March 3rd - Mother & Child...

Women's History Month Day 3

These two have many of the same features...

This image of presumably a Mother and Child, is from a Cabinet Card. The photo was taken at the Holdmann Photo Studio on Grand Avenue in Milwaukee in the 1890s.

Card Purchased in SE Wisconsin

March 2nd - Fritzi & Flinty...

Women's History Month Day 2

Label on Back of Photo: Fritzi & Flinty in front of the cabin we occupied for one night enroute. Taken at Lassen National Forest

Although labels cannot always be trusted, the handwriting style fits the this 1920s photo. Fritzi must be the lady as Flinty refers to the car. The Flint Automobile was assembled in Flint, MI from 1923-1927 when it was discontinued. (It was priced to compete with the Buick). Another interesting note: The young women in her cotton sun dress would've have most likely viewed the stiff, formal photos of the 19th century to be as old-fashioned as we often do. ...and Yes, this photo comes complete with the photographer's finger in the photo.

Bibliography:Consulting, F. C. (2017). History. Retrieved March 2, 2017, from http://www.flintmotorcompany.com/History.aspx

Photo Provence: Wisconsin Purchase.

Phenomenal Women - Women's History Month 2017

Phenomenal Women - Today, marks the first day of Women's History Month. In the past, I've posted daily on Facebook for Women's History Month...and in fact, it's been a couple years since I have actively posted daily for Women's History Month at all. This year I choose to resume, but I do so in a different light and I'm moving it to my blog. With today's constant discourse, another voice is not needed in a sea of voices. I would rather provide the opportunity to see "ordinary" Phenomenal Women through period photos. Not much verbiage will go with the photos - instead I'll let the photos and the women in them speak for themselves. I will only add text where it may be needed. I have celebrated women who have made names for themselves, but these ladies names' may often be lost to history...yet phenomenal  they remain. My only apology is that the selection may not be as diverse as everyone may like, but the photos will come mainly from our personal collection. For several reasons, there is not much diversity in our collection - including funds at the time my husband and I were actively collecting as well as the fact most of them are from the Upper Midwest in the 19th century when diverse photos are scarce - but it is not because there was not any desire for diversity. I will try to supplement from other sources when I am able. Enjoy!

...and you may ask where I found my theme. Indeed I was inspired by the great lady Maya Angelou and her poem: Phenomenal Women...

By Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. 

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them, 

They think I’m telling lies. 

I say, 

It’s in the reach of my arms, 

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman 

Phenomenally. 

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me. 

I walk into a room 

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man, 

The fellows stand or 

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me, 

A hive of honey bees.   

I say, 

It’s the fire in my eyes,   

And the flash of my teeth,   

The swing in my waist,   

And the joy in my feet.   

I’m a woman 

Phenomenally. 

Phenomenal woman, 

That’s me. 

Men themselves have wondered   

What they see in me. 

They try so much 

But they can’t touch 

My inner mystery. 

When I try to show them,   

They say they still can’t see.   

I say, 

It’s in the arch of my back,   

The sun of my smile, 

The ride of my breasts, 

The grace of my style. 

I’m a woman 

Phenomenally. 

Phenomenal woman, 

That’s me. 

Now you understand 

Just why my head’s not bowed.   

I don’t shout or jump about 

Or have to talk real loud.   

When you see me passing, 

It ought to make you proud. 

I say, 

It’s in the click of my heels,   

The bend of my hair,   

the palm of my hand,   

The need for my care.   

’Cause I’m a woman 

Phenomenally. 

Phenomenal woman, 

That’s me.

Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994)

Mint Tea on a Sunday Afternoon...

What better on a muggy afternoon that a cup of mint tea?…and it is even better if you have the luxury of enjoying it rural 1860-style. Luxury? Yes, luxury.

Typically, when we desire a cup of mint tea today, we most often find a teabag w/mint tea or open a canister of the loose-leaf variety stored in our cupboard. We turn the knob on the stove to heat the tea kettle and return a few minutes later to the same kettle to fetch the fully heated water. We pour the water over our tea. Voila! Mint Tea. Delicious. Refreshing. What more could we want?...

On a still, muggy Sunday summer afternoon in 1860 in Wisconsin, how a about a trip to the garden to pick the mint…and for good measure a little lemon balm? The fragrance of the garden hangs in the muggy air…all the sweetness of the flowers…all the savory scents of the herbs…. Run your hands through the plants to find the best stems to pick. The scent of the fresh herbs is so strong it can be tasted.

Dining Room Stove as seen in the 1860
Yankee House at Old World Wisconsin

A small fire will be needed to heat the water.  Why not use the parlor stove? The small fire will dry they room adding comfort while not being large enough to add heat.  If possible, this would be the day to choose fragrant logs like cedar.

As the water heats, it’s time to trim the mint and lemon balm leaves from their stems, and add them to the warming water. As the water heats, the scent is released into the still, heavy air.

