​With income tax season upon us, this is a good time to reflect on how taxes and tax laws have changed since World War One. In addition to having to deal with food rationing, the draft, and fuel shortages for the first time in history, Americans saw dynamic changes to how their taxes were collected and disbursed during the WWI era.
 
America has always had an uneasy history with taxes. Our revolution from the British Empire was inspired in part by the “No Taxation Without Representation” ethos, and citizens have always tried to keep their taxes as low as possible. However, the success of the government and its services depends on taxes, making them a necessity that people still grumble about. Abraham Lincoln created the first federal income tax law and the Internal Revenue Service in 1862 to help fund the Civil War. The federal income tax was repealed in 1872, only to be brought back in 1894…only to be repealed a year later. Finally, in 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, legalizing the federal income tax. In that year, the common income tax rate was 1% on net income above $3,000, with an additional 6% surtax on incomes above $500,000. With tax rates that low, it would have seemed that people would not have had much to complain about! 

During World War One, the government needed a bigger source of income to fund the military and support its allies in the conflict. The highest income tax rate jumped from 15 percent in 1916 to 67 percent in 1917 to 77 percent in 1918. This was on top of Americans being asked to contribute what little discretionary income they had left to purchase Liberty Bonds! People would have to wait until the Roaring Twenties for tax rates to lower significantly and have more income to purchase luxury goods or common household objects.
 
Americans also had to file their taxes before March 15th during the WWI era. After the passage of the 16th Amendment, the date for filing was originally March 1st. Following tax reform laws in 1954, the date was pushed back to April 15th, where it remains to this day. This was to allow government workers to collect, sort, and tabulate taxes all by hand—a necessity in the era before Turbotax and other computerized tax filing systems.
 
Admittedly, I am not an expert on tax laws or the ins and outs of finance. However, it is important to know the history behind how tax laws are formulated and passed, as they affect everyone in America. And it goes without saying, be sure to work on your taxes if you haven’t started them yet!
--Jordan 
 
https://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Free_Resources/Federal-Income-Tax-Rates.aspx
 
http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/irs_history.html
 
https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/brief-history-of-irs

​With the 100th Anniversary of World War One upon us, 100 years seems like an incredibly long time for some people to imagine. Most people can’t imagine anything 100 years old, much less anything that has existed since then. To give a sense of perspective on exactly how long 100 years is, here is a brief list of some things that had not existed in 1918:

• Sliced bread was first sold in stores in 1928. Otto Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, had developed a prototype bread slicer in 1912, but it was destroyed in a fire. Until then, people had to make do with slicing whole loaves of bread to make toast or sandwiches!  

All of these things that we take for granted had not existed when the United States was involved in World War One. 100 years may seem like an incredibly long time to think about, but in the grand scheme of history, it's only the blink of an eye.
​--Jordan

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I have begun to cook some recipes from a cookbook published by the U.S Food Administration during World War 1. Because of food rationing and shortages of ingredients that most Americans were used to cooking with, the organization found it appropriate to publish a helpful cookbook to instruct them on how to make the most of their limited culinary resources. The introduction reminded housewives that:

With that in mind, I decided to try out some of these recipes myself. I find that one of the best ways of learning about history is through experiencing it yourself--even if that means eating it! You can find the entire cookbook and even more delicious recipes at the link below:
​http://exhibitions.theworldwar.org/war-fare/#/in-the-kitchen/book

The first recipe I attempted to make was Poultry With Peas. It calls for:

• 1 cup cold chicken, duck or turkey, leftover from a roast (I used chicken)
• 1 cup canned peas, or frozen
• 2 tablespoons fat (bacon fat, butter or drippings from poultry roast) (I used bacon fat)
• 2 tablespoons rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• salt and pepper, to taste

Once you have all the ingredients gathered,

1. Melt fat in a saucepan, add the flour and whisk until brown.
2. Whisk in the milk gradually, cook until thick.
3. Add the chicken, peas and seasoning.
4. Serve over savory rice or biscuits. (I used frozen biscuits)

One thing that struck me as I was making the recipe was that housewives and cooks in 1918 didn't have the luxury of using nonstick pans and plastic utensils to aid with their cooking!

Overall, the recipe was very simple to cook and doesn't require a lot of advanced knowledge of cooking to make. It took no more than 30 minutes to complete.

