The Wisconsin Collection is a partnership
of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and Wisconsin Public Television.
Are we all set? Yeah!
On your mark, get set, go!
*
Narrator: For more than 25 years
thousands of school children from around Wisconsin
have learned the rules and the fun
of an old-fashioned game of hoops.
A modern generation that has learned
that shoes were once handmade
in a local shop.
And once this is dry
and you take those nails out
the leather will hold that shape.
The iron is very hot.
Narrator: And others who gained new respect
for their grandmothers and great-grandmothers
and the job of ironing clothes.
It's pretty heavy, isn't it? Yep.
Of course, back then, they ironed everything.
Narrator: This is a world beyond modern imaginations
because it is the old world.
It's still accessible at Old World Wisconsin
the unique historic site
located near Eagle, Wisconsin
a place where visitors can step back in time
and learn the crafts
of Wisconsin's first pioneers.
Now you choose your skirt...
( horse whinnies )
Narrator: Or reminisce bout how life used to be
or visit the actual homes of their ancestors
buildings now part of the painstakingly researched
and reassembled exhibits at Old World Wisconsin.
Each of the buildings tells a story
tales from Wisconsin's first century of immigration
of the people who left other places
to start a new life
on what was once the western frontier.
Their stories are Wisconsin's stories
told and retold in an outdoor museum
that brings history to life.
Funding for Old World Stories is provided in part
by the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation
with support from the Bertschy family;
and by member contributions to the Wisconsin Program Fund.
"As the farmer's son, Knudt Christiansen Fossebrekke
"intends to leave his native village
"and his fatherland, the Kingdom of Norway
"in order to emigrate to North America.
"He is hereby released from the congregation
"with the best wishes for his future
"and with assertion
"that nothing but good is known to me about him.
The Minister Johannes Reinhardt."
Guide: This is our Fossebrekke cabin.
We're taking you back to the year 1845.
And at that time, Knudt and Gertrude Fossebrekke
were living in this cabin down in Rock County near Beloit.
Narrator: Knudt Fossebrekke came to America in 1839.
According to his travel documents
he was at the time, single, age 25
a farmer, blonde, blue-eyed, slender and cross-eyed.
No known pictures of him exist
but his cabin does
and everything it tells us about him.
Guide: He found the land he wanted, marked off 40 acres.
He didn't have money to pay for it.
He was a squatter.
He didn't have time to build a house that first winter
so he lived in what we call a dugout
where they lived in the side of a hill.
Narrator: The Fossebrekke cabin is the oldest
of 69 historical buildings at Old World Wisconsin
architectural artifacts relocated to almost 600 acres
outside Eagle, Wisconsin
where visitors can enter the museum's display.
Guide: Now, in the kitchen
we do have many things here.
Norwegian people made a lot of their own kitchen utensils.
Why do you think they would do this
rather than buying them?
Because they didn't have a lot of money? That's true.
Narrator: The earliest immigrants often led secluded lives
bent on mere survival.
Among them were the Nattestad brothers
who Knudt had met in Norway.
"On July 1, 1838, I, Ole Nattestad
"arrived at the place I now live.
"Herds of deer and other wild animals were seen almost daily
"and the weird howl of the prairie wolf
"disturbed my sleep
"until habit armed my ears against it.
"The next summer, I built a cabin
"and received a group of emigrants
"from my home district
"who came with my brother Ansten
from Norway."
Narrator: Ansten's group of more than 130
included none other than Knudt Fossebrekke
who later returned the favor to others
also looking for a home on the Wisconsin prairie.
Guide: Knudt supposedly housed 17 people
in this building one winter.
Knudt probably never forgot his first winter in Wisconsin
having to live in a dugout.
Narrator: There were so many new things to learn here
even eating pigs was a new concept.
But as winter came
the Norwegians introduced a few new ideas of their own
like skiing.
"When the first snow had fallen that autumn
"another Norwegian and I went on skis
"over the prairie to Beloit to buy flour.
"The Americans later saw our tracks in the snow
"and the matter aroused much talk.
"The most learned naturalist in town
"finally delivered the verdict
"that in the forests out west
"there must be some unknown monstrosity.
"But even he could not give any satisfactory information
"as to whether this 'freak of nature'
attacked and devoured human beings."
Ansten Nattestad, 1841.
Jacob Conrad: When we walk into a cabin like this today
it looks very poor to us.
But I often tell people
that they can think of a house like this as a starter home.
Narrator: After five years
the 31-year-old Fossebrekke took a wife.
This is a later picture, as Gertrude Vikers was only 17
when Knudt added windows and a stove to the cabin
as a welcome for his young bride.
This particular trunk here has the name of a woman on it.
The script is kind of hard to make out
but it says "Grunild Knudsdatter Binstir"
gives her date of birth
and the date when she was married.
