Wisconsin 101

From the Fox River Valley to the Windy City: The Roaring Twenties and the Neenah Foundry

The 1920s began with significant economic prosperity and an emphasis on social and culturally rich energy with an influx of jazz, Art-Deco, telephones, film, and radio in cities like Chicago, IL. With the City of Chicago flourishing, The Neenah Foundry of the…

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September 29, 2021

Industry / Neenah / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Winnebago County / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East / Neenah Foundry Manhole Cover

An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

In 1872, William Aylward Sr. combined air, coal, and iron ore to produce his first plowshares and other agricultural implements.[1] The founder of what would become the Neenah Foundry followed a process developed by an English man named Abraham Darby more than…

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September 29, 2021

Science & Technology / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Education / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 7 - South Center / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

Origins of the QWERTY Keyboard

Was QWERTY designed to slow down the typist, or was it a deliberate design for telegraphers?Christopher Latham Sholes's early typewriter models contained a keyboard that resembled a piano with an alphabetic arrangement of keys, with two rows which contained the letters of…

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September 22, 2021

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Education / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / Politics & Government / Region 8 - South East / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

Christopher Latham Sholes

Christopher Latham Sholes worked with his brothers at a Green Bay newspaper after having completed a printing internship in 1837, and in 1840 he moved to Kenosha to serve as the owner and publisher of the Southport Telegraph for a number of…

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September 22, 2021

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Industry / Marathon / Sports & Games / Related Stories / Marathon County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / Region 4 - Center / Marathon Brewing Company "Superfine" Beer Bottle

Marathon City Brewing and the Wee Willy Basketball Team

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, in the mid-1940s, young men from the…

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September 14, 2021

Marathon / Industry / Related Stories / 1877-1900 / Marathon County / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Region 4 - Center / Marathon Brewing Company "Superfine" Beer Bottle

The Marathon Brewery’s Chain of Calamities

In the early 1880s, Franz Sindermann, who was trained as a brewer in Germany, formed a brewery in Marathon, Wisconsin with his brother, August, along with a third partner, Charles Klein. The brewery got off to a good start, producing 300 barrels…

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September 14, 2021