Wisconsin 101

The Wausau Winter Frolic: Wausau’s History as a Sports Capital

In 1929 a teacher in Waupaca asked her pupils what Wisconsinites did for winter sports. According to one newspaper, the children “with one accord all exclaimed: ‘They go to Wausau!’” In the 1920s, when Wisconsinites thought of winter sports, they thought of…

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June 15, 2018

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Langlade County / Wolf River / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Transportation & Tourism / 1960-1980 / Mepps Fishing Lure

Squirrel Tails Wanted? The Improved Mepps Lure

Driving through Antigo, visitors are often puzzled by a sign proclaiming “Squirrel Tails Wanted” advertised by Sheldons’ Inc., manufacturer of Mepps lures. Squirrel tail hair has unique properties ideal for lures. [1] Its addition to the Anglia has proven to be the…

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May 24, 2018

Pre-1600 / 1600-1800 / Related Stories / Langlade County / 1800-1820 / Wolf River / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1880-1900 / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / 1900-1920 / Politics, Society & Government / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / Transportation & Tourism / 1980-2000 / 2000-2020 / 2020-2040 / Mepps Fishing Lure

The Wolf River

Todd Sheldon first discovered the virtues of the Mepps Aglia spinner and later realized improvements afforded by a tuft of squirrel tail while fishing at one of his favorite spots: the Wolf River. Today the Wolf continues to be a destination for sports…

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May 24, 2018

Langlade County / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 2 - North East / 1920-1940 / Transportation & Tourism / Mepps Fishing Lure

Building a Tourism Industry in Northern Wisconsin

Equipment manufacturers played a major role in developing fishing as a part of the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin. Each year nearly two million people fish in Wisconsin’s waterways. They catch about 72 million fish of various species. Fishing lures expanded in…

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May 24, 2018

Great Lakes Shipping and the SS Meteor

The SS Meteor sailed the lakes longer than most ships of her day, and in her many reincarnations she offers a portrait of how some of the industries on the Great Lakes changed– and what those changes meant for Wisconsin. Launched in 1896, the then-named Frank…

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May 21, 2018

The American Steel Barge Company

Duluth, MN and Superior, WI face each other across the Saint Louis Bay. In the mid-nineteenth century, as grain harvests of the northern plains expanded, logging grew, and as iron and copper mining developed in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, shipping…

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May 21, 2018