Ethnic Dolls

Recently the Historical Society received a donation of dolls.  These dolls are not ordinary dolls, but very special hand-made ethnic dolls from Germany. They are about 14 inches tall. The two dolls representing Holland have hand-carved wooden shoes, and some of the other dolls have hand-made leather sandals.

Here is the story behind the dolls:

The Women's Association of the First Presbyterian Church of Fond du Lac, organized collections of gently used clothing and canned goods to send to the ravished cities in Europe after World War II. The boxes went to a 'sister' church in Wiesbaden, Germany. To express their gratitude, the women of the German church, from 1946 to 1948 made seven pairs of dolls, and sent them to Margaret Treleven Baker, for her efforts in the organization of this church-sponsored peace project.

Margaret was a former president of the Fond du Lac County Historical Society, and her daughter Jane generously donated these dolls us.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Hesse

Hesse

Upper Bavaria & Tirol

Upper Bavaria & Tirol

Black Forest

Black Forest

Switzerland

Switzerland

Holland

Holland

Jerry from Seven Mile Creek

While sorting through some old newspaper clippings in the library, I read an article that references the book "Jerry of Seven Mile Creek"......a book that I was not familiar with at all.  Knowing that Seven Mile Creek is another name for Lamartine, I was curious, So of course, I had to look it up.  It was written in 1938 by Elmer E Ferris.

I found a used copy on Amazon, and have to say, it was fun reading.  If you like the 'Little House' series of books, you will truly enjoy this book, especially the fond du lac references. Really a great read that I highly recommend to anyone who likes history.  Not sure if I will donate my copy to our library yet, or keep it for myself for a while, that's how much I enjoyed it!

Hope that I can find more old books with a local setting. (Yes, we do have several copies of Seventeenth Summer).

more pictures......

By popular demand, here are some more pictures from the past.....

More downtown pics from the past

Continuing to scan in this collection of slides of Downtown Fond du Lac, taken between 1966 and 1971.  There are some great memories here, and a few.......I don't remember that one!

Old Downtown Buildings

 It's always fun to compare 'Before'  and 'After' pictures.  Here are some buildings from downtown Fond du Lac, which really are something to look at.  These photos are from the late 1960's.

"Before"  Mcknights of old

 

"After" with a facelift at McKnight's Drug Store

Wisconsin Power & Light "Before"

Wisconsin Power & Light "After"

Joe's Fox Hut "Before"

Joe's Fox Hut  "After"

Farmers Market 1970's

Just sorting more photos today, making sure they are labeled correctly in our database, and I came across these old photos of a Fond du Lac Farmers Market, being held on Main St.
It is just so neat to check out the old buildings.   I wish that the original photos were a little clearer, but beggars can't be choosers.

WOW,  ice cream cones for 30 cents.

Midtown Lighting helps to date these photos in the 1970's.

Evangelical Reformed Church of Elmore

The Evangelical Reformed Church of Elmore

Local quarried limestone was used to construct this church in 1867.

There are 34 men in this photograph.  Wish I knew the occasion.  Perhaps this was the dedication of the church?  One man in front is holding a ledger book.  

Elmore, WI