Wayback Wednesday: Wisconsin and the Progressive Era

Wayback Wednesday: 

Wisconsin and the Progressive Era

The first couple of decades of the 1900s were an interesting time, and each state was affected differently. By the 1910s, Wisconsin was leading the country in milk and cheese production having doubled the number of cows in the state between 1900 and 1910. The University of Wisconsin appointed Henry A. William its first agricultural professor in 1880. He was appointed dean in 1891 and led the department’s growth, founded the first dairy school, and experimented with new dairy methods.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin governor Robert M. La Follette was leading the charge into the Progressive Era, a time period known for its social and political reform efforts. Ten years before he was elected, the La Follette was an up-and-coming attorney when Republican leader Philetus Sawyer offered him a bribe to fix a court case. Incensed, “For the rest of the decade, La Follette traveled around the state speaking out against crooked politicians, powerful lumber barons, and corrupt railroad interests. Elected governor in 1900, he pledged to institute reforms to protect common people. Those who followed him called themselves "Progressive" Republicans. They believed that the proper business of government was not business, but service to the common people.” (Wisconsin Historical Society)

Laws passed during his tenure (1901-1909) include a civil service act that regulated appointments to

public office within the state, an automobile license law, a statewide primary election system, the implementation of maximum hours of labor for children as well as a list of dangerous occupations prohibited to children under 16, and the nation’s first Workmen’s Compensation Act (now Worker’s Compensation), guaranteeing injury compensation as a legal right.

In 1913, Wisconsin passed the first minimum wage law that specified a “living wage” must be paid to women and minors, as well as the first state income tax. Other laws subjected railroads, mortgages, and inheritances to taxation. Additional laws provided state control over how corporations issued stock and imposed stricter regulations on railroad and insurance companies. Reforms included new sanitation systems, municipally owned water and power systems, the creation of community parks, and improved schools.

Interestingly, an area of reform that Wisconsin didn’t support was women’s suffrage. Referendum after referendum was voted down. With the passage of the nineteenth amendment women had the right to vote in federal elections, however, they would not be allowed to vote in state elections until fourteen years later.

By 1914, the Progressive movement had fractured. La Follette was in the Senate, and Governor Frances McGovern supported Theodore Roosevelt for president which angered many of the leaders in the Republican party, then came World War I, interrupting the era. The state’s large German population opposed entering the war in Europe, earning the Wisconsin the nickname “Traitor State.” Ultimately, more than 118,000 Wisconsinites served in the armed forces, approximately 1,800 who gave their lives.

Photo Credits:

Henry A. William: Public Domain

Justice Scales: Pixabay/Sang Hyung Cho

Women: Public Domain/Library of Congress

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Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Purchase link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ

Wayback Wednesday: More Inventions from the Progressive Era

Wayback Wednesday: 

More Inventions from the Progressive Era

Last week I introduced several inventions that patented during the two decades that comprise the Progressive Era, a time period of great social activism, political reform, and technological advances. Here are a few more items that came to fruition between 1900 and 1929:

• Disposable Safety Razor: Most folks living in New England are quite familiar with King Camp Gillette, a traveling hardware salesman who invented the double-edged, disposable safety razor attached to a re-usable razor handle because of the multi-million-dollar company that bears his name and has sponsored the professional football team. Gillette applied for a patent in 1901, and it was granted in 1904.
• Air Conditioning: I had no idea A/C was invented this early in history. Willis Carrier (recognize the

  

  Pixabay/Lucio Alfonso

  name?) actually created his system in 1902 to address quality problems at a Brooklyn printing plant, Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company. Humidity and heat were making papers stick together.
• As an HR professional, much of the paperwork that I dispose of gets shredded because of its confidential nature. This handy device is credited to inventor Abbot Augustus Law of Horseshoe, New York. His patent for a "waste paper receptacle" to offer an improved method of disposing of waste paper received a U.S. patent on August 31, 1909.

