Mehring Monday: 1959 Program concluded

Page 14: Who wouldn't want to stay at Ace Motel in Topeka or Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln? Actually, according to this court document, the Ace Motel is in North Topeka. Flagstone Bar is still around at the same location.


Page 15: I wonder if Bob Lloyd went on the road trips to Lincoln, Sioux City, and all other points on the Three-I League compass when there was only one game that was broadcast back home.

Also, if 'Class B Baseball is Clean, Wholesome Recreation for All', does that mean everything else is dirty and sinful?


Page 16: 126 game season? The stitches that give the baseball head its mouth is beyond creepy. Remember Graf's? Man, I lived off their root beer and Jolly Good's orange soda as a kid.
And -- as best I can tell, this is what is currently at the Pastytime location on S. Oneida Street.


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Page 17: You would think that in the last 50 years "ONE HOUR MARTINIZING" would have made it to about "15 MINUTE MARTINIZING". Which item on the concession list sold the most? Do you think it might have been the cigarettes from the vending machine?


Page 18: JC Penny's used to be downtown on the corner of Superior and College...


...I think this is what is there now.

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Well, it's not showing up correctly. Just hit the ^ arrow on the button in the top left corner and you should see it.

Back Cover: The local paper making companies are on the back cover of just about every Foxes program I have ever seen.

Flashback Friday: 1959 Program pages 11-13

Back to the 1959 program for this week's Flashback.

Page 11 is notable for a frighteningly large apple as the mascot for WAPL. Also, note that WAPL of 1959 is much different from the WAPL of today.

The J.S. Vander Meer who is noted as the manager of Topeka is Johnny "Back-to-back no-hitters" Vander Meer.

Random diner in 1959 walks into a restaurant and asks, "Do you grill?" The man behind the counter responds. "Did you read the sign outside?"



Oh, and Dick's Tavern at 223 E. College Avenue is now Jim's Place.


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Stop in to say hello during the season and tell them you heard about Jim's Place on Rattler Radio.

Two ads for bowling alleys on the same page. I don't think that either minded because they were on the same page as Potato Pascual, the popular player and batting champion from 1958.

Don't you love that the player from 1958 has a bigger picture than the mayors of Kaukauna and Little Chute.


Are Clark stations still around? I haven't seen one in a long time.

Hey, Luebke Roofing sponsored the pre-game show in 1959! They sponsored that t-shirt shooter last year.

Isn't it interesting that an ad for premium beers like Blatz and Hamm's and Old Style share a page with an ad for the area pharmacists?

And I should hope that the pharmacists did their one year internship at an ethical pharmacy.
Premium beers like Blatz, Hamm's, and Old Style? Really?

The Interrogation Room: 1959 Program pages 7-10

This week in the Interrogation Room, we decided to ask a few questions of pages 7-10 of the 1959 Fox Cities Foxes Program.

Let's start with Page 7:

Q: Who were the Mayors of Kimberly and Combined Locks in 1959?

A: Kimberly: Mayor Fulcer; Combined Locks: Mayor Williams.

Q: Any parking problems at Kimberly State Bank?

A: No

Q: Where are my sports headquarters in Kimberly?

A: Shy's Alleys!

Q: Who was the sponsor of the "Knot Hole" Organization?

A: The Optimist Club of Appleton

Q: Who wants to be my milkman?

A: Schaefer Dairy Products at 2036 E. Newberry Street.



Okay. Thank you, Page 7. Page 8 it is your turn.

Q: Ham Baldock? Really?

A: Yes. Really. At the corner of Meade and Wisconsin.

Q: Did you really put Bob Willis's home address in the program?

A. Yes. I did. They wanted to add the names of his three kids. But, I said no.

Q. How long had Hietpas Dairy been serving the area?

A. Since 1918!

Q. How long is my muffler from Sharp Auto Body guaranteed?

A. For the life of your car.

Q. Which beer was "Appleton's Own"

A. Adler Brau Premium Beer.

Q. In 1959, how many of the approximately 150,000 people in the Fox Cities area drank Adler Brau?

A. I don't have those numbers on my page, you goofball.



Okay. Thank you, Page 8. Page 9...

