Albert Emil Reichardt

Subjects: Unknown girl and Albert Emil Reichardt (age 64).
Date: May 1950.
Occasion: Unknown.
Location: Grant Blvd., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photographer: Unknown.
Relationship to me: husband of grand aunt.

I have very little information regarding this photograph. Once my mother retired, she went through boxes of photographs and created historical photo albums. She made one for myself and one for my brother. I am posting and commenting on the photographs from this album.

The 'unknown girl' in this photograph is most likely a neighbor's child. I remember my grandmother relaying this information. My Grand Uncle Albert passed away at age 73 seven months after I was born. Albert was the man that introduced my father Joseph to my mother Norma. Albert and my father were both members of the Elk Club in Milwaukee. They would meet there for lunch and play cards. I am sure at these boy's clubs there was some matchmaking going on.

My Grand Uncle and Aunt lived on a corner lot with the front of the house facing Grant Blvd in a two story white frame home. They had a large screened in front porch. My dad in the summer would occasionally sleep on the porch when he did not want to venture home after a hot card game down at the club.  As a very young child I remember spending a summer weekend with my Grand Aunt and sleeping on the front porch as well.

Lucille, Daniel and George Waswo

Subjects: (Left to Right) Lucille (age 28), George Daniel III (age 1+) and George Daniel Jr. (age 32).
Date: 1949.
Occasion: Unknown.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photographer: Unknown.
Relationship to me: Maternal Aunt, Nephew and Uncle.

I have very little information regarding this photograph. Once my mother retired, she went through boxes of photographs and created historical photo albums. She made one for myself and one for my brother. I am posting and commenting on the photographs from my album.

The house number above the door reads 2728. I am not sure whose residence this is. On the back of the photograph is printed 1949. Daniel III was born in June of 1948, and to me he looks closer to age 2 in this photograph. It is obvious it was taken during a warm time of the year with George and Lucille in shirt sleeves.

Perhaps some of my family members can comment and provide further details about the Waswo's during this period.

Waswo's Country Store

Subject: Waswo Country Store.
Date: 1947.
Occasion: Unknown.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photographer: Unknown.
Relationship to me: Maternal Uncle's business.

I have very little information regarding this photograph. Once my mother retired, she went through  boxes of photographs and created historical photo albums. She made one for myself and one for my brother. I am posting and commenting on the photographs from my album.

In keeping with the family tradition of bakeries and grocery stores, George Daniel Waswo Jr. opened a Deli on National Avenue. During this period, this was country! To the left, you can see the extension, and this was the residence of the Waswo's. With the advent of supermarkets, the deli did not survive. Later George and Lucille went to cosmetology school and opened a beauty shop. Lucille worked at the shop until she retired at age 62. George went to work at a bank in the trust division, and the shop was leased to one of Lucille's former employees.

After Lucille passed following a battle with cancer, George hung onto the store and residence. He eventually sold the building and moved into an apartment.

To answer Karen's question in the comments: I know the original building (Circa 1920s (Wood-frame, rural general store/poultry supply) above lasted into the mid 1950's. The new cinder block building below was constructed 1954-56. When I was back in Wisconsin in 2009, I did not drive by to check it out. I went to google maps, and the building is still standing. It is a photography shop now.

Photo from google maps

Snow Storm

Date: 1947.
Occasion: Snowstorm.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photographer: Unknown.

The Event & Date

• Date: January 29–30, 1947 (often called the "Blizzard of '47" or "The Blizzard That Stopped Milwaukee Cold").
  
  
• Details: The storm hit unexpectedly on Wednesday, January 29, 1947. The weather forecast originally predicted just an inch of light snow, but a massive storm blew in with thunder snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph, piling up snowdrifts as high as 10 to 15 feet across the city.

Photo Context

Over 16 to 18 inches of snow fell over those two days, completely paralyzing Milwaukee’s public transit. The vehicle in your photo—a Milwaukee electric trolleybus (trackless trolley)—and streetcars were completely stranded across street routes. The city took nearly a week to dig out, using thousands of hired shovelers to clear tracks and unbury stuck transit vehicles.

The Woman in the Photo (may be my mother, Norma).

In January 1947, someone born in 1921 would have been 25 or 26 years old.

The silhouette of the woman standing by the front bumper of the stuck trolley—dressed warmly in a full-length winter coat, boots, and hat—certainly fits the height, posture, and style of a young Milwaukee woman in her mid-20s during that era. Given that she lived right in that neighborhood during the historic storm, it's a very plausible possibility!

The House in the Background

The orientation is off to be my grandmother Lucy's home, but typical for that neighborhood. Her home was built in 1914.

Milwaukee's North Side (around Richards, Ring, Burleigh, and Center) saw massive residential construction booms between 1910 and 1925.

Local builders and contractors frequently used standard pattern books for these classic two-family duplexes and "Polish flats." It was very common to find nearly identical houses—with the signature high dormer windows, twin second-story windows, and front porch overhangs—built across adjacent blocks and corners throughout the neighborhood.