Informal Parlor as seen in the 1860
Yankee House at Old World Wisconsin

When steeped to your perfection, pour yourself a cup and take a sip. Your mouth fills with lemony mint flavor and your nose with a lemony mint scent. In this setting, have a seat next to the parlor

window and breathe deeply. Luxury.

The contemporary method is quicker. …and well, you probably won’t break a sweat, but fresh mint tea in 1860 allows us the luxury of experiencing it with all of our senses.

….and if you are so moved. You may also add 1860 style clothing…

Me in my favorite 1860s cotton summer dress

Happy Mother's Day

The Kvaale House Kitchen restored to 1865 as seen at Old World Wisconsin, Eagle WI.

A sewing machine, a pitcher, a crock,  a coffee grinder, a flatware tray, and various other ordinary household trinkets... It is a simple vignette of things used in a rural home in 1865. Many of us might see them only as symbols of drudgery and never-ending chores. Now, look at these items again. Think of all them women who through the course of the decades touched these items or items much like them. These simple items are symbols of a home. A home which women lovingly made for their families. Through the seemingly endless hours of work, there were tasty homemade dinners and treats. Clothes were sewn for little ones being welcomed into this world crafted with the same tenderness as the clothing worn by children passing from childhood into adulthood. Rare but precious moments of quiet were stolen over a hot cup of coffee...

It is in these simple symbols we still recognize a home, our families and our mothers...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who have sacrificed, and created warm, nurturing, loving homes for their families. As children of all ages, we often hold the simple memories most dear!

Christmas for a Dollar...



2014 Christmas Exhibit at Old World Wisconsin
- Photo by Anne Danko

By 1880, many Americans had already been decrying Christmas as overly commercial for years. There were those who chose to celebrate Christmas elaborately with all the baubles the Victorian era could gloriously muster, but for many Christmas still celebrated modestly. Below is an excerpt which was printed in the Milwaukee Sentinel on December 20, 1880 and now found in the Wisconsin Christmas Anthology edited by Terry R. Engels and printed by the Partridge Press in 1989.

Who authored the piece is not recorded; but it stands as an example of the frugality of Wisconsin and the Greater Midwest. It is that same frugality which has become a stereotype and is often the butt of many jokes but is also the frugality many of still know and have learned to embrace…

Christmas for a Dollar


2014 Christmas Exhibit at Old World Wisconsin
 - Photo by Anne Danko

 “First the tree, fifteen cents secures a splendid one. Somewhere in the shed or cellar is an old box, just the thing to set it in. Ten Cents buys eight good candles that can be cut in two pieces. A pin stuck stoutly wherever a light is wanted, will hold the taper well in place. Five cents gets a pound of corn for popping. Then purchase twenty cents worth of stick candy with a quarter pound of raisins (five cents) to sprinkle with it. Gauze to make little bags in which the candy could hang on the tree takes another five cents. Now, forty cents still remains, and with it can be purchased a whittling knife with two blades (fifteen cents) for a boy and a set of toy dishes (twenty cents) for a girl. The remaining nickel can be used to buy a brightly colored Christmas card, and the children’s joy will be complete.” --Milwaukee Sentinel, December 20, 1880

Merry Christmas! May your stick candy and popcorn be plentiful…and your family and friends be happy and healthy!

--Anne

2014 Christmas Exhibit at Old World Wisconsin - Photo by Anne Danko

Engels, Terry R. A Wisconsin Christmas Anthology. St. Cloud, MN: Partridge, 1989. Print.

Pranks and Practical Jokes...



Photo by Jim McGuigan 9.6.14

Pomeranian Weddings are filled with merriment including pranking the Bride and Groom.  This can include practical jokes and/or attempts to get the Bride or Groom drunk. Often these pranks can happen days before the celebration or anytime during the 3 day wedding celebration.

The Polterbend was the climax of the pranks.  The day before the wedding friends would gather around the bride’s home making noise and general ruckus while banging on pots, ringing bells, hollering and whistling. Pranks could include stuffing old quilts down smoking chimneys, stole her clothes or removed wheels from the family’s wagon/carriage.

One of the tamer tricks was to wrap a box of broken china in very decoratively. A bridesmaid or friend would present the bride with this gift and as she reached for it, it would drop to the ground shattering. We chose to represent this prank because it was safe in a museum setting BUT I didn’t expect the pomp and circumstance between my brother and sister in presenting me with the gift. ….I began to have doubts as to what was in the box.

Only days earlier, my bridesmaid, Sandy had an unfortunate moment at home.  A shelf in her china cabinet became loose, fell and sent china crashing everywhere.   Although the loss of sentimental china pieces is never a happy moment, it did provide opportunity to fill a box with broken china. I had believed this to be the contents of the box until I stood on the back porch that afternoon and watched my brother and sister dance around and ceremoniously present the gift to me. The thought had seriously crossed my mind that the broken china had been replaced with something much less innocuous. After all, many interesting even nasty things can be found in a farmyard….

I was relieved when I found the gift truly contained broken china!