1960-1980

John Gund Brewing Company postcard, c. 1911, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Image 35952.

La Crosse County / Region 3 - Center West / La Crosse / King Gambrinus Statues of LaCrosse / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / Ethnicity & Identity / 1980-2000 / Global Connections

The Heileman Family: A German Immigration Story

The G. Heileman Brewing Company is often remembered by historians as the vision of the two ambitious men who founded the brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. At the height of its popularity in 1983, Heileman’s was the fourth largest brewery in the…

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August 17, 2021

Photo depicting original Old Style behind updated LaCrosse Brewing label, August 7, 2021, Courtesy of Cortney Anderson Kramer.

La Crosse County / Region 3 - Center West / La Crosse / King Gambrinus Statues of LaCrosse / Food & Cooking / Manufacturing & Trade / Object Histories / 1960-1980

OBJECT HISTORY: World’s Largest Six-Pack

Located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the “World’s Largest Six-Pack” is a popular tourist attraction and landmark structure representative of the city’s renowned brewing history. At 54 feet tall, the six steel storage tanks, shaped and arranged to resemble a six-pack of beer,…

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August 17, 2021

Courtesy of the White Gull Inn

Fish Creek / Door County / Two-sided Spork / Region 5 - Center East / Food & Cooking / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / 1960-1980

OBJECT HISTORY: Two-sided Spork

The Door County fish boil is a culinary tradition local to the peninsula that spawned the invention of the two-sided spork. This unique cooking utensil made its first appearance at the White Gull Inn in the 1960s. The White Gull Inn’s history…

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May 3, 2021

Migrant Worker's Cabin

Migrant Worker's Cabin / 2000-2020 / Region 2 - North East / Oconto / Oconto County / Home Furnishings / Manufacturing & Trade / Object Histories / 1920-1940 / Nature & Environment / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000

OBJECT HISTORY: Migrant Worker’s Cabin

This cabin, once occupied by a family of migrant workers employed by the Bond Pickle Company, is located at the property of Thomas and Jamie Sobush of Pensaukee, Wisconsin. The cabin was originally one of many other small cabins, clustered together at the Bond Village Migrant Camp on Van Hecke Avenue in Oconto, Wisconsin. The…

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September 10, 2020

Region 7 - South Center / 20-sided die / Lake Geneva / Walworth County / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / 1960-1980

OBJECT HISTORY: A Twenty-sided Die

Dice are used in games around the world to generate a random number. Traditionally the die is cubical; however there are multiple forms of non-cubicle die, such as, the 20-sided die. Ancient die were typically made from bones, wood, or rock. Today, die of all shapes are usually made from resin. The 20-sided die can…

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September 9, 2020

La Crosse County / Region 3 - Center West / La Crosse / A Hmong Baby Sash / Politics, Society & Government / Clothing & Fashion / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1960-1980 / Global Connections

OBJECT HISTORY: A Hmong Baby Sash

We are surrounded by objects that seem very ordinary, but once we look closer, they often reveal deep connections to the history of our state and our communities. In this Object History, Pao Vue writes about the thread-bare baby sash he found in his mother’s room that, it turns out, once saved his life and…

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September 9, 2020