- Welcome to "In Wisconsin." I'm Patty Loew.
This week we tap into two rich Wisconsin traditions
starting with a visit to the National Brewery Museum in Potosi.
- There were over 240 communities in Wisconsin that had breweries.
- Plus, some unique Wisconsin landmarks.
- I think Wisconsin by far is like the tavern state for sure.
- Check out these taverns
through the lens of an award-winning photographer.
Plus, as Packer Nation prepares for the Super Bowl,
we'll take you back for a look at how it all began.
- Curly Lambeau was a Green Bay boy.
And I think he always had dreams that reached to the stars.
- Also, author Michael Perry's whimsical take
on winter in Wisconsin.
- Boy, we've had piles and piles of snow up here this winter.
You know what piles of snow means. Snow tunnels.
- Those reports next on "In Wisconsin."
- Major funding for "In Wisconsin" is provided by:
the people of Alliant Energy, who bring safe, reliable
and environmentally friendly energy to keep homes,
neighborhoods and life in Wisconsin running smoothly.
Alliant Energy, we're on for you.
And Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery Specialists,
of Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Minneapolis
a veterinary team working with pet owners
and family veterinarians providing care for oral disease
and dental problems of small companion animals.
- Some say beer and football go hand in hand,
especially during this Super Bowl weekend.
More than 240 Wisconsin towns once had their own brewery.
While that's no longer the case,
local breweries are making a comeback.
"In Wisconsin" reporter Andy Soth recently visited one
where you can also learn a great deal more
about the history of brewing in Potosi.
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- If you've heard of Potosi in southwest Wisconsin,
there's a good chance it's because of Potosi Beer,
brewed from 1852, until the brewery closed in 1972.
Today, Potosi beer is back.
In an effort that's not only reviving a brand,
but also revitalizing a town.
- This is a small community.
Just about everybody who lives in this community
and even people who live in the surrounding communities,
they either, their father or their uncle,
or their brother or cousin worked at the Potosi Brewery.
This was one of the primary employers
for this region of southwestern Wisconsin.
- That's why many contributed to renovating
the brewery that had stood idle for more than 30 years.
- We have more than 400 individual people
who contributed to this building.
- Those contributions combined with other funding sources
led to a building that offers much more
than a simple brewery tour.
- In this section, we have a welcoming area
by the American Breweriana Association.
They are one of five organizations in the United States
dedicated to preserving the history of breweries.
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We were certainly very, very fortunate to sign a contract
with them for putting in the national museum.
What better place to put a national brewery museum
than in what was a family-owned brewery?
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So many, many different breweries featured in this room,
like I said, most of them in this room,
are Wisconsin breweries.
There were over 240 communities in Wisconsin that had breweries.
A lot of the breweries not only built big cities
but helped build smaller communities like at Potosi.
To my knowledge, this Marshfield neon sign
is the only known neon sign left from the Marshfield Brewery
from Marshfield, Wisconsin.
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On these train sets,
each car is advertising a particular brewery.
- But the National Brewery Museum isn't the only exhibit
worth a tour in this restored building.
- This is an interpretive center for the Great River Road,
one of America's Scenic Byway.
So, we were able to tap into Scenic Byway funds
in order to help restore the building.
- And this facility is home to a transportation exhibit.
- What this does, is tell the history of the Potosi brewery
through the various modes of transportation,
from the horse drawn wagons that were originally used.
We were probably the only brewery that owned its own riverboat.
It made daily runs to Dubuque.
The fleet of trucks after prohibition.
The automobiles that the salesmen would drive.
And the railroad.
- All of this could distract you
from a bit reason to visit a brewery, the beer.
Made here like it had been for more than 100 years. Almost.
- We can take a modern interpretation
of a classic beer,
people who remember the name Potosi can enjoy,
and also the craft beer drinkers
and fanatics can also enjoy.
- Now available once again in bottles,
sales of Potosi beer fund the Potosi Brewery Foundation
and it is hoped down the road will provide
more economic development for the area.
