A beautiful, impeccably kept white photo album in our possession records not only my Mother-in-law’s wedding in 1954, but captures a slice of life in old Milwaukee when the engines of manufacturing were humming away night and day.
It was a late October evening in when Tom’s parents were married in a little neighborhood Lutheran church their families belonged to. Back then you didn’t go into debt for a big, show-off wedding with all the glitz and glam a credit card or two or three could purchase. Those years, if your father didn’t pay for a big wedding, you saved up until you could pay for it up front.
Milwaukee back then was a manufacturing and brewery town and countless numbers made their modest livings at the various factories and plants around the vibrant, largely German town. The German planners of Milwaukee made the city streets in a sensible North/South grid with a few angle streets. They threw in a host of beautiful neighborhood parks with flowers lining the many boulevards throughout the city. Mile after mile of affordable bungalows and duplexes lined the streets where hardworking men came home to their families each night. On Friday nights, the largely Catholic and Lutheran town featured fish fries at hole in the wall places all over. Fish fries still are a Milwaukee specialty on Friday nights. On Sundays, delis and grocery stores across the area still sell hot ham and rolls, another Milwaukee specialty thanks to the German and Polish influence.
These beautiful photographs are only a few of those taken the night of Jenny and Bill’s wedding. (Our son William is named for his grandfather.) Somehow the black and white gives a special romance to the photos, a slice of life in good old Milwaukee on a late October evening long ago.
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May 25, 2012 at 02:09
Ingrid Schlueter
Just a note about Milwaukee. Like most urban areas, Milwaukee has changed dramatically from the powerhouse manufacturing city it once was. Crime and high taxes are two of the big enemies now that drive out residents and businesses. A failed school system and far too many tax and spend liberals have done much to harm a once great city. For decades Cadillac welfare policies brought people from all over the country to take advantage of the system, and this did much to contribute to Milwaukee’s decline as the financial drain grew worse. There are still nice areas within Milwaukee, but shrinking property values and escalating taxes no longer make it an attractive option unless residency requirements for jobs keep you there. Who wants to pay more for less – a failed school system, areas blighted by crime and crumbling housing, and fewer and fewer jobs? In Milwaukee’s favor is a great Arts community, a beautiful lakefront, great museums and a downtown that has been improved considerably in recent years. It will always be my hometown, and I hope its fortunes can improve.
May 25, 2012 at 03:58
Lisa Green Kentala
I LOVE these vintage photos! One thing always puzzles me about the 1950s. Why does everyone look so old – or maybe I should say “so adult”? Maybe it’s clothing? Hairstyles? I’m looking through the eyes of our casual contemporary culture, I know, but I’ve always felt this way about the 50s.
May 25, 2012 at 15:23
CherylK
Love the black and white photos! I think photography went backwards when it went color. Black and white minimizes flaws and just looks classier. My mother grew up in Milwaukee area but moved to Indiana when she got married. We visited my grandparents in West Allis for years. It was a very clean town compared to Fort Wayne where I was raised.
May 28, 2012 at 04:23
anne k
Your post brought back memories of visiting my Grandmother in Milwaukee during the late forties. We would ride the street cars to the Washington Zoo, the Museum, the Library ( where we could listen to the new LP records in sound proof booths) and attend concerts under the stars in Washington Park. There were no expressway interchanges to whisk us past all the really neat things to see, and I remember the neighborhood parks and flowered boulevards. We have returned often to visit our daughter but it is now a different city entirely. Thanks for the memories and the pictures! Our wedding photos were also in black and white, with my dress being very similar to the one pictured on your blog.
May 28, 2012 at 14:34
Ingrid Schlueter
Anne, I grew up just a few blocks from Washington Park, but by the time I was around, they had closed the zoo and moved it to Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa. The Washington Park bandshell continued to host the Milwaukee Symphony, the Florentine Opera and other groups for years. In fact, my husband Tom played there with the symphony when I was just a girl. (He is 8 years older than me.) We could hear the music from our front porch often. They called it Music Under the Stars. It was winding down by the mid to late 80′s as the area had changed and safety become an issue. (A suburban couple was robbed at gunpoint, and that put a major chill on the willingness of people to attend there.) It was a lovely place with the lagoon for skaters in the winter. (I had my first ice skates stolen at that lagoon, and I don’t think we ever returned.) Old Milwaukee was a great place to grow up.
May 28, 2012 at 22:01
anne k
Music under the stars…that was it! We heard great artists back then; I remember in particular hearing Lily Pons and Mario Lanza. I don’t even think there was an admission fee. Those were the days!
May 29, 2012 at 16:14
Lisa Green Kentala
Ingrid your description of the demise of Milwaukee sounds a lot like Chicago – where I am. Such a shame.