• 

  Pixabay/Dimitiry

  Binder Clip: Another office product many of you are familiar with was invented in 1911 by Washington, D.C., resident Louis E. Baltzley to help his father, Edwin, a prolific writer and inventor, keep manuscripts in order. The original design was modified five times, but the essential mechanism has never changed.
• Masking tape was invented in 1925, by Richard G. Drew, an employee of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M). He filed U.S. patent #1,760,820 on May 28, 1928, and was issued to him on May 27, 1930. You may remember another 3M invention: the post-it, that was the result of a mistake.
• Kool-Aid: Invented in 1927 by Edwin Perkins of Hastings, Nebraska who had come up with a a method of removing the liquid from a drink called "Fruit Smack." He re-packaged the powder in envelopes and called it "Kool-Ade."

_____________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ

Fiction Friday: An Interview with Ilsa from Love and Chocolate

Fiction Friday: 

An Interview with Ilsa Krause 

from Love and Chocolate

In anticipation of tomorrow’s release, Love and Chocolate, we’re sitting down with main character, Ilsa Krause. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and listen in…

Hello, Ilsa, tell us a little bit about your family. I’m the eldest and have three siblings, Nadine, Tobias, and Hedwig whom we call Heddie. We are very close and live together on our farm which is located in Cocoatown, Wisconsin. We lost Mama fifteen years ago to consumption, and Papa recently died. He was never the same after Mama died. It’s been very difficult but we’re getting by. I don’t know what I’d do without my siblings.

You went to work for Beck’s Chocolate factory. How is that going? Frankly, it’s a mixed blessing. Receiving a regular paycheck has been our saving grace. We’re able to make regular payments to our creditors. You see, Papa left behind lots of debt, so we made agreements with the men he owed money too. It was rather embarrassing, but they’ve been most understanding. I love the job itself; it’s very challenging, but sometimes there are difficulties with my co-workers. Why can’t they just do their jobs and get along with each other? Who cares if someone comes from another country? At some point, all our ancestors came to America as strangers. {shakes her head} Anyway, I’ve learned a lot which is good.

Did you ever consider leaving Cocoatown? Why or why not? No, not at all. I was born and raised here.

Photo: Pixabay

My family is here. Friends. I can’t imagine starting over somewhere else.

How would your siblings describe you? Probably dictatorial, overbearing, and unbending…{grins}…but hopefully, in an afterthought they say confident, organized, and well-meaning.

What is your biggest regret? Not telling Papa that I loved him. We don’t tend to be a demonstrative family. We don’t hug or tell each other we care or that we’ve done something well. After Papa, I realized how important it was to say those things to him.

Photo: Pixabay/
Jose Antonio Alba

Where is your “happy place?” Between the pages of a good book, most definitely. The actual place doesn’t matter. I can read lying in bed, curled in a chair in the parlor, or sitting on the grass under a tree. When I begin reading, the world fades away.

What is one thing you always carry with you? A book. Not very practical, I know, but having a book with me means I’m never alone.

____________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ

Wayback Wednesday: Inventions During the Progressive Era

Wayback Wednesday: 

Inventions from the Progressive Era

The Progressive Era in the United States encompasses the two decades from 1900 to 1929 and was a period of sweeping social activism and political reform across the nation. Per Wikipedia: “Progressives sought to address the problems caused by rapid industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption as well as the enormous concentration of industrial ownership in monopolies. Progressive reformers were alarmed by the spread of slums, poverty, and the exploitation of labor.”