- Across the street there is a $2 million
special events center. There is an art gallery.
That's what this is all about.
It's about preserving this community.
It is more than just a brewery.
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- The National Brewery Museum in Potosi
is open year-round, seven days a week.
You can learn more by going to our website wpt.org,
then scroll down and click on "In Wisconsin."
It's billed as a historical destination
for the entire family.
For some, Wisconsin's tavern culture is
one-of-a-kind and worth documenting.
Just ask award-winning photographer Kyle Corey.
"In Wisconsin" reporter Jo Garrett shows you how
Corey traversed the state with a slice of life exhibit
called "Wisconsin Tavern League."
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- I think Wisconsin's cultural identity has been defined
a lot by the tavern.
I think Wisconsin, by far, is like the tavern state.
- These photos are part of an exhibit called,
"The Wisconsin Tavern League."
The artist is the nationally known
still photographer Carl Corey of Hudson.
- I was in a couple bars, one in Milwaukee called At Random,
another one in Fredericksberg called Booze and Roll.
And the experience of going in there informed me, or alerted me,
to the fact there is something interesting in these taverns.
- For two years, Corey traveled the state,
often in his camper and in the company of his dog, Cheddar.
He set about to document Wisconsin taverns.
We met him in one of his favorites,
the Red Room in Dodgeville.
- The only other state that I think has
the mentality of the tavern as community,
as much as Wisconsin, is Pennsylvania.
Yeah, Pennsylvania has got a very similar demographic
and attitude about the community and taverns
and where we go to meet.
Growing up in Chicago,
we would come to Wisconsin and visit people.
And we'd always go to a tavern.
I was 10 years old, 11 years old, we'd go to a tavern.
I'd play pinball and my folks might have one or two drinks the whole night,
but they'd sit and talk with everybody from the area.
It is something that has been embedded in my mind.
I was trying to document the place
that this interaction occurs in,
and the owners that allow that place to exist,
because that's what I think is going away.
A lot of the taverns I photographed,
as recently as a year ago, are already closed.
And I wanted to save it historically, because it's changing.
- I've owned the place nine years
and probably worked here 23 years or so.
- Laurie Ulren, the owner of the Red Room bar and restaurant.
- I guess the main thing that attracted me here was
Laurie, you know, she's got a vivacious personality.
She's engaging and she's very friendly and nice.
You can tell she really loves this place.
- Carl, how was everything here? - It was good.
- How as your salmon? - Good, thank you. Excellent. - All right. You betcha.
- I want a piece of bread pudding.
- Okay. You bet.
- You know, she makes it welcoming
and comfortable for people.
- I think because we all care about each other.
We're all hometown people and, you know, so close
that if somebody doesn't show, we're kind of wondering
where they are and maybe somebody should go check on them.
We're gonna make you be in all the parades and wave.
(laughter) - You're new mascot. - Oh, funny.
Yes, it's pretty tight.
My goodness! (laughter)
- Yes, it's a very difficult business to be in. - All lingerie.
And the kids don't come; the younger people don't come
to these places to meet and socialize.
They do it all online, primarily, Facebook, internet.
I don't know, LinkedIn, Twitter this and Twitter that.
It's kind of a shame, because there is no face-to-face like this.
- We saw some of that face-to-face in action.
A guy came over, wanted to talk
about Corey's trailer parked outside.
- I like the Airstream...
- ... For not pulling a heavy trailer.
- One of the things that you lose is the ability
to actually socialize, and have that decorum,
the ability to come up to someone to introduce yourself
and talk to them, and respect them, and listen to them, and learn from that.
- Nice meeting you. I'll let you get back to your lunch.
- What is your name? - Byron.
- Byron, pleased to meet you. Good luck to you.
- All right, thanks, man.
- These places provide a particular kind of sustenance.
Connection, conversation,
often served up with a side of sweet memories.
Something they've been doing at the Red Room for decades.
Waitress Kelly Ulren.