Q. When people thought drugs in 1959...

A. Belling's! Okay! Belling's! You 21st century people and your...Belling's! That's all.

Q. A fish with a cane, a top hat, and a martini?

A. Yes. It worked, too. You can't argue with three locations, can you?

Q. EMMTY?

A. That's how we did phone numbers back then!

Q. There seem to be a lot of alcohol-themed ads here, Page 9...

A. So? Look, it was different back then. Watch Mad Men for crying out loud. Maybe you'll understand.

Q. Ummmmm, the Conway Hotel looked nice.

A. Yeah. Then, they went and did this to it. Now, it's just a bus station and a parking garage.


Page 9, we're just going to let you go. Page 10, you're up next.

Page 10: Oh, Don't mind him. He's been that way since we rolled off the press together. Ask me anything.

Q: Where would Mid-City Beer and Liquor chase a case?

A: Any place!

Q: How in the heck did they do a steak dinner at a liquor store for a shutout?

A: Man, it's Wisconsin. They found a way.

Q: Whom should I have seen at Hahn's?

A: Well, there was Dude...not The Dude, just Dude. Then, there was Gus, Norm, and Emil.

Q: I know that Green Bay was a Dodgers affiliate in '59. That #22 Camilli in the three slot of the lineup card...

A: Nope. It wasn't Dolph Camilli. It was his son, Doug Camilli. Dolph had a great career with Brooklyn. Doug was in the majors from 1960-1967 and again in 1969 with the Dodgers and the Senators.


Thank you to all the pages....even Page 9...for joining us today in The Interrogation Room.

Mehring Monday: 1959 Program continued

Mehring Monday returns after a week hiatus with a quick look at pages 4-6 of the 1959 Fox Cities Foxes program. As always, click the page for a larger image.

Notes on Page Four:

• WNAM with a nice ad in the program.
  
• Where do sportsmen meet?!?! The Owl Tavern, of course.
  
• Yankee Stadium dimensions were goofy.
  
• I have been trying to find information on Mayor Bell. No luck
  

Notes on Page Five:

• In the picture of the directors of Appleton Baseball, I count 10 regular ties, 2 no ties, and 1 bow tie.
  
• Typewriter shop? How quaint.
  
• About the Wettengel's Bar ad at the bottom: Was there a rash of non-regulation pool tables in Appleton during the 50's?
• Wettengel's Bar is now Jack's Apple Pub.
  
• The lower right hand corner may be the finest clip art use of an umpire ever

Notes on Page Six:

• Below: Jack McKeon without mustache. Link: Jack McKeon with mustache.
  
• Heid Music is still in the same place.
  
• K-C Modern Bar with All Sports Events on Radio & TV. If I had a time machine, I would like to go back and see a 1959 Sports Bar. Then, I'd order some buffalo wings, some southwest egg rolls, and a beer other than Schlitz or Pabst Blue Ribbon...and be chased out of the place.
• Maybe I should stop at Uncle Jim's Bar to see what the place looks like today, because that is the business at 317 N. Appleton in Appleton.
• After swinging by Jack's Apple Pub, I can see the State Street Diner. State Street Diner is the former King Bee Lunch. King Bee? Do they have those?
  

I will continue the look through the 1959 Program this week in a special edition of The Interrogation Room and on Flashback Friday.

Flashback Friday: 1959 Program

Deadlines and cleaning and just overall getting ready for the 2010 season have taken over this week. But, I did not want to let Flashback Friday go by without something this week.

So here is a little project that I have been saving for just such an occasion. I have scanned in the entire 1959 Fox Cities Foxes program. Over the next few weeks, I'll share a few pages at a time.

This week the cover and the first three pages.

As always, click on the image to see a larger image.

Again, Three I League stands for Indiana-Illinois-Iowa. There are no teams in Indiana, no teams in Illinois, two teams in Wisconsin, a team in Nebraska, a team in Kansas, and four teams in Iowa.

One of my goals is to find the addresses for some of the taverns that advertised in 1959 and see if they are still around.

For example, Schreiter's Tavern at 211 So. Walnut. Put that address into Google Maps and when the street view comes up hit the button that moves the view to the left to see what it is now.

Also, I want to point out how awesome it is that -- in the hometown of Tailgunner Joe and just two years after his death -- there was a business called People's Laundry. From each according to his starch preference to each according to their stains. They probably ran a special on May Day.

It looks like a much happier place now. If you live in Appleton, you have driven by the place and seen a gorilla.

The Lawrence H. Rennert of Oshkosh, Wisconsin on the umpire list? Yes. That is future National League Umpire "Dutch" Rennert.
I was just in the Zuelke Building to drop something off the other day. They still have a barber shop, but it is on the ground floor. It's called the Plaza Barber Shop. I almost stopped in to get a haircut.

As time allows, I will put the rest of the pages up before Opening Day!