Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Babcock Ice Cream Carton

Ice cream has been a delicacy for hundreds of years, but in the last century, Wisconsin has come to be considered home to some of the world’s best ice cream. Babcock Hall, established in 1951, has contributed to this reputation, establishing ice cream as a symbol both of Wisconsin’s dairy farming past and its appeal…

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September 9, 2020

Agriculture / Industry / Dairy Industry / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Dane County / Madison / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Babcock Butterfat Tester

OBJECT HISTORY: Babcock Butterfat Tester

The Babcock butterfat test, developed at the University of Wisconsin, provided a simple, accurate, and inexpensive way to assess milk quality and to pay farmers accordingly. By improving standards and rewarding the best milk producers, the Babcock butterfat test transformed the dairy industry in the United States and set Wisconsin firmly on the path to…

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September 9, 2020

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Fishing Weir

A Cherokee weir similar to the one the people of Aztalan built, showing what it looked like 1000 years ago. Image courtesy of Western Carolina University's Digital Heritage Project.

Indigenous Wisconsin / Aztalan / Pre-1787 / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Jefferson County / Nature & Environment / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Fishing Weir

Fishing can take a lot of patience. A person could sit with their fishing pole for hours before they get a bite! Fishing weirs are time-saving technologies built in the water to trap fish. This fishing weir was created by the people who lived in the Early Mississippian settlement, Aztalan, sometime between the 10th and…

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September 9, 2020

Sports & Games / Wausau / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Marathon County / 1918-1945 / Region 4 - Center / 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…

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September 9, 2020

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

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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September 9, 2020

Sports & Games / Milwaukee / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Milwaukee County / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / Curators' Favorites / Global Connections / 1987-2011 / Region 8 - South East / Earlene Fuller's Bowling Shirt

OBJECT HISTORY: Earlene Fuller’s Bowling Shirt

This shirt, which features an African kente cloth print, was designed, made and worn in the mid-1990s by Milwaukee's Earlene Fuller, an African American bowler and seamstress.

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September 8, 2020