Wisconsin Dells Fifty Years Ago

Postcards. On the left is "Swallows' Nests, Wisconsin Dells. In the summer hundreds of swallows make their homes in holes in the sandstone cliff." And, at right is "Motor Launch on the Wisconsin River."

In a previous post I mentioned that my grandpa Vic and Aunt Shirley Phend had taken my brothers and me on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. That was fifty years ago this week and it made the "gossip" column of the local newspaper! I'm not sure why they decided to take us along, Mom says they asked us to go simply because they thought we would enjoy the trip. We did, though now the details are a bit fuzzy. I think we were the only ones they ever took on a trip with them. I wonder if we were that ornery that they were put off doing it again? Mom did say that grandpa told her that he had to threaten us a few times to settle us down but that overall 'we were pretty good kids' so maybe they just never took another trip together. I do remember that us kids usually got along well, especially Jack and me, and that Doug was the instigator of many of the things that got us in trouble over the years. Of course, I would never start anything ;-)

In July 1957, Jack was the youngest and would turn 8 years old on the 8th of July. Doug had turned 10 in March, and I was 9 years old.

As with many of my later trips, I kept a record, sort of, of the towns we passed through. I just love the spelling of some of them. . .


The postcard below was written to my aunt Pat, one of Mom's sisters, but was apparently never mailed. That's not my signature, my Mother wrote my name in later. It says: "Dear Pat,We got to wisconson at 6:30. We went threw 31 towns. It took us 9 and a half hours to get there. It took us 350 miles to get there. How are all of you. I am fine. We went sight seeing and we went on a boat ride and we saw some Indinas."
My sister was only three years old at the time, so she didn't get to go along. This card was sent to her: "Dear Terry, I am fine. How are you. We are going to see some Indians tomorrow and we are going to take a boat ride.From Becky and Jacky.