After baking the biscuits and letting the gravy sit, the time came to sample the finished product. It was quite tasty and made for a simple, if hearty, dinner. You can definitely taste the peas in the meal, so adding salt and pepper to taste is highly recommended. Since my dad and I enjoyed it for dinner, there was plenty left over for, well, leftovers! 

If you're in the mood for a simple dinner to cook, I would highly recommend this recipe. Uncle Sam and Herbert Hoover would thank you!

​--Jordan

We may think of World War One as having been exclusively fought by the "doughboys," sailors, and airmen over in the trenches of France and Belgium. However, civilians in the home front--especially housewives--were encouraged to do their part to ensure their support for the American war effort. In no place was this more evident than in grocery stores and kitchens across the country. For the first time in American history, civilians were encouraged to drastically change their eating habits in order to aid the military.

Shortly after declaring war on Germany in April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson realized that food was just as vital as munitions and fuel in aiding the American war effort. He established the U.S Food Administration in order to set guidelines for food production and rationing among the American populace. In addition to feeding its own army, America also had to provide food for its allies and refugees in Europe. Americans could no longer afford to be wasteful in their eating and grocery shopping habits. 

Seeking the perfect man to lead this new task, Wilson recruited mining magnate and foreign aid worker Herbert Hoover to head the Food Administration. Having earned a reputation for effectively distributing food and humanitarian aid to the refugees of France and Belgium early in the war, Hoover was well suited to the task of managing the culinary needs of Americans. Hoover's Food Administration successfully convinced Americans from all walks of life to do with less: eat less, buy only what is needed, and conserve food products whenever possible. He also encouraged Americans to observe "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" to further drive his point home. So pervasive was this sense of voluntary thriftiness that making do with less came to be known as "Hooverizing!" 
​

For the remainder of the war, Americans tightened their belts and learned how to eat food that was not fancy by any means. Whether it was eating more chicken and fish instead of beef, substituting more vegetables in their diet, or using less wheat and sugar in baking, they did it with the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts made a difference to the men fighting "Over There."

For more information about the phenomenon of "Hooverizing" food during the war, I would highly recommend browsing the "War Fare: From The Home Front To The Frontlines" project published through the National WWI Museum's website. They have also reproduced some recipes from official U.S Food Administration cookbooks, with rationing and ingredient substitution in mind. From time to time, I will be cooking some of these recipes myself and sharing the results on this blog! I have included the link to the "War Fare" online project below:

 http://exhibitions.theworldwar.org/war-fare/#/

​-Jordan

Greetings Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear visitors!

My name is Jordan Heller and I am a student at UW-Milwaukee working on my Masters Degree in Public History. I graduated from UW-Green Bay in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, double majoring in History and Arts Management. I have recently acquired an internship here at the Chudnow Museum and I am excited to be working with the staff and the museum's vast and eclectic collection.

For those of you who know me well, I have an immense passion for history in all shapes and sizes. In particular, I have been fascinated by the history of the First World War. I have considered myself more of a World War Two history buff, but in the months and years leading up to the Centenary of World War One in 2014, I have been even more interested in the history behind this conflict. Ever since the start of the centenary (in Europe) in July 2014, I have worked hard to read, view, and generally get my hands on anything involving WWI history. It has since become a new passion of mine and has guided and inspired my studies all throughout college and into graduate school.

To many, WWI seems like an incredibly distant memory. The United States was a combatant for only 19 months from April 1917 to November 1918--a blink of the eye in most history textbooks. Outside of history books, the only exposure some people have to WWI is through Snoopy's imagined career as a Royal Flying Corps pilot seeking a fight with the Red Baron in Charles Schulz's Peanuts comics or through movies such as The African Queen, Legends of the Fall, All Quiet on the Western Front, or more recently, Wonder Woman. We can also attribute this lack of perspective through the lack of surviving WWI veterans; the last American veteran who served in the war, Frank Buckles, died in 2011. Compared to the significant--but steadily decreasing--remaining population of WWII veterans, most people alive today do not have a personal connection to WWI through the stories of those who lived through it.

