Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Jar of Marbles

Today, the Wisconsin State Fair is full of attractions, rides, and great food, but in its early years, it was a place for farmers to gather and share ideas about the agricultural industry. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the state…

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April 6, 2020

Agriculture / Industry / Beloit / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Rock County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / Region 7 - South Center / Clair Mathews' Feed Grinder

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.

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September 23, 2019

Agriculture / Object Histories / Beloit / Wisconsin Made / Rock County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / Region 7 - South Center / Clair Mathews' Feed Grinder

OBJECT HISTORY: Clair Mathews’s Feed Grinder

Recognizing the need to grind feed for his dairy cows, but unable to afford a mill, Clair Mathews designed his own version of a feed grinder. That grinder would inadvertently create the snack that would come to be known as Korn Kurls.

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September 23, 2019

Soo Engine 1003 / Maritime Industry / Related Stories / Lumber Industry / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Region 1 - North West / 1918-1945 / Transportation & Tourism

The Soo Line

In the second half of the nineteenth century, railroads remade the geography of the Midwest. In an era when roads were often muddy filled with holes, the railroad made it faster to travel from Superior to Milwaukee by rail than from Superior…

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April 15, 2019

Soo Engine 1003 / Object Histories / Industry / 1900-1918 / Region 1 - North West / 1918-1945 / Transportation & Tourism

OBJECT HISTORY: Soo Line Engine #1003

In the second half of the nineteenth century, railroads remade the geography of the Midwest. In an era when roads were often muddy filled with holes, the railroad made it faster to travel from Superior to Milwaukee by rail than from Superior to Ashland by wagon. In Wisconsin, the Chicago and Northwestern, The Milwaukee Road,…

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April 15, 2019

Agriculture / New Glarus / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 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…

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September 10, 2018