- The '30s, I'm guessing. Long before me! (laughing)
You'll have to talk with some of the card boys out there.
Some of them actually, I mean, down the line,
they remember their parents coming, you know,
and playing cards, and the bowling alley downstairs,
and setting pins and what not.
That's where your stories are.
I'm too young to have that memory.
- These are original bar chips.
It says Red Room Bar, Dodgeville, Wisconsin,
good for 5 cents in trade.
That's what a beer cost in 1938.
- There is a wall, and a photo of that wall,
that has graffiti from kids who were pin setters
from the 1930s and 1940s.
And they've scratched their name in there
and the year, and such.
We hear some of them are here today.
They come in here regularly, still 60 or 70 years later,
as 75-year-old and 80-year-old guys.
And it's pretty cool.
This place has been here for them.
- They treat you real well. It's homey.
- It's the best bread pudding I ever had. No B.S.
- It goes good with your beer, right?
- Wisconsin's taverns. Something happens here.
Something Corey captures in "The Wisconsin Tavern League."
- Here, we have a connection, all of us.
You're face-to-face,
and you can see people for what they are.
- And I want people to understand
that there are environments that are unique,
that are there for them, and that it's quite possible
that they won't be here in years to come.
I guess I wanted to save them, to document them
and save them in pictures the way I've see them.
- Corey's tavern photography project will soon
be the subject of a book called "Wisconsin Tavern League."
It will be published by the Wisconsin Historical Society
this fall and includes commentary
by a curator from the Smithsonian.
The book also looks at the role of taverns
to our state's culture.
You can bet bar stools around the state
will be packed with Packer fans.
After all, it's been 14 years since the big boys
sporting green and gold have won the Super Bowl.
But, you have to go back a lot farther than that to find
the beginning of this football franchise
in what is now known as Titletown, USA.
- Shortly before they began making paper in Green Bay
there was a new game sweeping the country
leaving mangled bodies in its wake.
It horrified college presidents,
but it was an immediate favorite of the fans.
In fact, football was such a good fit for Green Bay,
it's a wonder they didn't invent the game.
- Football has been in Green Bay since 1895,
and that was pretty early by most standards in the nation.
A gentleman named Fred Hulbert loved football,
because he had played it at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam.
He got a bunch of toughs, for the most part,
from Green Bay's westside.
They were primarily the sons of Irish railroad workers.
And according to what I'm told, I can't say it for certainty,
but I guess these guys liked to fight a lot.
And so, Fred rounded them up and said, "Well, here,
"I'll give you kind of a form of fighting."
There is a little bit of organization to it
and he taught them football.
Actually, one of the guys early on said I love football,
because you can bust the guy in the chops,
and you won't get thrown in jail.
- Curly Lambeau, what he told me was he a freshman
at Notre Dame in 1918.
He was a pretty good football player, according to all reports.
When he came home for the holidays,
he had a bad case of tonsillitis.
He went to his family physician who told him
that he would have to wait to let the infection subside
before he could operate, but the tonsils
would have to be removed.
By time he had fully recovered,
it was too late to go second semester,
so he got a job at the Indian Packing Company.
$250 a month and he said he thought
it was all the money there was in the world.
- Curly Lambeau was a Green Bay boy.
I think he always had dreams that reached to the stars.
He was an athletic phenomenon at East High School,
and kind of a cocksure kid that had a nice wave of hair.
I would contend it was Curly's pompous air
and his panache that probably gave us the Packers,
and why Green Bay probably still has the Packers.
Because there were an awful lot of guys who played by the rules,
and didn't break some of those social norms,
and their teams, of course, no longer exist.
- He was expensive, well-ripped,
of course a charmer with the ladies.
And very confident in himself, always. About everything.
He ran into George Whitney Calhoun,
the sports editor of the Press Gazette on the street one day.
When Calhoun asked what he was going to do about football,
he said, "Well, I would like to play, but don't want to go back to Notre Dame."
Calhoun said, "Well, why don't you start your own team?"
