Wisconsin 101

Read more about the article Manhole Cover Designs and Contemporary Aesthetics

City of Madison Manhole Cover. Photo courtesy of Keith Kaziak, 2020.

Manhole Cover Designs and Contemporary Aesthetics

Over the past 45 years, there has been a growing worldwide fascination and appreciation for the beauty and craftsmanship of manhole covers. Some enthusiasts even created a subreddit aptly titled, Manhole Porn: Sewer covers in all their glory!, celebrating this ubiquitous iron…

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September 29, 2021

Read more about the article From the Fox River Valley to the Windy City: The Roaring Twenties and the Neenah Foundry

Neenah Foundry Standard Design. Courtesy of Keith Kaziak, 2020.

Winnebago County / Region 4 - Center / Neenah Foundry Manhole Cover / Neenah / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1920-1940 / Transportation & Tourism

From the Fox River Valley to the Windy City: The Roaring Twenties and the Neenah Foundry

The 1920s began with significant economic prosperity and an emphasis on social and culturally rich energy with an influx of jazz, Art-Deco, telephones, film, and radio in cities like Chicago, IL. With the City of Chicago flourishing, The Neenah Foundry of the…

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September 29, 2021

Read more about the article An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

Raw coke for iron ore smelting. Made by heating coal in the absence of air. Photo courtesy of Stahlkocher.

Winnebago County / Region 4 - Center / Neenah Foundry Manhole Cover / Neenah / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / Science & Medicine

An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

In 1872, William Aylward Sr. combined air, coal, and iron ore to produce his first plowshares and other agricultural implements.[1] The founder of what would become the Neenah Foundry followed a process developed by an English man named Abraham Darby more than…

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September 29, 2021

Read more about the article Christopher Latham Sholes

Portrait of Christopher Latham Sholes posing at a typewriter, n.d., Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID 3218.

Milwaukee County / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter / Region 8 - South East / Related Stories / Milwaukee / 1800-1820 / 1820-1840 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Education / Global Connections

Christopher Latham Sholes

Christopher Latham Sholes worked with his brothers at a Green Bay newspaper after having completed a printing internship in 1837, and in 1840 he moved to Kenosha to serve as the owner and publisher of the Southport Telegraph for a number of…

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September 22, 2021

Marathon County / Region 2 - North East / Marathon Brewing Company "Superfine" Beer Bottle / Marathon / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Food & Cooking / Art, Sport & Entertainment / 1920-1940

Marathon City Brewing and the Wee Willy Basketball Team

The Marathon City Brewery sponsored local sports teams like the Wee Willy basketball team, originally known as the Catholic Youth Organization Team, which organized in 1936. Though the team temporarily disbanded during World War II, in the mid-1940s, young men from the…

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September 14, 2021

The Marathon Brewery’s Chain of Calamities

In the early 1880s, Franz Sindermann, who was trained as a brewer in Germany, formed a brewery in Marathon, Wisconsin with his brother, August, along with a third partner, Charles Klein. The brewery got off to a good start, producing 300 barrels…

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September 14, 2021