Wisconsin 101

The Pauline Pottery

The Pauline Pottery

Chicago-born artist and entrepreneur Pauline Jacobus was the central figure of Edgerton, Wisconsin's art pottery movement. In 1888, Jacobus and her husband Oscar relocated the Pauline Pottery from Chicago to Edgerton to take advantage of the area's quality clay.

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April 20, 2020

Read more about the article Ice Boating in Madison: A Bernard Family Tradition

A gathering of gaff-rigged, stern-steering ice boats and their captains on Lake Mendota, 1896. Source: WHI 2074

Sports & Games / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Dane County / Madison / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Transportation & Tourism / Region 7 - South Center / Madison-Style Ice Boat

Ice Boating in Madison: A Bernard Family Tradition

Ice boating for sport began along New York's upper Hudson River around the Civil War and soon spread to other cold weather locations. An 1878 article in Harper's Weekly includes an engraving of ice boating in Madison. The city quickly became a center for ice boating in North America, a distinction held for over a century.

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March 27, 2020

Agriculture / Industry / Wisconsin Made / Beloit / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Rock County / 1918-1945 / Region 7 - South Center / Clair Mathews' Feed Grinder

The Flakall Corporation

In Beloit, Clair Mathews, Earl Baker, Clarence Shwebke, and Harry Adams formed the Flakall Corporation in 1933. Flakall would go on to patent several machine designs used in the production of snack foods - the most famous being the Korn Kurl.

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September 23, 2019

Agriculture / Industry / Wisconsin Made / Beloit / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Manufacturing & Trade / Rock County / 1918-1945 / Science & Medicine / 1945-1965 / 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

Science & Technology / Object Histories / Education / Williams Bay / Walworth County / 1877-1900 / Yerkes Telescope / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: Yerkes Telescope

The 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, contains the world’s largest refracting lenses. Built in 1895, the telescope contains two lenses, one made of crown glass, and one made of flint glass. The lenses are each 40 inches in diameter, weigh 500 pounds, and have a 62-foot focal length. The telescope and observatory…

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September 10, 2019

Norwegian Genealogical Plaque / La Crosse / Dane County / Madison / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Global Connections / 1848-1877 / La Crosse County / Society & Religion / Region 3 - Center West / Region 7 - South Center

The Emigranten and Other Norwegian-Language Papers

Throughout the 19th century, Wisconsin was home to dozens of foreign-language newspapers representing cultures from throughout Europe. These papers provided opportunities to create connections in America, maintain homeland networks, and keep current with news in their native language.

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August 7, 2019