This is where my work as a prospective historian comes in. I feel that the best way for people to gain an appreciation of history is by understanding it through a highly personal perspectve. History is more than reading about dates and famous people in textbooks; the who, why, and how is more important than the what and when. Through this blog published by the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear, I hope to encourage people near and far to learn about World War One almost as if they are experiencing it as it happened. Utilizing pieces from the Chudnow Museum's collection and outside, I aim to provide a personalized and approachable history of "The Great War" through a series of posts throughout the year.

I look forward to writing this blog, and I hope that you all enjoy reading and learning from it.

​Jordan Heller

​The Reidel Company of Milwaukee began making and selling marshmallows early in the first decade of the 20th century. They were not alone in this pursuit as other confectioners like Ziegler, American Candy, Johnston and Eline’s took a piece of the marshmallow pie, as it were. However, Imperial Foods/Reidel struck upon the concept of making their brand synonymous with roasting the sweet treat while cooking outdoors.1 Campfire continued to be the market leader with ideas such as rounding the marshmallow to make them easier to stir and use for baking, packaging them in a wax-lined, cardboard box with exterior wrapper to keep them soft and fresh, and encouraging cooks to try them with foods such as hot chocolate and sweet potatoes or even in green salads or meatloaf.

n the middle of the 20th century, Borden Inc. went on a buying spree which in 1964 included the The Angelus Company brands of Campfire3 (and Cracker Jack). As a novelty collectible, the company made reproductions of the 1910s and 1920s which are easy to distinguish from more valuable originals as they include the Borden’s logo. Unfortunately for Borden, further spending sprees, the large variety of brands and debts incurred acquiring them, proved to be too unwieldy and the company lost brands and was acquired towards the end of the century. 
 
Since 2003, Campfire has been part of the Doumak, Inc which is headquartered just outside of Chicago.4 The company has again embraced the roots of innovation and multiple uses for this confection. 2017 is the hundredth anniversary of Campfire marshmallows and it is aiming to last for at least another century.

Thanks to Doumak, Inc. we can offer this vintage Campfire merchandise on Amazon:

​by Joel Willems, curator

        -All images used are in the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear collection-
1.http://www.campfiremarshmallows.com/campfire-history/
2.http://www.twisted-candy.com/crispies-treats-history.html
3.http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/borden-inc
4.http://www.campfiremarshmallows.com/campfire-history/

1890s Cream City of the Lakes
An apt description for a city built of brick that turned a creamy gold when fired instead of the usual red or brown. When viewed from the Lake Michigan during the sunrise, the still cleaned brick buildings must have radiantly shown!

1900s A Bright Spot
A new century brought a change. You can notice a reference to the shining city on the lake. Milwaukee was now billed as a top destination for conventions. With the many breweries, opera houses, vaudeville theaters, parks and more attractions (some illegal) the city drew in various national club, labor, industrial and athletic conventions in the early 20th century.

1920s Making Milwaukee Mighty
The cities industrial and shipping base increased greatly during the first World Wars. The Great Depression of the 1930s was not kind to the global community but Milwaukee suffered less than many cities its size. As the depression and dust bowl continued, more rural citizens and immigrants flocked to the big cities to look for employment.

1920s & 1930s Keep Milwaukee Famous
Used as a slogan by Daniel Hoan who wished to remind voters of how the city improved with him as mayor. It borrows quite a lot from Schlitz's branding as, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". Schlitz itself rebranded during prohibition encouraging buyers to purchase it's barley malt that, "Keeps Milwaukee Famous". Well, a good slogan is a good slogan.

C. 1940 Keep Milwaukee on Top
 Investors and workers alike needed to be reminded that the city was still important in the region and the world. Although it might be viewed as a slight improvement over the "Milwaukee Mighty", it isn't that different from the previous "Keep" slogan.

1970s Milwaukee: Talk It Up
Following WWII, city slogans seemed to take second place to the branding of individual companies towards consumers. Interestingly, this is also the decade that brought the shows of "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley" into every household with a television. Although the slogan seems a little confusing, it definitely has a colorful '70s look. See a sample at the bottom link.

c. 1980 Milwaukee: Great For Living, Great For Business
A lengthy slogan trying very hard. The flight to the suburbs was on and the downtown of Milwaukee was often very deserted shortly after five o'clock. The city is still working to try people back to the center to this very day.

Like the period following World War II, city slogans have seemed to again fall out of fashion. Visit Milwaukee currently uses a wordless sketch of the art museum. In a city with over half a million people, multiple interests and many businesses, perhaps it is difficult to find a consensus today.

