Porky's

I'd stay at a motel named Porky's.  As a matter of fact, I'd favor a motel named Porky's.

And the caption, weirdly in all caps, "PORKY'S MOTEL  MIDDLETON, WISCONSIN ON U.S. HIGHWAY 12&13 MIDDLETON.  4 MILES NORTH OF MADISON.  PRIVATE SHOWER BATHS-HOT WATER HEAT. OPEN YEAR ROUND-FREE T.V.  PHONE TERRACE 6-1141"

I really like the idea of having a private shower.

The New Glarus Hotel

Continuing with my hotel/motel theme....Fist of all, it's not a new version of The Glarus Hotel, it's a hotel in New Glarus, Wisconsin,  America's dairy land, so, needless to say, there's a lot of locally made cheese, and from what I've been able to find on-line, there are also a number of local breweries.  I had no idea there was beer tourism.  Live and learn.

So, the New Glarus Hotel was built in 1853, and it's still there, though now it's strictly a restaurant.  The pictures I found don't show a lot of change in the building, though those great Eames/Herman Miller molded fiber glass chairs have been replaced by plain old wood.  And, they have bands.  Have no idea if they had entertainment back in the fifties or sixties when this photo was taken, but they do now.  As a matter of fact, Barefoot Becky just finished an engagement.  She has a few videos on YouTube.  I grew up in an area where polka was quite popular, and I have to say, she wasn't half bad.

The caption, "NEW GLARUS HOTEL, NEW GLARUS, WISCONSIN.  Authentic Swiss Architecture enhances this Swiss Style Dining Area and Service Bar around a fire-place setting."  I've never understood how postcard manufacturers use capitol letters.

The Fairview Motel

Before Motel 6, before the Best Western, there were a lot of these small, family owned motels all over America.  And then, the interstate highway system was built, bypassing small towns, and isolating all those motels from cross country travelers.  Those small motels would give out postcards for their guests, kind of a cheap advertising method.  I have to wonder how many people thought that a motel card was a better choice than one of the local tourist attraction.

And the caption on the back, "FAIRVIEW MOTEL, 3230 Commercial Ave., Madison 4, Wisconsin.  Free Television-Radio-Air-Conditioned Phone Cherry 4-9996.  On Highway 30 just off 51 and 151  Restaurants Nearby.  Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Biehl."

I wonder how many rooms,per night,  Mr and Mrs Biehl had to rent to break even. .

Love That Coffee

Actually, I hate coffee.  There's just something about it that always tastes bitter in my mouth.  I do, however, love this postcard.  These kind of strange buildings, designed to look like some object, used to be a fairly common sight along American roadways, but as time passes, so do the coffee pots, giant shoes, and plaster pets.  I miss them, kitschy though they may be.

This card was never used, so no messages or postmarks.   The caption, "Washington Island Information Booth.  This hand-painted, Norwegian Rosemaling coffee pot portrays the Old World hospitality of Washington Island.  Charming natives, dressed in Scandinavian attire, dispense information and coffee to visitors of Washington Island, Door County, Wisc.  Color by Hagedorn Studio."

Horeb Spring, Waukesha

Since my last three posts were from my early days of collecting, I've decided to dig out some of the other images I've owned for at least forty years.  I'm more than willing to admit that my earliest collected photos and postcards might  not be as interesting as the stuff I've picked up in recent years, but hey, back then I was more interested in old.  Just think, some of the  photos I've picked up in the last few years,  were only a few years old when I was born.  And some of them had yet to be taken.

This postcard of Horeb Spring Park in Waukesha, Wisconsin looks like it started out as photograph, but I'd bet that the colorist drew in the clouds.   I did a search for Horeb Spring Park and all I could find was a swimming pool and water park.  My guess is that this nice little lake and island are long gone, but I'd love to be wrong.

Too, I'm always curious about words that Google declares misspelled, or worse yet, nonexistent.   Horeb, the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments, and Waukesha, an American City are both unrecognized by modern technology.  I wonder how many words we'll lose once everything becomes digital.  Moby Dick didn't even sell a thousand copies when it was published, it went out of print, and was rediscovered several decades latter.  Would it have been deleted from existence had the nineteenth century been a purely digital world?  And for that matter, why doesn't Google recognize Moby?

Winter In Wisconsin

Yet another example of a dealer cutting up a photo album for fun and profit!   I hate it!

Well, now that I've got that off my chest....I had some problems getting a good, centered scan on the two individual pictures.  So, to help out, the caption on the left photo, "How do you like the "Pepsodent" smile?  It's just to keep warm.  Temp. 20 below zero.  Some fun!  Come to "sunny" Wis for your winter vacation!!??"  Both excited and questioning at the same time.  She must be confused.  No doubt caused by the extreme cold.  Down hill or cross country skis?  Which would be a colder sport?

And the other photo..."The right figure is the leaning tower pose.  Alias Hampton Purdy."  It's such a unique name that I decided to give a quick Google search just to see what's to see.  I found two Hampton Purdys on Ancestry.com.  R. Hapton Purdy, born 1890 in Canada, in 1930, residing in Appleton,  Outagamie County, Wisconsin.  And Hampton R. Purdy, born 1917, also residing in Appleton.  Father and son would be my guess.  I'm thinking the photo is the son.  Of course, once Ancestry.com asked for a credit card number, my research into Purdy, father and son, ended.

