Category Archives: History

The Grohmann Museum’s “Milwaukee Road” Exhibit

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

My office at Milwaukee School of Engineering is in the Grohmann Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of art depicting the subject of “Man at Work.”  In 2008 The Wall Street Journal published a wonderful article about Eckhart Grohmann and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Life, Milwaukee, Popular culture, Technology, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Deco on Rye

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Okay, my title is like a bad pun.  But that’s what I thought of when I saw such a tiny building squeezed into the space between two larger and older buildings. A sandwich 🙂 This somewhat out of place Art Deco building is part … Continue reading →

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Coffers and Corinthians

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

A trip to the dentist took me past City Hall again for the second time in a couple months. In December it had been probably a few years since I’d been able to get up close, thanks to the scaffolding … Continue reading →

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The Northern Soul Project – The Father-Son Shredded Wheat Commercial (Post #5)

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Warning: this television ad (or, “advert,” as they apparently say in England) will make your heart melt. Apparently just released within the past week, this Shredded Wheat cereal commercial profiles a father and son who go out dancing at the all-nighters together.  In Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Learning, Life, Music, Northern Soul, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

General Tom Thumb rescued from deadly Milwaukee hotel fire!

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

In doing some class prep I came across a book titled Vintage Milwaukee Postcards, by Larry Widen, which talks about, among other interesting pieces of Milwaukee history, the famous (in its day) Newhall House Fire. The Newhall House was a sprawling six-story, wood-framed luxury … Continue reading →

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Bang! Bang! Bang!

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

On my way to work this morning I saw this fragment of litter lying on the ground. Obviously, it’s the outside edge of continuous-feed printer paper.  Anyone younger than thirty may not know what that is, so here’s a photo for reference. … Continue reading →

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Christmas shopping in “The Village”

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I don’t like shopping malls at Christmas.  Too crowded.  Too many harried people with too many gifts to buy and too little time. My husband and my younger daughter don’t mind all that.  In fact, for years now they’ve had an annual … Continue reading →

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Communication lessons learned from the Indian Ocean tsunami and other natural disasters

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

It has been ten years since the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami.  Many “anniversary” articles today will look back at this event, so this post doesn’t cover the same ground.  Because my academic specialty is communication, I wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Learning, Life, Nature, News, Science, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Grecian Urn

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m searching for a term that would help me find some sort of documentary evidence, preferably video, of a style of dance that was popular around the start of the twentieth century. Backstory: I encountered a reference to John Keats’s … Continue reading →

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Random thoughts on time, nostalgia and the human experience

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Katherine Wikoff

This photo taken on my way to work doesn’t do it justice. but the sun looked really eerie here, like a science fiction movie.  As you can see, the light was directed upward, while the ground below was in shadows.  And … Continue reading →

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