She was born 1818, married 1836.
So, she evidently got married when she was 18 years old.
Narrator: An immigrant's trunk
held the few things a person could bring to America.
Only the most important possessions
took up such precious space.
Conrad: We know that people who lived in this cabin
brought both Bible and a prayer book with them.
This, of course, is a Lutheran Bible
in the Norwegian language.
A traditional curator looking at this object
would probably disregard it.
It's really quite commonplace.
Here at Old World, we tend to focus our attention
more on what the object meant to the people who owned it.
Narrator: When he accepted the role as Director here
Peter Arnold was impressed
with the depth of research pursued at Old World Wisconsin.
What struck me here was the degree of authenticity.
They don't leave any stone unturned
in terms of trying to replicate
really, what life was like in the 19th century.
Guide: If you look where my thumbs are at
you can see how it's twisting the fibers.
Arnold: You really are able to immerse yourself in that period
whereas you can't when you're looking at a static exhibit
no matter how good it is.
Guide: I'm going to pass some wool around
so that you can feel how nice and soft it is
and you can kind of feel the lanolin that's still in it.
Now, the Kvaales did very well during the time of the Civil War
because they had sheep.
What do you suppose they did with the wool
during the war?
What did they make out of it, then
after they made it into cloth?
The uniforms?
Yes, the uniforms for the soldiers.
And also, the soldiers would need blankets.
Narrator: It's now 1865
20 years after Fossebrekke's arrival.
And Anders Ellingson Kvaale, a well-to-do farmer
who came here for a better life for his eight children
has already fulfilled his dream.
He bought 160 acres in Dane County
stocked his pens with sheep
built a home in the style of his homeland
and started filling it.
Conrad: On the one hand, there is that desire
to hold onto the old ways
which is reflected in the traditional objects
and in the traditional crafts.
On the other hand, people also want
to take advantage of the wonderful things
the wonderful opportunities
that the new world that's taking shape around them offers.
Narrator: Store-bought stoves
machine-cut chairs, factory-made things
now available
in the growing towns.
The Kvaales probably traveled
to the nearby town of Stoughton.
"On the streets, a newcomer's ears
"will easily recognize
"the familiar sounds of his mother tongue.
"On the store, signs are Norwegian
"and at the merchant's desk, are customers who dicker
"exactly as the custom was in Old Norway.
"I do not believe there is in all America another town
"with such clear-cut pure Norwegian characteristics
as Stoughton."
Sveim Nillson, 1870.
Narrator: This was a time of change, with new machines
and products.
And with wheat and wool for the war effort
the Kvaales prospered.
But it meant the spinning wheels
and the women worked full-time.
"The men weren't use to milking cows in the old country
"and everybody thought it was only proper
"that she did it here, too.
"So, when evening came
"her program was to milk, care for the calves and pigs
"prepare supper for herself and family
"and then get the children to bed.
"But if she had a lot to do, she got paid for it.
"Usually, she got one or two calico dresses a year
"a pair of shoes that cost $1.75
and a hat that cost $1.50 every third year."
Conrad: I think we often have an excessively idyllic vision
of what life in those times would have been like.
At the same time, there are undeniable benefits
that the modern world has brought to all of us.
So, it's always a trade off.
And I hope that when people walk into a space like this
they will think about it in a more complex way
than just kind of settling into an idyllic past
where nothing ever changed.
"From the beginning, I was not disappointed
"and not now, either.
"One must work hard with all one's strength and zeal.
"But I believe if my brother were here
he and his family would fare better than in Germany."
Johann Diefenthaeler.
Guide: Okay, this is our 1875 Schottler Farm.
The Schottlers were from southern Germany.
They're coming over here from around Bavaria.
They would settle in Germantown.
That's up in Washington County.
They have two little girls here at this time in 1875.
But they will eventually have 11 kids on this farm.
Can you imagine?
That was a lot of kids, wasn't it?
Narrator: Family, hard work and land
were the keys to the success of Mathias Schottler.
Here, the picture of a prosperous family patriarch
a far cry from the 12-year-old
whose parents sold what they had in Germany
and bought 40 swampy acres northwest of Milwaukee.
We have animals out here.
We have a cow. We have a sheep.
And we have a hog.
And this hog that we have here can grow up to 850 lbs.
She's probably about 450 right now.
Narrator: The Schottlers led a pioneer life
in the wilderness, as they called it
doing everything needed for themselves.
Guide: That bacon is what we're going to use
to pack down in the salt pork barrels.
Narrator: Their animals and crops did well, as did the land
rising quickly in value
and providing the profit and collateral to buy more.
Within 20 years of his arrival, Mathias' father retired
dividing his acquired 320 acres between his four sons.
Mathias received an 80-acre farm
complete with a cabin.
