McDonald's Bacon McDouble, Fon du Lac, WI

McDonald's Bacon McDouble, 699 South Military Road, Fon du Lac, Wisconsin (12.15.2013)
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann

One of three McDonald's restaurants in the city of Fon du Lac, Wisconsin offering bacon, holiday cheer, token prairie grass as landscaping, and updated store design on Military Road.

Found: St. Mary's Springs Sanitarium, Fond du Lac, WI

Found: St. Mary's Springs Sanitarium, Near Fond du Lac, Wis.
Written in fountain pen on back:  
"Dear Sis. Will answer your kind and welcome postal. 
Well why don't you and George write me a letter. I have been waiting patiently. 
Well good bye from your loving Sis."
Not stamped or post marked. Circa 1901.

Built in 1901 and run as a sanitarium until 1909, St. Mary's Springs was operated as a rest resort with hot springs according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The Sisters of Saint Agnes turned it first into a Catholic girls college prep school and later a Catholic co-ed K-12 school. The building on the right, Boyle Hall, was torn down in September 2005 after years of benign neglect. The building on the left does not appear in recent photographs.  Ghost stories about a stillborn baby and the suicide with crucifix of the nun who delivered it in a Boyle Hall elevator were dispelled by ghost hunter Chad Lewis.

Found: Northernaire at Three Lakes, WI

Found: Northernaire at Three Lakes, Wisconsin. Kodachrome by Sid Lane published by
Wyman Photo Center, Wausau, Wis. Dextone. Made Direct from Kodachrome and Ansco Color by
 Dexter Press, Pearl River, N.Y., circa 1940s

Found: Village Hall, Ephraim, Wisconsin. A View of Ephraim's picturesque village hall
with its quaint Norwegian archiecture, showing Wlson's Restaurant and Gift Shop in the background
located 27 miles North of Sturgeon Bay, on Highway 42 by the L.L. Cook Co.,
A Genuine Kodachrome Reproduction © 1952.

Found: Beach and Camping Area. Shell Lake, Wisconsin. Photo and published by
G.R. Brown Co. Rt. 5, Eau Claire, WI circa 1970s.

Found: Beautiful Color Lighted Fountain at Valley Motel. Highways 41 and 29, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Charm, Comfort, Courtesy. 56 De Luxe New Units, Dining Room, T.V., RADIO, MUSIC.
In Every Room by Lefebvre Photos Green Bay, circa 1960s.

Found: Lake Park Pavillion, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 
 by E. C. Kropp Co. Milwaukee, circa 1920s.

Found: Toll Gate, Fond du Lac, WI

Found: 5900. Toll Gate, Fond du Lac, Wis. postmarked 1914
Written in fountain pen on the back side:
"Dear Mother: Received curtains O.K. this A.M. and am very much pleased oer them. Many thanks. 
I will send the postage when there is enough to write a letter about. Lizzie and Loda came the noon you left. 
They came here then Esther took Loren and I wheeled Loda up to Chas. I just got there. 
Mrs. K. phone and said Loren was crying so hard she couldn't do anything with him so had to come right home.
Mrs. Hayes was here for awhile this P.S. and now Mrs. Barrett and Mrs. Claffe just left. 
Were here after Money for the preacher. 
Am sending your card on that came today. Mabel. Write Soon.

Lake Winnebago, Fond du Lac, WI

Lake Winnebago looking East, Menomonee Park, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, October 17, 2012

Found: Yachting on Lake Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Wis. No. 4842 circa 1912.
Written on the backside in pencil: "Dear Papa, Mamma said that you should
hurryup and get here because Mrs. and Dr. Jones are coming up heee.
Am having a fine time. Florence Robbins. postmarked Taycheedah, Wisconsin July 1 P.M. 1912.

We've been photographing Lake Michigan for years -- the horizon is always the water touching sky. ILake Winnebago reveals a shoreline from some vantage points even though it is the largest inland lakes in the Wisconsin and one of the largest in the US. We could see a wind farm and trees and the lake was tumultuous the rainy day we photographed in October 2012. The Lake contains sturgeon sometimes said to be more than a hundred years old. Spearfishing sturgeon from ice shanties in February is allowed by the DNR but limited as the creatures are on the verge of extinction from poaching and over fishing. The below video documents the culture, ritual, and history of spearfishing the primal sturgeon.

Photographing the mysterious Lake Winnebago, October 17, 2012

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

Catholic Charities, Fond du Lac, WI

Catholic Charities and Tattoo, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, December 2009
© J. Shimon & J. Lindemann 

Pump-n-Pantry, Fond du Lac, WI

Pump-n-Pantry, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 2009