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…

0 Comments

November 10, 2020

The 1904 Kohler “Armeda” Toilet / Related Stories / Home Furnishings / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / Science & Medicine / Global Connections

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…

0 Comments

November 10, 2020

1800-1820 / Home Furnishings / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Transportation & Tourism / Global Connections

OBJECT HISTORY: Norwegian Trunk

In the 1800s, European immigrants coming to America had to find a way to preserve the objects indispensable to their lives, bringing their most precious belongings on an ocean voyage to a far-away new home. Most families were only able to bring…

0 Comments

October 6, 2020

Region 5 - Center East / Sheboygan County / Sheboygan / Synagogue Window / Home Furnishings / Art, Sport & Entertainment / 1900-1920 / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Religion / Global Connections

OBJECT HISTORY: Synagogue Window

This synagogue window is a testament to the successful efforts of hundreds of Russian Jews to recreate a familiar community in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in the early twentieth century.

0 Comments

September 10, 2020

Edgerton / Pauline Pottery Covered Jar / Dane County / Region 7 - South Center / Home Furnishings / Manufacturing & Trade / Art, Sport & Entertainment / 1880-1900 / Object Histories

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.

0 Comments

September 10, 2020

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Norwegian Genealogical Plaque

Photo by Jared Schmidt.

Home Furnishings / 1860-1880 / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories

OBJECT HISTORY: Norwegian Genealogical Plaque

Created in 1879, this beautiful plaque features the genealogy of Sara Magelssen's family, including the story of her and her husband's immigration to Wisconsin in the 1860s.

0 Comments

September 10, 2020