Subject: Henning W. Traulsen, Jr.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Occasion: 21th birthday
Date: 1914
Photographer: Unknown.
This is a photograph of my Great Uncle Henning, brother of Lucy Traulsen Waswo, at age 21. For his 21th birthday, Henning bought himself a new suit and a gold pocket watch. He then had a portrait taken to commemorate the occasion.
Henning Jr. was born November, 20, 1893 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a baker by trade. His father started the bakery, and once he passed away, it was run by his children, Arthur, Henning and Lucy. I am unsure how long the bakery lasted. It might have been a casualty of the Great Depression. I know by the 1960's, Henning Jr. was no longer running a bakery.
I have very few memories of Henning Jr. He had a house in Milwaukee, but I can not remember where. He was an excellent baker, as I remember his jelly filled doughnuts, and his birthday cakes. For one of my birhtdays, he made a seven layer cake. It was decorated with trains on the side and top. As a child, I adored trains, partially due to my father being a traffic manager and involved with the rail lines.
If you look carefully at the left suit pocket, you will see the gold watch fob. The button had the letter H engraved. I still have the watch fob and gold pocket watch. Inside the watch cover, he had engraved his name and 11-20-14.
Per my Grandmother Lucy, Henning Jr. had a drinking problem. He was a bachelor. Lucy was the one that looked after him and cared for him. I do not remember him having health problems. He passed away on October 5, 1966 at age 72. He is buried at Wisconsin Memorial Park in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I remember attending the funeral, and my memories of Great Uncle Henning were happy ones. He always treated me well, and I enjoyed visiting him.
I too remember stories about Uncle Henning's drinking problem. Of course "drinking problem" is sometimes a relative term, but judging from Uncle Henning's reclusive lifestyle perhaps this was true. I also remember being told that he "kept to himself"...though my own rememberence is of a laughing, rather charming and kindly man. I remember him living in an upper flat of an older home, but cannot remember just where. Visiting him was a treat, as he showered attention upon me and my brother. Why he remained a bachelor was of course another matter of intense speculation. The photo you have posted makes him look very dapper! When Uncle Henning died some of his old furniture passed into the hands of my brother and I...some very nice Victorian antiques. Living with that furniture in our lives kept some of Uncle Henning with us.
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