Category Archives: History

Ghost Sign (#2) – Seen in the French Quarter

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

I think maybe this was supposed to be a sign for Tutt’s liver pills, except there’s a window where the “T” would have gone. The photos below are from the first two hits from Google News, one from “The Florence … Continue reading →

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Storm Clouds over Mulate’s

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

We’ve had some thunderstorms this week in New Orleans. Thankfully I was inside during the worst one Monday evening. Incredibly powerful thunder and lightning, and very low in the sky…seemingly right overhead! I took this photo as I left the … Continue reading →

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How about a nice game of chess?

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Seen on Milwaukee’s near west side. If you were born in the last 25 years, you might not know what this sign means. The truth is, it probably doesn’t mean anything anymore. Just a relic of a bygone era. During the … Continue reading →

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So many milks! And coffee, coffee, coffee!

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Americans don’t realize how rich we are. It’s so easy not to feel rich when we read about luxury homes sold in London, Paris, or New York for eight or even nine figures. Millions and millions and millions of dollars. Who can afford … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Learning, Life, Movies and film | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Ghost Sign

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m fascinated by old signs that have long outlived their usefulness. The resolution in this photo isn’t very sharp—I took it with my iPhone while sitting at the Juneau and Old World Third Street stoplight—but it pulls together several eras in … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Art, History, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Norman Rockwell’s The Bookworm Redux

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

There’s a special gallery two doors away from my office in the Grohmann Museum that houses a collection of paintings by a 19th-century German painter, Carl Spitzweg. On the wall outside that gallery is a painting by American painter Norman … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#5) – “Barbara Allen”

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

“Barbara Allen” is a real downer of a song; no question about it. And it isn’t really a Christmas song, but I have always associated it with this time of year, dating from my first viewing of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#3) – Handel’s Messiah

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Merry Christmas! For today’s post, I thought the most appropriate “song” might be Messiah, the most significant musical work ever composed about the life of Christ within the context of Biblical Old Testament prophecies about his birth and Gospels about his life, … Continue reading →

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Carved in Stone . . .

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

. . . is no guarantee of permanence, as you can see. The carpenters’ union apparently found another home, and their building eventually became a place of support for a new group of people.

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Dontre Hamilton: “Rest in Power”

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

In making the wide circuit back to my office after running an errand on the other side of campus, I decided to swing through Red Arrow Park to pick up a sandwich for lunch at Starbucks. And this is what … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life, Milwaukee, News | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments