alisonnportfolio

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 29 November 2018.

#Feathursday: “Name That Bird” Answer

Today’s birds are a Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) a heron that lives in the wetlands and coasts of North America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean.

The smaller birds behind the Snowy Egret form a ‘deceit’ of Lapwings including Southern Lapwings (Vanellus chilensis) and a Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus). The approximately 24 species of Lapwings can be found on most continents, not in Antarctica. They look awfully adorable, we can’t figure out why their collective noun is ‘deceit.’

Hopefully, you were able to guess at least one of these waders.

Come back next week for another “Name That Bird” Challenge.

See our other #feathursday posts and Name That Bird posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 29 November 2018.

#Feathursday: “Name That Bird” Challenge

We’ve got some more waders for you this week.

How many of these birds can you identify?

Have fun naming these birds.

We will post the answer at 4:00pm CST

The images we will be using for “Name That Bird” are from the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County Records, 1910-2000. (PH Milw Mss, box 1, folder 4) Most of the photos were taken by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photographers for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, and most of them are un-dated.

See our other Feathursday posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 28 November 2018.

MUMMENSCHANZ

The world-famous Swiss mime troupe Mummenschanz made their Milwaukee debut on Friday, March 16, 1990. This “Best of”  production featured their best-loved performances since their beginning in 1972. This appearance was part of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Artist Series. The Mummenschanz returned to Milwaukee to perform at the Pabst Theatre again in 1997 for their 25th anniversary.

In 1969 Bernie Schurch and Andres Bossard began performing in small student theatres. Their combination of mime and spoken “clownesque” skits went over well until traveling to other countries created a language barrier to their spoken word sketches. In 1972 they were joined by the American born Floriana Frassetto, dropped the spoken word items from the production and the trio became the Mummenschanz.

In 1976 they appeared on the first season of the Muppet Show. In 1980, the trio began training three young mimes to continue traveling with the show while Schurch, Brossard, and Frassetto stayed in Zurich to develop new material. It has now been 45 years and the Mummenschanz continue to tour, their latest production is titled “you & me.” Current information about the troupe can be found at https://www.mummenschanz.com

The name Mummenschanz has traveled around the world. By their art that upsets the most obvious contradictions between simple and complex, large and small, the individual and the world, the Mummenschanz have forged an extraordinary “Swiss export product” that will long continue to enchant audiences the world over.

-David Streiff, Director of the Federal Office of Culture, Bern

The above images are a poster, playbills, and an article from the UWM Post. There is also an image of the autographed title page from the book Mummenschanz 1972-1997, published in Altstätten by Tobler in 1997. All items can be found in the Pabst Theater collection, 1865-2007 (UWM Mss 260).

-Alison Newman

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 26 November 2018.

Monday Motivation Owls

These tiny motivated owls inhabit the initial ‘S’ that begins the history of the 1898 Senior class of Milwaukee-Downer College. This is from the 1898 Cumtux, the Milwaukee Downer College annual.

In 1895 two female higher education institutions merged to become Milwaukee-Downer College. In 1899 the women who attended the college were able to occupy the new Merrill & Holton Halls. These grand red brick buildings still hold their place on campus at the corner of E. Hartford and N. Downer. The buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Milwaukee-Downer “Quad.”

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 14 November 2018.

#Stationery Saturday: Thanksgiving Leftovers

If you are still enjoying the bounty of Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, please pass the corn.

These two sheets of stationery are from the Dexter-Roundy family papers, 1772-1951 (Milw Mss 108, box 1, folder 4). The senders are congratulating Mr. Charles Joshua Dexter on his 50th anniversary with the independent Milwaukee grocery wholesale firm Roundy, Peckham, & Dexter.

The first images are from the Haserot Company, founded in 1889. The firm was purchased by Northern Frozen Foods in 1976. The merged company, which is still operating is Northern Haserot a leading independent foodservice distributor in the Midwest & Mid Atlantic

The next images are from the stationery of the Bloomington Canning Company which was one of the largest in the country and specialized in tomatoes. As they grew, establishing factories in other cities in Illinois, they also expanded their vegetable selection. Featured on their stationery from 1930 is Fancy Country Gentleman corn. If you are interested in heirloom varieties of vegetables, you can purchase this corn from several seed catalogs and grow your own Fancy Country Gentleman.

See our other Stationery Saturday posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 23 November 2018.

Holiday Gift Guide

From the Herzfeld collection, we offer some gift suggestions.

What sophisticated pipe smoking lad wouldn’t like a sock? If he’s a really special friend you might even get him a pair.

