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.

Pre-1600 / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Manufacturing & Trade / 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

Food & Cooking / Education / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Whitewater / 1820-1840 / Jefferson County / 1840-1860 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000 / 2000-2020 / Region 7 - South Center / 2020-2040 / Esterly Broadcast Seeder

Industry and Manufacturing in the Whitewater Area

Since the earliest settlers arrived in the Whitewater area in the 1830s, industry and manufacturing have played important roles in the establishment and continued growth of the area.One of the earliest industries in Whitewater was grain milling, performed at the Old Stone…

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June 29, 2020

Milwaukee / Food & Cooking / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1900-1920 / 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

Beloit / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Rock County / Nature & Environment / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 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

Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing & Fashion / Related Stories / Global Connections / Religion

Norwegian Women Immigrants

Norwegian women played a vital role in the agricultural and social lives of rural communities. Spurred by a cultural acceptance of work, women on the farm took on both domestic chores and contributed to the family’s economy through production of food and material goods.

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August 7, 2019