A cabin later called
by Richard Perrin, Old World's founder
"One of the best and completely unspoiled specimen's
of German log architecture in Wisconsin."
Some of the buildings that Mr. Perrin had located
had documented and had a strong knowledge of
became the first acquisitions
for the State Historical Society.
So, this started happening as early as 1968.
And by the early 1970s
construction had started here at Old World.
Narrator: From Old World's beginnings
Marty Perkins was part of the original team
assigned to find, photograph
disassemble
then reassemble Wisconsin's pioneer buildings
all under the expert guidance of Richard Perrin.
An architectural historian, Perrin once served
as Milwaukee's Director of Development.
But it was his part
in an American survey of historic buildings
that gave him the idea
to showcase Wisconsin's architectural heritage.
"It has a character entirely its own," Perrin wrote.
"And even such commonplace structures
"as log cabins and cattle barns bear the hallmarks
"of the Wisconsin building tradition:
"sound design, appropriate materials
and painstaking craftsmanship."
Perkins: Just to have the opportunity to be on the ground floor
to develop a museum of this magnitude
was a wonderful experience
for all of us that were involved at the time.
Wisconsin is very unique
in terms of the number of groups
that were coming in the 19th century
and in terms of what they brought with them to the state.
So, here was a perfect opportunity
to capture this and to preserve it
and to share with people in the 21st century
what life was like for these various ethnic groups.
Narrator: Once the buildings were in place
the next job was finding out what went into them.
For that, curator Ellen Penwell's investigations
led her to ask why the Schottler's still small family
produced an excess of butter.
From a study of the agricultural census
we know that they're producing 200 lbs of butter a year.
This churn was patented in 1868.
And it was known at the time of its patent
as "Whipple's Can Churn."
Samuel Whipple was from California.
And he registered his patent at that early date.
It was manufactured in Fort Atkinson.
So, we have a family like the Schottlers
who it would probably be a smart move on their part
to invest in a butter churn, a style of churn
that produced a greater quantity of better quality butter
more efficiently.
We didn't choose to restore this original piece
because we don't have another like it.
Instead, we did a one-on-one copy work.
So, we took elements and a sample
of every different piece of casting.
We had these pieces re-cast up at Tomahawk Foundry
in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.
We completely reconstructed the cream chamber, the frame.
The steel lid was even fabricated.
So, it became a very complete re-created object
that's functional and ready for us to use.
Narrator: Through her research of butter churns
a bigger picture emerges
of the start of Wisconsin's fledgling dairy industry
as well as a look at how the Schottler's fortunes grew.
Penwell: So now we know that they're probably
utilizing the butter they make to sell
at what would probably be Milwaukee for them
being the closest, nearest urban center
and then getting cash for that, taking that cash
going back into the consumer world
and acquiring other real energy-saving material objects
like a coffee grinder or maybe a sewing machine.
Things that would then eventually, and over time
give them more leisure time
and improve the quality of their life.
Guide: That's a butter churn.
What's this? That's bread. Rye bread.
Narrator: The Schottler family prospered
raising their own vegetables and livestock
and their 11 children
who worked as hard as their parents
to support the family.
So, here we are.
We have a family member right here
a family member of the Schottler family.
Narrator: Members of the Schottler family
owned and lived in this house for 112 years.
Mathias and his wife Caroline, until their deaths in 1914.
Then, Fred Schottler, one of the younger children
remained in residence until he passed on in 1968
just at the time Old World
was collecting its first buildings.
So, even though Fred was a bachelor
he left a legacy that guaranteed his family would be remembered
studied and admired for years to come
as state pioneers
and part of Wisconsin's many Old World stories.
Narrator: At the Heikki and Maria Ketola homestead at Old World Wisconsin
visitors can experience the way a family
mixed ancient traditions from Finland
with progressive, early 20th century dairy farming.
Conrad: It's 1915, and here are these people
living in northern, Wisconsin, in a log cabin.
The way that it's constructed
the way the logs fit together
the craftsmanship that went into fitting these logs together
is ancient.
But when we walk in through the door
into this primitive log cabin
what do we see
but the products of this modern, industrial
technological civilization.
Narrator: Heikki Ketola immigrated late for a pioneer farmer
arriving in northern Wisconsin
just before the turn of the 20th century.
By that time, lumberjacks had cut through
much of the northwoods
and left behind a devastated landscape.
Land speculators began various schemes
to lure new immigrants to farm the large area
known as the "cut-over."
They actually tried to recruit people from Europe.
They printed brochures
in European languages, and distributed them
to Europeans who were thinking of emigrating
in order to attract them
to this cut-over region.
And the Ketola's were part of that migration.
Narrator: Newcomers faced many problems.
In addition to clearing the land of trees and huge stumps
farming up north was difficult.
It was cold, the growing season was short
and the soil poor.