A stadium blanket is a great all-around gift but even more so on those frozen nights in Wisconsin either at Camp Randall Stadium cheering for the Wisconsin Badgers or at Lambeau Field rooting for the Green Bay Packers

And for those December UWM graduates why not a panther lamp. A great way to show some school pride!

We hope this helps you check some names off of your shopping list. We may have some more ideas for you in the coming weeks. Be sure to check our Fall Fashion feature from this collection.

Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Papers (Box 1) Carl Herzfeld, purchased and managed the Milwaukee based department store Boston Store from 1906 to 1948. These original ink drawings on cardstock were made for advertising.

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 22 November 2018.

#Feathursday: Turkey day

The “Name That Bird” challenge is taking the holiday off. Instead, we have this farm to table sketch of a turkey from the 1899 Cumtux, the Milwaukee Downer College annual, which is available to researchers in our Reading Room Library.

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 20 November 2018.

Time Travel Tuesday: Recipe book

Here are some recipes from Roundy, Peckham & Dexter Co. using Roundy’s canned and preserved products to put the finishing touches on your Thanksgiving meal preparations.

The small recipe booklet is un-dated, but we suspect it is from the 1930s. It was printed by Aetna Press, Inc, Milwaukee and priced $1.00. (Milw Mss 108, box 1, folder 13)

Claire Eunice Haight wrote the introduction to the booklet and says

Planning three meals a day, for 365 days a year is no easy task. In this book we present a collection of wholesome, delicious recipes, that we believe will help the housewife to gratify the family’s whims, provide proper food for health, and keep within the budget.

We hope some of your foody whims are gratified this Thanksgiving!

The Dexter-Roundy Family Papers, 1772-1951 include some of the business papers relating to the Milwaukee grocery wholesale firm Roundy, Peckham & Dexter founded in 1872 by Judson A. Roundy

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 19 November 2018.

#Archives Harvest: Wisconsin style

This month’s Hashtag party is #ArchivesHarvest. In Wisconsin, we are very proud of our dairy harvest!

From the Golden Guernsey Dairy Cooperative records, 1935-1973 (Milw SC 160) this is a brochure explaining what the cooperative is and what it can do for its members and consumers. Thanks to The Farmer, The Plant Employee, and The Salesman, Mr. and Mrs. Milwaukee were able to give their family America’s finest dairy products!

Cheers to the cows who literally make it all possible!

Side note: The building that housed the Golden Guernsey plant in Milwaukee still stands at 2206 N. 30th Street.

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 19 November 2018.

Monday Motivation Owl: Aviation History Month

This motivated owl is the logo for The Ealy Birds of Aviation, Inc. This is an organization set up to maintain the history of early pioneers of flight. Membership into The Early Birds is limited to those brave aviators who flew solo before December 17, 1916, before the United States entered WWI.

This letterhead is from correspondence located in the George Hardie papers, 1880-2001 (UWM Mss 65, box 22, folder 45). George Hardie was a Milwaukee area aviation historian, enthusiast, and collector. His collection of papers contain early photos of aircraft, the history of famous Wisconsin aviators Billy Mitchell and John Kaminski, model aircraft, and the formation of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) among many other topics related to the history of aviation.

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 17 November 2018

#Stationery Saturday: National Aviation History Month

This is the stationery of the Curtiss Wisconsin Aeroplane Co. The president of the company was Gilles Meisenheimer (1895-1963). Meisenheimer was going to school at Marquette University when he was called on to serve in WWI. Meisenheimer trained to fly in Canada after joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1919 he flew back to Milwaukee where he became president of the Curtiss Wisconsin Aeroplane Co. He also managed the Milwaukee county airport before it moved to its current location. Sometime in the late 1920s Meisenheimer left aviation and went to work in the family printing business, the Meisenheimer Printing Co. who printed this stationery. Gilles E. Meisenheimer was inducted in to the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in 2009.

This item is located in the George Hardie papers, 1880-2001 (UWM Mss 65, box 22, folder 40)

See our other Stationery Saturday posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 16 November 2018

Flashback (or Flash Forward?) Friday

This ad for Wisconsin Electric Power Company appeared in the November 21, 1956 edition of the UWM Post. The text gives several examples of how electricity works to make our lives more convenient - cooking meals, washing dishes, drying clothes, and providing entertainment. But electrifying the roads is what this is really all about.

Your car’s speed and steering automatically controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road. No traffic jams, no collisions, no driver fatigue.

Just relax in your bubble and play some dominoes oblivious to the fact that the Batmobile just passed by.  

