Browse Items (99 total)

This apron is from the Silver Lake retail yard of the Wilbur Lumber Company, which had more than a dozen locations in southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois, including Waukesha. The firm was founded by George Wilbur in 1875. The Waukesha Lumber…

Although the sign has 100 slots for names, there were only 66 rooms. Each slot has a number covered in plastic with slips of white or pink paper with names written on them. The Avalon Hotel at 222 Park Place, was a community interest project for…

This drum is an exact replica of an Aztec tlalpanhuehuetl or war drum. The carvings represent the knowledge given form the Heavens to the Earth. The eagle represents the Heavens, as the ruler of the skies. The man coming from the beak of the eagle…

Issued to Army Air Force pilots, these “bailout” tanks provided an oxygen supply to airmen in an emergency ejection. After attaching the smaller tank via the hose to his mask, the airman pulled the “green apple” - a green wooden grip on a guide wire…

The brick Barstow School built in 1917, and expanded in 1929, was first known as the Park School when it joined the city school system. The early 20th century saw a population boom, with industries in the city attracting migrants and new immigrant…

The exact years this basketball jersey was used are unknown, but from the construction and materials, it appears to be from the 1950’s. It represents the many successful Waukesha High School Suburban Conference basketball teams of the time. The 1954…

This bass drum features one of the later revisions of “Headley” , the well known logo from Waukesha’s Fox Head brewery. The sponsorship of a community band was a long tradition for the company - one of the earliest known employee photos features two…

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…

New construction and redevelopment have reshaped the city of Waukesha in the last fifty years. Local developers, engineers, and architects have led many of the projects, in both commercial and residential building. Significant among them are the two…

The history of Waukesha cannot be told without a mention of Colonel Dunbar and his discovery and promotion of Bethesda Spring. Believing that the waters from the spring cured his diabetes, Dunbar and his wife Catherine formed the company that…