A penguin-themed serving bowl dishes out stories about the aluminum industry, postwar consumer culture, and home entertainment in mid-twentieth century Wisconsin.
commodities
OBJECT HISTORY: Pauline Pottery Covered Jar
Between 1888 and 1909 the city of Edgerton, Wisconsin was home to six different companies producing nationally recognized ceramic art. The art potteries of Edgerton were part of a late nineteenth and early twentieth century trend known as the American Art Pottery movement. This covered jar, made at Pauline Pottery, represents one example of this broad movement in American ceramics.
OBJECT HISTORY: Nash Car
By the beginning of the twentieth century, horses and wagons were quickly giving way to new horseless carriages, or automobiles—and the landscape of Wisconsin’s towns and roadways began to change as well. Wagon shops, once part of one of the largest industries in Wisconsin, began making automobile parts instead. By 1925, motor vehicle manufacture had…
OBJECT HISTORY: Mepps Fishing Lure
The classic Mepps fishing lure the Aglia, was invented in France in the 1930s and patented in 1938. (Mepps is a French acronym for Manufacturier d’ Engins de Precision pour Peches Sportives, translated as “Manufacture of Precision Equipment for Sport Fishing”.) It was introduced to northern Wisconsin, and to the U.S., by a G.I. returning from France.…
OBJECT HISTORY: Horlick’s Malted Milk
Invented in 1873 by British food manufacturer William Horlick, malted milk is made from wheat and malted barley extract mixed with reduced, dry whole milk.
OBJECT HISTORY: Cassel Soda Bottle
This soda bottle was sold by the Cassel Soda Company in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, in the early 1900s. Conrad Cassel owned and managed the company from 1897-1917. The company, along with other Wisconsin soda companies during that time, made carbonated water, a beverage that would gain special significance during Prohibition. The Cassel Soda Company sold its soda to Whitefish…
OBJECT HISTORY: A Hudson’s Bay Company Point Blanket Coat
This wool coat was constructed from a ‘point blanket’ made by the Hudson’s Bay Company, likely during the early 1920s. A Wausau businessman wore it at one of the town’s early Winter Frolics, an annual winter sports festival that attracted tourists from as far as Chicago. The businessman belonged to a group of local business…
OBJECT HISTORY: Vulcan Bowling Pin
This bowling pin was produced by the Vulcan Corporation in Antigo, Wisconsin, sometime in the late 1950s after Vulcan had introduced its patented “Nyl-Tuf Supreme” plastic coating (as indicated by the pin’s red label).
OBJECT HISTORY: Jolly Good Soda
What would a Southeastern Wisconsinite grab on a hot summer day in the 1970s and 80s? Jolly Good soda of course! Though you can’t find it on store shelves today, Jolly Good soda was once one of the most popular beverages in the region. This cola flavored can of Jolly Good soda features patriotic colors…
OBJECT HISTORY: Fromm Fox Fur Coat
This coat was made from the fur of foxes raised on the Fromm Fur Farm in Hamburg, Wisconsin. The jacket is covered in light-silver fox fur and lined with a taupe fabric. Straps allow the coat to also be worn as a cape. In the early decades of the 20th century, it was fashionable to use…