Wisconsin 101

Migrant Worker's Cabin

OBJECT HISTORY: Migrant Worker’s Cabin

This cabin, once occupied by a family of migrant workers employed by the Bond Pickle Company, is located at the property of Thomas and Jamie Sobush of Pensaukee, Wisconsin. The cabin was originally one of many other small cabins, clustered together at the Bond Village Migrant Camp on Van Hecke Avenue in Oconto, Wisconsin. The…

0 Comments

September 10, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Antigo / Object Histories / Langlade County / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / 1920-1940 / Mepps Fishing Lure

OBJECT HISTORY: Mepps Fishing Lure

The classic Mepps fishing lure the Aglia, was invented in France in the 1930s and patented in 1938. (Mepps is a French acronym for Manufacturier d’ Engins de Precision pour Peches Sportives, translated as “Manufacture of Precision Equipment for Sport Fishing”.) It was introduced to northern Wisconsin, and to the U.S., by a G.I. returning from France.…

1 Comment

September 10, 2020

Home Furnishings / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Langlade County / Politics, Society & Government / Region 2 - North East / CCC Pillow Sham / 1920-1940

OBJECT HISTORY: CCC Pillow Sham

Created in 1933, this commemorative pillow sham was just one of a number of textiles created by second-generation Hungarian immigrant Rose Mary Drab to honor her brother Edward’s service in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Rose Mary appliquéd the black cotton sateen sham with a small cotton tent, a blue eagle and two small stars, and hills, pine…

0 Comments

September 9, 2020

Wausau / Object Histories / Clothing & Fashion / Marathon County / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 2 - North East / 1920-1940 / A Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket Coat

OBJECT HISTORY: A Hudson’s Bay Company Point Blanket Coat

This wool coat was constructed from a ‘point blanket’ made by the Hudson’s Bay Company, likely during the early 1920s. A Wausau businessman wore it at one of the town’s early Winter Frolics, an annual winter sports festival that attracted tourists from as far as Chicago. The businessman belonged to a group of local business…

0 Comments

September 9, 2020

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Vulcan Bowling Pin

Vulcan Bowling Pin. Photo credited to Joe Hermolin.

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Antigo / Object Histories / Langlade County / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 2 - North East / 1940-1960 / Vulcan Bowling Pin

OBJECT HISTORY: Vulcan Bowling Pin

This bowling pin was produced by the Vulcan Corporation in Antigo, Wisconsin, sometime in the late 1950s after Vulcan had introduced its patented “Nyl-Tuf Supreme” plastic coating (as indicated by the pin’s red label).

0 Comments

September 8, 2020

Read more about the article Missionaries and Land Rights: The Story of Erik Morstad and the Potawatomi

Map of Indian Settlements - including Potawatomi of Forest County, c. 1962. Image ID: 91434 Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Forest County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1880-1900 / Nature & Environment / Politics, Society & Government / 1900-1920 / Region 2 - North East / Religion / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

Missionaries and Land Rights: The Story of Erik Morstad and the Potawatomi

Some histories are not as straightforward as others, especially when cultures collide. It may come as no surprise that stories about the interactions between Native Americans and white settlers are sometimes one-sided. We can partly attribute this to the European tradition of…

0 Comments

September 8, 2020