Wisconsin 101

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

Dairy Industry / Industry / Madison / Dane County / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Wisconsin Made / Everyday Life / Manufacturing & Trade / Babcock Butterfat Tester / 1945-1965 / Transportation & Tourism / Region 7 - South Center

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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October 15, 2018

Indigenous Wisconsin / Aztalan / Object Histories / Pre-1787 / Food & Cooking / 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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October 15, 2018

Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Industry / Everyday Life / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / Science & Medicine

OBJECT HISTORY: Vacuum

People in the early 20th century witnessed the invention of all kinds of household tools we take for granted today, such as the vacuum cleaner, laundry machine, and refrigerator. This is a manual vacuum cleaner from 1911 at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. This small upright vacuum was designed to be operated by hand and easy…

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October 15, 2018

Indigenous Wisconsin / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Industry / Pre-1787 / 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 / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / 1787-1848 / Everyday Life / Global Connections / Region 6 - South West

OBJECT HISTORY: Pasty

The lead mining industry of the 1830s and 1840s brought miners from Cornwall, England to southwestern Wisconsin. The miners brought Cornish traditions like the pasty, a filling food for hungry miners. The availability of pasties today demonstrates the lasting traditions of early European immigrants in Wisconsin. Pasties are folded pastries filled with meat and vegetables.…

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October 15, 2018