Wisconsin 101

From Cow Feed to Korn Kurl

By the mid-1930s, the Flakall Corporation was trying to build up a customer base for its machine, a version of the feed grinder initially designed and built by Clair Mathews. But, as it turned out, the machine would end up being more useful for snack food manufacturers than farmers.

1 Comment

September 23, 2019

Agriculture / Wisconsin Made / Object Histories / Whitewater / Jefferson County / 1848-1877 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 7 - South Center / Esterly Broadcast Seeder

OBJECT HISTORY: Esterly Broadcast Seeder

George Esterly, a southern Wisconsin farmer and inventor, helped revolutionize farming practices across the nation with the creation of the Broadcast Seeder.

0 Comments

May 9, 2019

Agriculture / New Glarus / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Green County / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Region 7 - South Center / The Hefty-Blum White Barn

The Evolution of a Swiss Barn

The expansion of Wisconsin’s dairy industry in the 20th century not only altered the economy of the state, but it also influenced the structure of the very barns that housed the bovine champions of the industry. Barns must be adapted and altered…

0 Comments

May 2, 2019

Agriculture / Industry / Dairy Industry / New Glarus / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Green County / Global Connections / 1848-1877 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Region 7 - South Center / The Hefty-Blum White Barn

The Swiss Roots of America’s “Dairyland”

When the wheat crop failures of the late nineteenth century jeopardized the incomes of many of Wisconsin’s immigrant farmers, the region’s Swiss population transitioned to a trade that they knew from the Old World: dairying and cheesemaking. To do this, Swiss farmers…

0 Comments

October 1, 2018

Agriculture / New Glarus / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Green County / Global Connections / 1877-1900 / Region 7 - South Center / The Hefty-Blum White Barn

OBJECT HISTORY: The Hefty-Blum White Barn

Barns are a defining feature of the Wisconsin landscape, and hold a special place in the history of Wisconsin. Among the many barns that contributed to Wisconsin’s place as a major dairy producing state is a Swiss barn that was built in 1878 in Green County. This barn, the Hefty-Blum White Barn, was used to…

0 Comments

September 10, 2017

Agriculture / Industry / Oconto / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Migrant Worker's Cabin / Oconto County / Region 2 - North East / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / 1965-1987

Migrant Workers and the Bond Pickle Company

The Bond Pickle Company of Oconto, Wisconsin was founded in 1915 by five brothers. The Bond brothers quickly developed the firm, by 1917 acquiring 10 “salting stations” where the cucumbers were received from local farmers and a processing factory on West Main Street in…

0 Comments

September 1, 2017