President Theodore Roosevelt was a leader in the Progressive movement and promised trust-breaking, regulations in the railroad industry and pure food and drugs. Conservation was one of his major focuses, and he established national parks, forests, and monuments. Other well-known progressives include author Upton Sinclair, journalist Ida Tarbell, social worker and reformer Jane Addams, and suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

Technological advances and inventions played a large role during the era with many items still in use today:

• A nickel-zinc battery is a type of rechargeable battery that may be used in cordless power tools,

  

  Pixabay/Thomas

  cordless telephones, digital cameras, etc. In 1900, Thomas Edison filed U.S. Patent #684,204 for the nickel-zinc battery, and it was issued on October 8, 1901. Today’s nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery is very similar with slightly less voltage.
• Fly-swatter: This one surprised me in that I thought it would have been invented long before 1900. The first modern fly-destruction device was invented in 1900 by Robert R. Montgomery, an entrepreneur based in Decatur, Illinois. On January 9, 1900, Montgomery was issued U.S. patent #640,790 for the "Fly-Killer."
• A windowed envelope is a conventional envelope with a plastic window to allow the recipient's address to be printed on the paper contained within. Calling it the "outlook envelope", Americus F. Callahan of Chicago was the first to patent the windowed envelope. U.S. patent #701,839 was filed on December 9, 1901, and issued on June 10, 1902.
• 
  The airplane was invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, who made the first powered and sustained airplane flights under control of the pilot in the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• Perhaps mundane, but very important, nonetheless, the flushometer, or royal flushometer is a water pressure system that uses an inline handle to flush toilets and urinals The flushometer is still in use today in homes and public restrooms around the world. The flushometer was invented in 1906 by American businessman and inventor William Elvis Sloan.
• Do you use an electric blanket? The first electric blanket was invented in 1912 by American physician Sidney I. Russell. This earliest form of an electric blanket was an 'underblanket' under the bed that covered and heated from below.
• Traffic circles (AKA cloverleaf interchange) was first patented in the United States by Arthur Hale, a civil engineer in Maryland, on February 29, 1916.

_____________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ

Wayback Wednesday: The Progressive Era

Wayback Wednesday: The Progressive Era

Taking place from 1901-1929, the Progressive Era in America somewhat parallels the Edwardian Age in England, but rather than the result of trends set by a monarch, the time period was the result of the desire for furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations. Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigration had created the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Slums, poverty, and worker exploitation were rampant across the nation, and monopolies had a tight grip on nearly every industry.

Numerous movements attempted to solve perceived social, political, and economic problems through scientific methods, protecting the environment, and subjecting businesses to copious regulations.

Corruption and “undemocratic political machines,” as one source put it, were targeted by reformers. The

establishment of primary elections, direct election of senators (rather than by state legislatures), referendums, and eventually the right of women to vote brought about much needed change, but not enough.

Monopolies were headed by rich, powerful men who bought politicians and other influential individuals. In an effort to promote fair competition, Progressives pushed antitrust laws and advocated for new government agencies with the responsibility of regulating industry.

At this time magazines experienced a surge in popularity as their prices fell and they began to cover corruption in politics, local government, and big business, known as muckraking. These muckrakers exposed social and political wrongdoing. McClure’s is one of the more well-known of these magazines. At the same time, authors, such as Upton Sinclair, were also addressing the situation. His 1906 novel, The Jungle, attacked unsanitary and inhumane practices in the meatpacking industry. The outcry from his readers prompted the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act passed.

Interestingly, the number of rich families increased significantly, from 100 or so millionaires in the 1870s to 16,000 by 1916. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie led a host of them to a lifestyle of philanthropy, saying they owed a duty to society. During the time, hundreds of millions of dollars were bestowed or bequeathed to colleges, hospitals, libraries, museums, and other organizations aimed at improving the lives of “everyday people.”

_________________

Love and Chocolate

She just needs a job. He wants a career. Is there room in their hearts for love?

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors and save the farm, she takes a job at Beck’s Chocolates, the company her father despised and refused to supply with milk. Then she discovers her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love who unceremoniously dumped her via letter from college. Could life get any more difficult?

A freshly-minted university diploma in his hand, Ernst Webber lands his dream job at Beck’s Chocolates. His plans to work his way up the ladder don’t include romantic entanglements, then Ilsa Krause walks back into his life resurrecting feelings he thought long dead. However, her animosity makes it clear she has no interest in giving him a second chance. Can he get her to change her mind? Does he want to?

Pre-order Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdQerZ