Wisconsin 101

The Early History of the Kohler Company

As was so often the case with major American businesses in the 1800s, the Kohler Company grew from modest roots. The company’s founder, John Michael Kohler, began his working life first as a delivery truck driver and then a salesman. Born in…

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November 10, 2020

Industry / Health & Medicine / Home Furnishings / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Science & Medicine / The 1904 Kohler “Armeda” Toilet

The Bathroom as a Household Space

When we think of a “bathroom,” we usually imagine a room containing three standard fixtures—a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet. Bathrooms such as these are so universal in homes today that we can hardly imagine a time when they did not…

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November 10, 2020

Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Industry / Prairie du Chien / Fur Trade / Green Bay / Crawford County / Columbia County / Brown County / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Curators' Favorites / 1787-1848 / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 5 - Center East / Region 6 - South West / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Beaver Felt Hat

The beaver felt hat was one of the main reasons for the success of the fur trade in northern states, such as Wisconsin, and in Canada. But why was this hat more popular than others? Clothing allows for people to choose their…

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October 6, 2020

Industry / Wisconsin Made / West Bend / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Everyday Life / Washington County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1945-1965 / Region 8 - South East / Penguin Server

OBJECT HISTORY: Penguin Server

A penguin-themed serving bowl dishes out stories about the aluminum industry, postwar consumer culture, and home entertainment in mid-twentieth century Wisconsin.

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September 10, 2020

Lumber Industry / Industry / Object Histories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Nature & Environment / 1900-1918

OBJECT HISTORY: Log-Marking Hammer

Between the 1840s and the 1890s, logs meant money. Wisconsin had a large supply of trees. Lumber mills made money by cutting down trees. Logging was one of the largest industries in Wisconsin. There were more than 450 lumber camps across Wisconsin. If we study this log-marking hammer and think about the people that used…

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September 10, 2020

A fiddle from a lumberjack camp. Image courtesy of Ron Dennis.

Music, Theatre & Cinema / Industry / Lumber Industry / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900

OBJECT HISTORY: Fiddle

As the lumber industry flourished in Wisconsin beginning in the 1840s, immigrants from all over Europe and Canada came to live and work in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. All winter, men called lumberjacks would cut down pine trees, preparing the timber to be used as building material, or sometimes to be turned into pulp or…

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September 10, 2020