Browse Items (99 total)

In 1947, the Waukesha Freeman, promoted an exciting new community event: the Soap Box Derby in Waukesha! The derby invited boy (and later girls) to design and build a gravity powered car. Racers were required to find sponsors for their cars, and…

This upright piano was produced by the Jesse French & Sons of New Castle, Indiana. Upright pianos became popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s as an affordable and compact option for musicians at home. This model was purchased by Fred Rosenmerkel, and…

Jimmy’s Grotto on Main street is a Waukesha institution, and in 1985 branched out into the frozen food market with one of its most popular products: the ponza rotta. A pizza folded over and deep fried, this Jimmy’s Grotto specialty is a favorite for…

Waukesha was once home to Wisconsin’s state chick hatchery. Brothers, Frank and Herbert Kramer began raising chicks as young men, when their father served as superintendent of the Hoard’s Dairyman experimental farm in Fort Atkinson.
Relocating to…

These diagrams showcase the variety of pieces designed and made by the Manitowoc Church Furniture Company. Charles Schuetze founded the company, first in a leased workshop in namesake city, before relocating to Lincoln Avenue in Waukesha in…

Plowshare, a fair trade shop, first opened in 1990 and has become a fixture of the downtown shopping corridor. The shop provides a marketplace for Waukeshonians to connect with global artisans. Plowshare works through the Fair Trade Federation to…

Margaret Luke worked as a “Grey Lady” Red Cross Volunteer at Resthaven Veterans Hospital from 1949 - 1957. Grey Ladies - so named for their uniforms - provided non-medical support and care: shopping, running errands, reading to patients, or writing…

This stained glass window with the City of Waukesha seal was created by craftsman Robert Uchner for the Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1984. Several identical windows are installed in the springhouse located in the Waukesha State Bank parking…

This jacket screen printed by Bob Adams to wear during his presentations Born in 1914, Bob was an avid bird watcher and an early member of the Benjamin F. Goss Bird Club.

The club formally organized in the 1930’s, and is named after a Wisconsin…

The Sunlite Dessert Company manufactured gelatin products for institutions, hotels and hospitals. It went on to produce ice cream mixes and pectin products for making jams and jellies.

The company began in 1922 under the name Waukesha Jelly Powder…