Found: Cherry Orchard, Door County, WI

Found: Cherry Orchard in Full Bloom, Door County, Wisconsin.
E. A. Bishop, Publisher, Racine, Wis. circa 1910

The first cherry orchards in Door County were planted in 1896. The market for the fruit grew and 10,000 acres of orchards planted. Finding labor to help with the harvest remained an issue until the mechanical cherry shaker was developed. At first cherries were hand harvested and workers paid by the bucked. The new machine harvested 60 to 100 trees per hour and eliminated the need to recruit hundreds of workers each season. Cherries are turned into juice, jam, infamous Wisconsin red tart cherry, and the maraschino cherry that work so great in old-fashioneds and Manhattans.

Found: At the Turn of the Road, Door County, WI

Found: "AT THE TURN OF THE ROAD" POTOWATOMI STATE PARK, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
C.T. Art-Colortone, E. A. Bishop, Racine, Wisconsin. Circa 1930s.
Handwritten in fountain pen on back: "Dear El, Am having a nice time up here. 
Hope you enjoyed your vacation. I am writing in the car in town so excuse the scribbling. Love, Edna."
Postmarked Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, August 26, 1936, 3 PM.

Come autumn, the I-43 corridor heading north can be bumper to bumper with cars and SUVs especially when "fall colors" are peaking in Door County and/or when there's a Packers game at Lambeau. Taking a drive "up north" provides an escape and in fact a tourism slogan once read "Escape to Wisconsin" which locals often modified to read "Escape Wisconsin". Postcards such as this promoted the idea of Sunday drives to view the landscape as seen through the automobile wind shield.

County ZZ, Wrightstown, WI

County ZZ, Wrightstown, Wisconsin, June 30, 2012

Found: "Highway Scene, U.S. 16 and 12, Camp Douglas, Wisconsin" by Wayne Paper Box & Printing, Fort Wayne, Indiana, circa 1950s

Found: "River Drive, Cornell, Wis." on DOPS paper, circa 1938

Found: "Highway 130, Lone Rock, Wisconsin, on EKKP paper, circa 1930

Found: "Scene at Minocqua, Wis." on DOPS paper, circa 1941

Found: "A Pleasant Drive Near Rio, Wisconsin," circa 1910

Found: "James Street, Columbus, Wisconsin" by E. A Bishop Publishing, Racine, Wis., circa 1930

Found: "'At the Turn of the Road'" Potowatomi State Park, Door County, Wisconsin" by E. A. Bishop Publishing, Racine, Wis., postmarked July 3, 1944

Found: "Prairie Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin," by E. A. Bishop Publishing,  Racine, Wis., postmarked May 7, 1909

Found: "Driveway, Humboldt Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin," by M.L. Anneberg Publisher, Milwaukee, postmarked December 31, 1911

Found: "A Pleasant Drive, Omro, Wisconsin, by National Colortype Co, circa 1950

Found: "The Drive, Lake Side Park, Fond Du Lac, Wis." published by the Acmegraph Co, Chicago, circa 1920

Found: "Grand Dad's Bluff, La Crosse, Wis." published by Spencer-McCord Drug Co., La Cross, Wis., circa 1940

Found: "One of many Beautiful Drives near Baraboo, Wis." by Baraboo News Agency, Baraboo, Wis, circa 1930

Found: "Road Scene, Trail 3, Near La Crosse, Wis." published by Spence-McCord Drug Co., La Crosse, Wis, circa 1940

Found: "Road to the Lake: At the end of this birch lined lane are
the invited waters of an inland lake, Vacationland Scwne"
copyright The L.L. Cook Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1954

Found: "Opposite Prairie du Chien, Wisc., this colorful rugged bluff
bordering the Mississippi River is in the Effigy Mounds National Monument
above Marquette and McGregor,  Iowa" Ektachrome by Margery Goergen
published by Goergen Studio, McGregor, Iowa, circa 1954

Found: "Greetings from Eagle River, Wis., Colorful autumn in the Vactionland of Wisconsin: Magnificent Autumn!...comes like a warrior with the stain of blood on his brazen mail...Longfellow" published by Wyman Photo Center, Wausau, Wisconsin, postmarked November 26, 1952

Found: "A Modern Super-Highway thru the Grandeur of Autumn" photo by Free Lance Photographers Guild, Inc. published by C. R. Brown Co., Eau Claire, Wis,  circa 1960

Found: "Greetings from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, Lookout," published by Wyman Post Card Co, Wausau, Wis, circa 1960

    

Duane Hall confessing his psychopathic driving urges, scene from Annie Hall

Driving the rural back roads of 21st century Wisconsin isn't as romantic as the vintage postcards we've posted once portrayed it when gawking at the landscape was the only concern. Now there are texting teens, liquid manure spills, and farm implements wider than the road. The "picturesque" mid-century roadways depicted on postcards invited folks to jump in their cars with family and friends to motor to destinations throughout the state. Fall colors, rivers, scenic bluffs, and parks peppered the landscape. Being an attentive driver or "keeping your eyes on the road" seemed beside the point. A perfectly neurotic Wisconsin night driving movie scene is a highlight of Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall.  New York City comic Alvy Singer (played by Woody Allen) and night club chanteuse Annie Hall (played by Diane Keaton) visit her home town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Singer's Manhattan aversion to driving plays out in a scene with Annie Hall's brother Duane (played by Christoper Walken) confessing his psychopathic driving urges in his dimly lit bedroom: "Sometimes when I'm driving on the road at night and I see two headlights coming toward me fast, I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion, the sound of shattering glas, the flames rising out of the flying gasoline..." Modern Super-Highways with their smooth curves, reinforced dividers, and fenced-off roadbeds eliminate many rural hazards as drivers zoom between cities and suburbs. Still, the back roads remain the most intriguing Wisconsin driving as they weave through the glacial Wisconsin landscape, small towns, and woods with lush trees arching overhead.

Found: Antigo by Curteichcolor® 3-D Natural Color Reproduction and Antigo Card Service, Antigo, Wisconsin, circa 1960

Moonlight on Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, WI

Moonlight on Lake Michigan, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, July 5, 2008
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann 

Found: Superior, Wis., Moonlight on Lake Superior Bay
 published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1907

 Found: "Two Rivers -- Coolest Spot in Wisconsin"
by Curteich, Chicago, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Lake  Geneva, from Recreation Building, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Lake Monona, Foot of Monona Avenue, Madison, Wis. by E.A. Bishop Publishing, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Ellison Bay, Door County, Wisconsin by Ahrens News Agency, circa 1930

Found: Moonlight on Wisconsin River, Nelson Dewey State Park, Near Prairie Du Chien, Wis. circa 1931
Caption: "...Indeed it is difficult to imagine a scene more charming than the Wisconsin River by moonlight, as the quiet waters reflect the silvery rays on the pebbled beach and along the winding shores and wooded banks."

The melancholy moon shimmering on lakes and rivers appears a common theme circa 1930. In post-Great Depression America, the faraway moon touching the landscape creates a mystic escape.