Sneaking Up On Mom and Dad

It looks like she just might pull it off.  Written on the back, "Lake Geneva July 4, 31"  Lake Geneva is a town in southern Wisconsin near the Illinois border.

Green Bay Business College- Portraits

Please, please click on Green Bay in the labels section so I don't have to retype all the stuff I've already put up about this collection. In short, I bought a pretty good sized collection of photos that were in some envelopes addressed to Kenneth Bierke of "The Green Bay Business College, 123 S. Washington, Green Bay, Wis." I'm fairly certain that the young guy is Kenneth Bierke himself. Only two more posts in the Green Bay collection, though it could be awhile before I finally finish it up.

Green Bay Business College- Color Vacation

Put this one down to my sense of history and belief that it's better to post all of the images in a collection, rather than editing them down to the most interesting views. Stamped on the backs of all these photographs, THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY T.M. REGIS. U.S. PAT. OFF. Week of July 12, 1954 III 2" And again, images from the life of Mr. Kenneth Bierke of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Associated with the Green Bay Business College, probably, first, as a teacher and then as an administrator. Eventually, when I get the entire collection posted, there will be images of his farm background, the parties, dances, and dinners attended, the wars fought, the wife on the home front, and in 1954, post war comfort, a nice car, some level of prosperity not known during the great depression and World War 2, that allowed he and his family to take a vacation. In the grand scheme of things, a pretty ordinary life, but one that covers a lot of the twentieth century, good and bad. Once again, click on Green Bay in the labels section to see the collection, posted to date.

Green Bay Business College- Dinners

I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I have a tendency to not edit photo collections. If the image came with the group, it goes up on the blog. Two more photos from the Green Bay Business College collection. So far I've put up pictures from school dances, banquets, and some rather nice color portraits of a woman during the war years. (Click on Green Bay in the labels section.) These two are of dinners featuring the two people who show up more often than any others in the collection. On the left on the picture that's fading away, and way in the back, on the right, of the other. The man, I believe, must be Kenneth Bierke, to whom one of the envelops I have is addressed, and the woman must be his wife. The fading picture looks like it was taken in a restaurant, while the other, with the stained glass windows in the background could be either a church dinner or a school function.

Green Bay Business College-Christmas Banquet

These are more photos from the Green Bay Business College collection. They were all stuffed in a separate envelope addressed to "Kenneth Bierke 225 Quinton Green Bay, Wisconsin." Typed, but no postage, so it must have been hand delivered. From three different banquets, two with a Christmas theme. In the first photo, directly to the right of the wall decorations, is a couple that will appear in most of the Green Bay Business College pictures. Mr. Bierke and his wife?

Green Bay Business College- Another Dance

Another picture from the Green Bay Business College package. A dance, but with a different date from the two previous posts. On the back of the photo, "THIS IS A KODACHROME PRINT Made by Kodak WEEK OF FEB. 16-59 RD."

Green Bay Business College-Riverside Dance #2

These square format photos are from the same Green Bay Business College dance as the previous post. Those photos were done by a professional photographer, these look like amateur pictures. Stamped on the backs of the color images, "THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY T. M. REGIS. U. S. PAT. OFF. Week ending June 23, 1956. Ro 3" With the June 3 post mark from the earlier post, the dance was probably end of May. An end of term dance.

Green Bay Business College-Riverside Dance

I've got a lot of these. A few years ago I purchased a group of pictures from the Green Bay Business College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. There are far too many of them to put up in one post. There is also some variety in the collection. Many of them are family pictures that appear to be family pictures of a faculty member. I'm starting with a small group of pictures that were all in the same envelope. The envelope is addressed to the "Green Bay Business College, 123 S. Washington, Green bay, Wis." The return address is "G. Ashert Studio, De Pere, Wis." The post mark is from De Pere and dated July 2, 1956. The theme of the dance is I Love Paris. There is an image of three guys standing in front of the punch bowl, written on the back, "Three too many." The name Ken Bierke is written on the back of several of the photos.

Wisconsin and Beyond

Old photo collectors love great images and there are a couple of those in this collection. But, collectors also love a great story behind the images and this set of estate photos from a Wisconsin dealer are all over the place. The two pictures in front of the house are very probably from the United States, as is the last image, that looks like it's from the fifties. Two guys near a palm tree. Florida vacation? The long haired guy with the umbrella and bag could be a doctor, or then again, just a guy with a doctor's style bag. The older couple are labeled Adolph and Jennie. The group of young people above the sea. I doubt that's Wisconsin, and with the woman in the clothe coat,newspaper and purse is labeled, something I can't make out and the "de depart, le 22 Octobre 1945." From France or maybe Quebec. Speaking of dates, the lady, prone on the grass with the shadow of the photographer is dated July 20, 1914. The couple in mid 20th century clothes are labeled Grandma and Grandpa. Not all of these images were taken in Wisconsin, as I've already noted. The woman is sitting in front of the for sale sign is stamped on the back, "MADE BY Goodhart-Tompkins Co. KODAK HEADQUARTERS 33 Peachtree, Atlanta, Ga." The kneeling man is labeled Cornwall Mines, 6/2/21. Cornwall is in England. And the strangest of the lot, the adult woman with the four children, written on the back, "Forced merriment is easily detected, and is an admirable quality that always arouses my deepest sympathies; The children betray the fact that something is troubling the family collectively. H.H." I wonder what made her write that. It's almost a short story.