Wisconsin 101

Read more about the article Earlene Fuller and the African American Bowling Scene in Milwaukee

Theodore Henderson, Earlene Fuller, Louise Westbrooks, and Taylor Richards wear African-inspired bowling shirts designed and made by Earlene Fuller, Milwaukee, April 1995. Source: Image courtesy of Pauline McCollum

Earlene Fuller and the African American Bowling Scene in Milwaukee

Earlene Fuller designed and made bowling outfits for numerous black and white teams in Milwaukee and elsewhere from 1970 through the mid-1990s. She was a member in two African American bowling organizations — the National Bowling Association and the Milwaukee Bowlers Guild, Inc. — and in the 1990s began incorporating kente cloth and other African-inspired fabric patterns into the shirts she made for her own teams.

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May 27, 2020

Science & Technology / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / X-Ray Shoe Fitting Machine

The Rise and Fall of Shoe Fitting Fluoroscopes

Shoe-fitting fluoroscopes were invented almost simultaneously in the United States and England. Milwaukee quickly became a center of the new technology.

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May 11, 2020

Science & Technology / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Sturgeon Bay / Door County / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East / X-Ray Shoe Fitting Machine

OBJECT HISTORY: X-Ray Shoe Fitting Machine

Intended to help customers get the perfect pair of shoes, X-Ray shoe fitting machines like this one from Sturgeon Bay were popular in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

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September 10, 2019

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

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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January 9, 2019

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Trade Blanket

A trade blanket, with the "points" visible on the right side of the picture. Image courtesy of Ron Dennis.

Industry / Fur Trade / Indigenous Wisconsin / Pre-1787 / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / 1787-1848 / Everyday Life / Global Connections / Manufacturing & 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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September 10, 2018

Read more about the article Emelie Manthei’s Point Blanket Coat

A Point Blanket Coat

Wausau / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Marathon County / 1918-1945 / Region 4 - Center / A Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket Coat

Emelie Manthei’s Point Blanket Coat

When the Great Depression hit Wausau in the 1930s, Emelie Manthei (now Emelie Borth) was a high school student from a working-class family. Her father lost his job before finding employment with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), where he helped construct the…

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June 19, 2018