Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Beaver Felt Hat

The beaver felt hat was one of the main reasons for the success of the fur trade in northern states, such as Wisconsin, and in Canada. But why was this hat more popular than others? Clothing allows for people to choose their…

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April 6, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life

OBJECT HISTORY: Cradleboard

Native Americans used cradleboards in North America to protect, carry, and entertain their babies. Cradleboards allowed women to keep babies close to their side. Women carried cradleboards on their backs. They also could rest them against a tree. The cradleboard protected babies from danger and kept them happy. Native tribes made cradleboards in many ways,…

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November 1, 2018

Home Furnishings / Indigenous Wisconsin / Pre-1787 / Industry / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / 1787-1848 / Everyday Life / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Fur Trade

OBJECT HISTORY: Trade Blanket

This blanket, ordinary though it may seem, tells the story of an important meeting of cultures that occurred in Wisconsin between 1634 and 1763. Not long after the explorer Jean Nicolet first set foot in Wisconsin, French traders saw an opportunity to make money by sending beaver furs back to Europe for use in stylish…

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October 15, 2018

Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Oshkosh / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / A Hmong Baby Sash / Global Connections / Winnebago County / 1965-1987 / Region 5 - Center East

OBJECT HISTORY: Hmong Baby Carrier

This Hmong cloth baby carrier was hand-stitched in Thailand around 1987, and its history helps tell part of the story of the Hmong community in this State. A young woman named Kia Vang crafted the carrier inside a refugee camp located in Loei province to transport her unborn child to Oshkosh, Wisconsin after the Vietnam…

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October 1, 2018

La Crosse / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Global Connections / A Hmong Baby Sash / La Crosse County / Politics & Government / Region 3 - Center West / 1965-1987

OBJECT HISTORY: A Hmong Baby Sash

We are surrounded by objects that seem very ordinary, but once we look closer, they often reveal deep connections to the history of our state and our communities. In this Object History, Pao Vue writes about the thread-bare baby sash he found in his mother’s room that, it turns out, once saved his life and…

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July 15, 2018

Wausau / Broad History / Industry / Related Stories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Marathon County / Global Connections / A Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket Coat / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 4 - Center / Fur Trade

What is a Point Blanket Coat?

The practice of converting Hudson’s Bay Company blankets into coats began years before the company began mass-manufacturing point blanket coats in the twentieth century. During the fur trade, Native Americans hunters traded beaver pelts for wool point blankets. Point blankets were waterproof…

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February 1, 2018