But to landless Finnish immigrants
the dream of owning land
and carving a farm out of the wilderness
was worth any amount of back-breaking work
and personal sacrifice.
Conrad: Most of the people who settled up there
after a couple of good years, abandoned farming there
because it was just so tough.
The Ketolas and other Finns seem to have stuck it out.
Narrator: Heikki Ketola Americanized his name
changing it to Henry Getto
and staked a claim to an 80-acre homestead
in what would become Oulu township, in Bayfield County.
His land had not been logged
so he set about the back-breaking work
of clearing both the trees and their stumps.
At the rate of about an acre a year
it took eight years before he cleared enough land
and earned enough money outside the farm
to send for his wife and children to join him.
While Ketola struggled in the wilderness
it was a period of great change in the rest of the state.
A sweeping political movement
launched "Fighting Bob" LaFollette's efforts
to create a new, progressive form of state government.
In Milwaukee, electricity began to power
street cars and businesses.
In Kenosha, Thomas Jeffery
built the first Rambler automobile
and would soon begin mass production
on more luxurious models.
It was a progressive era in farming also.
At the University of Wisconsin's new College of Agriculture
scientists revolutionized
the state's dairy industry
with milk processing breakthroughs
like Steven Babcock's butterfat test
and research into new
and more efficient cropping and feeding practices.
In Oulu, Heikki Ketola kept up with the latest advances
through Finnish-language publications.
In 1906, the university established an experimental farm
in nearby Iron River, and ran trials of a red clover
which proved to grow well in the northern clay soils.
Ketola planted clover
and continued to clear more land.
Like other area farmers
he bought a mower for his hay and grain crops
saving the labor of cutting the fields by hand.
To earn more money for machines
Heikki Ketola, now known as Henry Getto
became an entrepreneur
and began selling coffee, sugar, flour and other dry goods
out of a small store on the farm.
And seeing great promise in new technology
Ketola also became a sales agent for farm machinery
and a device called the De Laval cream separator.
Ketola sold hundreds of the separators
which became standard equipment on most dairy farms.
Conrad: The De Laval cream separators came in in the 1890s
and most Wisconsin dairy farms
had them through the early part of the century.
Narrator: A demonstration model
stood for years in the Ketola's kitchen
and remains in the log cabin
at Old World Wisconsin today
a symbol of a family that spanned two worlds.
At Old World, visitors can step into the Ketola's Finnish sauna
built from hand-hewn logs using traditional methods.
That ancient way of living in the world
was still very much a part of their lives.
At the same time
they had another foot in the modern world.
When you walk into this house that they built
according to very ancient and traditiona nal methods
you find that the things they have
are, for the most part, products of a modern
industrial, technological society
very similar to the world that you and I live in today.
The people who were living in these houses
and the people who were farming this land
were living through a revolution.
They were living through the midst of a whirlwind
that we're still living in today.
Narrator: The Pedersen farm at Old World Wisconsin
was reconstructed from a Danish pioneer homestead
in the town of Luck, Wisconsin.
In 1873, one year after building this cabin
Kristen Pedersen's wife, Christiana
died of childbirth complications.
Her parents took the baby girl to raise on their farm
and Kristen was left alone
to finish carving his farm out of the woods.
Pedersen eventually returned to Denmark
where he met his second wife, Mette.
He brought her to his Polk County farm
where they plowed hay fields with oxen
raised chickens, milked two cows
churned the cream into butter and made cheese.
For cash, Kristen became a well-digger
digging 60-foot wells by hand
and lining the sides with wooden planks.
But tragedy soon struck again.
Shortly after giving birth to their second daughter
his wife, Mette, also died.
This time, Kristen took on the task
of raising the two young girls on the homestead
as well as taking care of his parents
whom he brought over from Denmark.
Guide: Let's step into the household, shall we
where it's a little warmer.
Narrator: At Old World Wisconsin
it is the interpreter's job
to escort visitors on their journey into the past
to guide them through the experience
of seeing, hearing and feeling a bit of Wisconsin history.
Guide: The wood burning stove is good for heat today...
( all laugh )
...and for cooking.
And in my pot in there is my pea soup.
Narrator: In an historically accurate setting
interpreters carry out typical household chores
and practice traditional crafts
But the history she collected
lives on at Old World Wisconsin
along with the stories
of other early Wisconsin settlers.
The stories of how they survived
the clothes they wore, the work they did
the homes they lived in, the adversity they faced
are told and retold
to new generations of visitors
who journey back in time
and experience a glimpse of a past brought to life
and the pioneer heritage that helped make us
who we are today.
[Captioning services provided by Wisconsin Public Television.] www.wpt.org
Funding for Old World Stories is provided in part
by the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation
with support from the Bertschy family;
and by member contributions to the Wisconsin Program Fund.