I'll put a notice in the paper and see what happens with it.
He put a notice in the paper
and about 25 young huskies showed up.
They started practicing three nights a week.
Initially as the Green Bay Indians,
because of the Indian Packing Company.
J.E. Claire, who I believe was the general manager of the company,
gave Curly $500 for uniforms.
The Indian Packing Company went out of business
about halfway through that first season,
and the ACME Packing Company took possession of it.
And pretty soon, ACME was left high and dry
and they were the Packers,
the Green Bay Packers they've been ever since.
- The Packers, in 1919 and 1920,
well, they were the best.
In 1919, over ten games
they beat their opponents by 565-6.
Lambeau thought to himself, what fun is it to beat
my opponents around here 57-0?
We better take this to the next level.
And so, like-minded teams across the country formed
the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL.
- Curly led the Packers to three champions in a row, 1929, 1930, and 1931.
He was just a young guy, only 32 or 33 years old,
and he was a national figure.
He was introduced at nightclubs like Bill Tilden and Jack Dempsey,
and people of that ilk,
Curly Lambeau, head coach of the Green Bay Packers,
world champion Green Bay Packers.
- But, it was always a big thing.
I mean, it just, you know, the Packer games and the Sundays
and women wore dresses and suits.
In the early fall, they'd maybe wear a mink stole.
Then, when it got colder, then they'd wear fur coats,
because it was warm.
You know, but they'd wear heels.
And, one of the reasons why they dressed in finery
is because at old City Stadium behind East High,
during halftime they'd promenade.
You know, you would stretch your legs.
Those wooden bleachers certainly were not very comfortable.
So, at halftime everybody would take a little stroll
around the edge of the field, and nobody wanted
to be wearing the same thing somebody else wore
to the football game, certainly.
- You had to have the football guys.
You had to have a little talent to start with.
Then you would need some money.
That was true in every town that kept a football team alive,
even for a few years.
In Green Bay, they always had their handout.
You know, we need the Packers. The Packers have to stay afloat.
This is an important part of our pride and what makes us Green Bay.
And so, buy some stock.
This has been done in recent times.
And people love that piece of paper,
even though ostensibly worthless, or priceless,
depending on how you view it.
- Canton Bulldogs, Stapleton Yellowjackets, whatever.
They just gradually, one by one, dropped off until
the Packers were the only small-town team remaining,
which is an incredible tribute to the people
of Green Bay, I think.
The simple answer is that the people of Green Bay
and environs would never permit this team franchise
to leave Green Bay.
They have done whatever it is in order to keep
the Packers in Green Bay and the franchise alive.
- It's the fact that people in the community own the team.
So that there has always been that interest in that
football team and that it's been part of the community.
After people retired from the team, they'd stay.
They'd marry a Green Bay girl, and they'd stay.
There is a whole different aspect that the other
parts of the country are interested in
maybe because we wish we were living in Green Bay.
Because it's a small town and yet it's got this
wonderful football team that everybody knows.
- But that David and Goliath thing only works
if David wins some of the battles.
Of course, the Packers have more NFL championships
than any other team in the league.
They have the second-most guys in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
They're the only team in NFL history that won
triple championships three years in a row,
and they've done it twice.
So, there is something about David and his ability to play
with the big boys that is pretty necessary in the story,
otherwise if Goliath is always kicking David around the field,
I think the curtain goes down and the story is done.
- It's a remarkable story.
Others have said, and I agree,
that it's the best story in sports.
All things considered; I think it is.
- That report was narrated by Terry Kerr
and produced by Mik Derks.
It originally aired as part of our program
"Hometown Stories- Green Bay."
Now, here's a look at some of the reports we're working on
for the next edition of "In Wisconsin."
- From lab to the table. I'm Frederica Freyberg.
A scientific breakthrough on the UW-Madison campus
creates a new food for people who can't eat protein.
- To end up with a product on the market
where you're actually helping people, is wow.
- Helping people with a genetic disorder
that otherwise could cause lifelong disability.