Have a great weekend and “Live better…Electrically!”

See the more from the UWM Post, UWM’s unofficial news outlet, in the UWM Libraries Digital Collections

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 15 November 2018.

#Feathursday: “Name That Bird” Answer

Meet the Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Nycticorax means “night raven” and likely relates to their nocturnal hunting and their crow-like call. This heron is found in and around fresh, brackish, and salt-water wetlands throughout the world.

They are stalking hunters and wait by the water’s edge for a fish, frog, crustacean, or even a small mammal or bird to happen by.

Were you able to name that bird?

Congratulations once again to @uwmspeccoll for identifying these Ardeinae!

Try again next week for the “Name That Bird” challenge when we will show you another photograph of a bird or birds from the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County Records, 1910-2000.

See our other Feathursday posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 15 November 2018.

#Feathursday: “Name that Bird” Challenge

What birds are these?

Can you identify this pair of waders?

We will post the answer at 4:00pm CST

The images we will be using for “Name That Bird” are from the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County Records, 1910-2000. (PH Milw Mss, box 1, folder 4) Most of the photos were taken by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photographers for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, and most of them are un-dated.

See our other Feathursday posts

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 13 November 2018.

#Time Travel Tuesday: National Aviation History Month

Today we present some images of the Barling Bomber. At the time of the bomber’s first flight on August 22, 1923, it was the largest plane ever to fly. It was 120 feet from wing tip to wing tip, had six motors, and weighed 40,000 pounds.

This massive bombing plane was designed by Walter Henry Barling, at the behest of General William “Billy” Mitchell who asked for the world’s largest plane to “shock the people into realizing that the airplane is here to stay.” Mitchell was adamant that air power was essential to defending the United States. The Barling Bomber, also known as the Witteman-Lewis XNBL-1, turned out to be less than adequate for the long-range bombing it was designed for. However, the design and manufacturing innovations that made the Barling Bomber possible would influence the design or aircraft for decades.

From the George Hardie Papers, 1880-2001 (UWM Mss 65, box 25, folder 2)

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 12 November 2018.

#Monday Motivation Owl

This studiously motivated owl looks like she could use a nap and a little less coffee. However, because we are rapidly reaching the end of the semester, she must keep studying.

This is another excellent owl from the pages of Cumtux, the Milwaukee Downer College annual. The 1922 volume, where this owl was found, and many other yearbooks are available to researchers in our Reading Room Library.

[alisonnportfolio]

Original post 10 November 2018.

#Stationery Saturday: Veteran’s Day

Tomorrow, November 11, 2018, marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I.

For this weeks #stationery Saturday we are showing the letter from the Thomas Somers Letters, 1917-1918. Somers was writing to his mother when he learned that the peace treaty had been signed. We aren’t sure who or when the date and passage about the peace treaty were highlighted in this letter. Here is a transcription of part of the letter

Dear Mother:-

         Have not had a letter from you for a few days, but expect one tomorrow, lets hope so anyway and lets hope it will find you in the best of health.

         I got the box of candy & cookies and tooth [paste]? and believe me they sure tasted fine. It arrived in good shape.

         Well Mother it is all over, thank God, so lets hope we meet soon. There sure was some noise last Monday morning when we heard of Peace being signed about 200 O’Clock in the morning our Band got out and we all marched up & down the Camp.

         I do not know how long it will be before we will get home but hope it will be soon. I have been quite busy lately with our Captain examining men and what do you suppose he asked me today. He asked me how I would like to go with him as his Private Secretary as he expected to be transferred. I told him I liked to go with him but the circumstances at home were such that I was more needed at home, and he said he thought it would be better for me to stay in this [camp]? as he thought I would get home sooner if I remained here. If I went with him he thinks I would not be home for [around]? a year and so he said he would sooner have me stay here, and I said I thought it would be the better thing. It sure would be a pleasure to go with him as you will not find another man like him in many a day.

Thomas Somers was drafted near the close of World War I. For training, he was sent to Camp Greenleaf, a medical officer training camp in Georgia. He remained there working as a clerk during his time of service.

The stationery used for the first page of his letter features the United War Work Campaign. This was a campaign to solicit funds for the charities that worked supporting the war effort including the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Y.W.C.A., and the American Library Association. Yesterday, for #Flashback Friday we featured a booklet from the local war fund campaign during the week of November 11, 2018, to November 20, 2018.

See our other Stationery Saturday posts

In the United States, tomorrow, November 11th, is Veterans Day and we honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.