For more images and reflections of the most recent slogans, read Matthew Prigge's Shepherd Express article: Milwaukee City Slogans: Talk 'em Up! 


By Joel Willems
Curator, Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear

Prior to World War I, members of the Wisconsin National Guard received important active duty experience along the Mexican border. In March 1916, the United States sent over 110,000 National Guard troops to the border against the Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa. Wisconsin sent 3 infantry regiments, 2 cavalry troops, an artillery battery, and a field hospital (over 4,000 men) for service. While these men did not see battle or suffer any casualties, this provided mobilization and organizational experience.

In April 1917, mere months after Wisconsin troops returned from the border, the United States declared war on Germany and officially entered the war. Men and women from Wisconsin served in all branches of the armed forces, although the largest concentration of Badgers was in the 32nd Division. 18,000 Wisconsin National Guardsmen began training at Camp Douglas and were eventually merged with Michigan National Guardsmen into the 32nd Division. The 32nd Division arrived in France in early 1918, saw significant action, taking part in three major offensives, and was the first American troops to reach German soil.  

An additional 10,000 Wisconsin men and women volunteered for service, while 90,000 men were drafted, bringing the total contribution of the state to about 120,000. They served in hundreds of units within the Army, Army Air Corps, Army Nurse Corps, Marines and Navy. These veterans suffered about ten per cent casualties, with over 2,000 dying in service

This is part of our exhibit on WWI at the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear. The exhibit opens April 2, 2017.

On February 20, 1928, 147 thousand, six hundred Master Padlocks were shipped by rail to New York City. The shipment weighed sixteen tons and was worth $65,000.  The humorous and ironical part was that the locks were made in Milwaukee, the national beer capital, and in quarters leased from the Pabst Brewery. Pabst was not brewing beer because of the National Prohibition Act. 

The newspapers were full of articles concerning raids by Federal agents on distilling operations and speakeasies. The tools in the trade of the Federal agents consisted of two items; a long handled ax to smash the barrels of illegal brew and a supply of padlocks to secure the doors and prevent any further use of the establishment.

In the majority of cases, the locks used were Master padlocks, the strongest padlocks ever built. Twenty cold-rolled steel plates, seven times riveted and forming a solid, indestructible case. It could be hammered upon and would not break or crack.

It took seven trucks to move the 16 tons of locks from the company to the train yard. On the sides of the trucks were banners that read, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous." These banners were crossed out and covered by banners, "Make Milwaukee Mightier." Acting Mayor Cornelius Corcoran of Milwaukee locked the rail car witha 3-foot padlock and broke a bottle of near beer over it. He sent the key to Jimmy Walker, mayor of New York, by air mail.

Images and research by John Lupiezowieck, Master Lock historian

Exhibit of Master Lock on display at the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear since June 2016 - now

Mildred Elizabeth Fish was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 16, 1902.  She attended West Division High School, and in 1926 worked at what is now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a lecturer on German literature.  During this time she met her future husband, a German, Arvid Harnack, who was in the U.S. studying at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  They wed in Wisconsin and left for Germany in 1929 where she studied for her doctorate.  The couple moved to Berlin from Giessen in 1930 where she worked as an assistant lecturer of English and American literature and also as a translator.

It was during this time in Berlin that Mildred became interested in Communism as a solution to poverty.  In 1932, she was let go from her teaching position and toured the Soviet Union with her husband and other academics. Arvid and Mildred began a discussion circle that debated the political situation of the time.  This circle became the center of a resistance group that by 1941 was feeding Soviet agents information about German intentions in the upcoming invasion of Russia.  Mildred and her husband recruited more members who were against the Nazi regime and this group became a hub of resistance inside Germany.  

Unfortunately, this group’s radio messages were intercepted and decoded.  The Gestapo arrested Arvid and Mildred on September 7, 1942, and after a quick trial Arvid was executed on Dec. 22, 1942.  Mildred Fish Harnack was originally given a six year sentence by the court, but Hitler refused to endorse this and ordered a new trial.  Upon Hitler’s direct order, Harnack was found guilty and beheaded on Feb. 16, 1943.  Her last words were, “I loved Germany so much.”

For more information, view this short documentary by Wisconsin Public Television: http://wpt.org/nazi-resistance/main