- Since 1994, AmeriCorps volunteers
have earned a reputation for rolling up their sleeves
and pitching in where help is needed.
Now, Wisconsin's Native American reservations,
including Lac du Flambeau, are benefiting from the work
of Tribal AmeriCorps volunteers.
- I'm "In Wisconsin" reporter Andy Soth,
with the restoration of a historic ship.
- This national treasure is being restored
by our next generation.
- And it's being forged at UW-Platteville
for a New York City museum.
- I still get excited when I see that melted core.
- Those reports next Thursday at 7:30,
right here on Wisconsin Public Television.
We want to invite you to check out our interactive blog
called the Producer's Journal.
You can find it at wpt.org, then click on "In Wisconsin,"
then look for this picture.
The blog gives you advanced insight into reports
we're working on, the people we've met,
and the places we've been.
It's all in the Producer's Journal.
Winter in Wisconsin.
That's all we had to say
to farmer-turned-author Michael Perry.
He's a regular contributor on "In Wisconsin."
And this week he's digging deep
for his humorous essay from Eau Claire County.
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- How ya doin'?
Well, we've had piles and piles
of snow up here this winter.
You know what piles of snow means.
Snow tunnels.
Well, this here is a little mini snow tunnel
that dug by my daughters and their babysitter
right after the big blizzard.
I'm proud of my little girls.
I like the fact that I've got little girls,
that in the face of a blizzard, they want to bundle up
and go dig a snow tunnel.
I'm proud of the babysitter, too, for that matter.
That's what you want in a good babysitter.
Can you do CPR? Can you dial 911?
Can you dig a snow tunnel? You're hired.
I don't know where the babysitter learned
to make snow tunnels.
But I did my training up there in Chippewa County
with the Perry brothers and sisters.
We'll see if the old man's still got it. Whew.
So, what is it about snow tunnels?
I was fascinated with them when we were little kids.
I suppose it's obviously something about adventure.
And tunneling through to the new world.
Every kid thinks about digging a hole
straight through the earth and coming out in China.
There's a little bit of danger to it.
You know, you're crawling through a tunnel into a big pile of snow.
Now we're getting close.
The best part is that build-up to that moment
when you finally break through.
That's what we're looking for pretty much all our life.
The moment when we break through.
We'll take it wherever we can get it,
even if it's a snow tunnel.
Pretty nice job.
Looks almost like it was dug by a machine.
It was dug by a machine.
Well, all that philosophy is all well and good,
but if you want to get any work done
you have to get busy on the wooden end of a shovel.
It's about time for the big moment.
What every kid digs for, the punch-through!
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Oh, yeah!
Ha-ha!
The punch-through.
I love the punch-through.
All right!
Nice and snug.
(chuckles) Yes!
Success.
Perfect.
Wow.
Everything seems to be moving fast,
and yet slow at the same time.
Maybe when you go through the tunnel,
you pass through the time-space continuum.
Yeah, that's it. Gosh, it's great.
I feel like I'm flying on my belly.
I hope the cat doesn't get in the way.
This never used to happen when I was a kid.
I don't want this to ever end.
That's the best snow tunnel ever.
- His face says it all.
Winter in Wisconsin.
Finally this week, a tribute to the Green Bay Packers.
In lighting the State Capitol dome green and gold,
Governor Scott Walker said while there are always
going to be policy and political differences at the capitol,
we can all agree we want the Packers
to bring home the Lombardi Trophy to Wisconsin.
The legendary football franchise will make its
fifth Super Bowl appearance this weekend.
Let's hope it's a great week "In Wisconsin."
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- Major funding for "In Wisconsin" is made possible by:
the people of Alliant Energy, who bring safe, reliable
and environmentally friendly energy to keep homes,
neighborhoods and life in Wisconsin running smoothly.
Alliant Energy, we're on for you.
And Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery Specialists,
of Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Minneapolis
a veterinary team working with pet owners
and family veterinarians providing care for oral disease
and dental problems of small companion animals.