2019

Industry / Dairy Industry / Health & Medicine / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Science & Medicine / Horlick's Malted Milk

Malted Milk and Infant Nutrition

Although known today mostly as a flavoring for milk shakes and chocolate-covered malt balls, malted milk made its first appearance in the 1880s as a substitute for human breast milk. At that time, breastfeeding babies began to lose its appeal among both…

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August 3, 2018