Wisconsin 101

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…

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October 1, 2018

Industry / Dairy Industry / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Science & Medicine / Horlick's Malted Milk

Malted Milk and Infant Nutrition

Although known today mostly as a flavoring for milk shakes and chocolate-covered malt balls, malted milk made its first appearance in the 1880s as a substitute for human breast milk. At that time, breastfeeding babies began to lose its appeal among both…

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August 3, 2018

Read more about the article Horlick’s Malted Milk Company

Official letterhead of what was then known as the Horlick’s Food Company, 1895.

Industry / Wisconsin Made / Dairy Industry / Racine / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Racine County / 1848-1877 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Science & Medicine / Region 8 - South East / Horlick's Malted Milk

Horlick’s Malted Milk Company

Founded in 1873, under the name “J & W Horlick Company,” the Horlick’s Malted Milk Company was the creation of brothers William and James Horlick. The company specialized in producing malted milk as a nutritional supplement in a variety of forms: from…

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October 1, 2016

Read more about the article How Does a Babcock Tester Work?

Grade-school children using a Babcock butter fat testing device, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, c. 1915. Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives.

Agriculture / Industry / Dairy Industry / Education / Dane County / Madison / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Babcock Butterfat Tester

How Does a Babcock Tester Work?

Simplicity, Simplicity, SimplicityIn 1890, few farmers had ever taken a science class, and even if they understood the potential benefit, most lacked the cash to pay an expert for laboratory testing. Babcock’s great accomplishment was to develop a powerful, reliable test that was simple…

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December 1, 2013

Read more about the article The Babcock Tester and the Wisconsin Idea

Handlers exhibit the University dairy herd for students at the Farmers Course, UW Stock Pavilion, 1900-1920. Part of the Frank N. Campbell Slide Collection. Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives.

Agriculture / Industry / Dairy Industry / Education / Food & Cooking / Dane County / Madison / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Babcock Butterfat Tester

The Babcock Tester and the Wisconsin Idea

Free As Well WaterIn 1894 Adolph Schoenman of Plain, Wisconsin, published a booklet extolling the virtues of the Babcock butterfat test. In a parable explaining its benefits, an astonished Farmer Jones exclaims, “Isn’t that a dandy little machine, though? I suppose, of…

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December 1, 2013

Read more about the article The Men Behind the Butterfat Test

The men behind the butterfat test. Left: Portrait of Stephen Moulton Babcock, 1890-1899. Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives. Right: Portrait of F.G. Short, 1890-1899. Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Archives.

Agriculture / Industry / Dairy Industry / Education / Dane County / Madison / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Babcock Butterfat Tester

The Men Behind the Butterfat Test

The “Real” InventorAlthough Stephen M. Babcock has been immortalized for his work on the butterfat test that received his name, it was not really his idea. The Babcock test was originally conceived by the forgotten man of the dairy industry, Frederick Garland Short. Short,…

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December 1, 2013