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.