Frohsinn Singing Society badge

Carol Mullen

Catalog Number: 2017.fic.1066

This colorful badge once decorated the lapel of a member of Frohsinn, La Crosse’s German singing society.

The badge’s attached disk, with classical style lyre, highlighted a love of music, while the top of the badge and blue ribbon proudly stated, “Frohsinn, La Crosse, Wis., Gegrundt (Founded) 1885.”

The one-time local owner is unknown, as is the badge’s age. Similar be-ribboned badges were used by fraternal and union organizations in the late 19th and early 20th century. This one probably dates from about 1900.

The Frohsinn badge is reversible. Its front ribbon is blue, but there’s a second black ribbon on the back. The attached disk reads “In Memoriam (in memory of),” making it suitable for funerals.

The Frohsinn Society (froh Sinn means happy state of mind in German) began as a literary society and current affairs forum, but it soon evolved into a singing group that celebrated German heritage. Activities often centered around Germania Hall on Fifth Avenue, between Market and Ferry streets. The building housed athletic, dramatic, educational and cultural groups, and once was the focus for German culture in La Crosse.

Initially all Frohsinn members were men, though women joined in later years. The group participated in concerts and annual regional singing festivals throughout the Midwest. La Crosse hosted many such events, including the 1908 Saengerfest, with some 3,000 singers and 5,000 visitors. An auditorium was quickly constructed at Fourth and Jay Streets to accommodate the huge gathering.

During World War I (1914-1918), anti-German sentiment caused a temporary lapse in participation in Frohsinn, but the organization regained strength and continued after the war. American folk and patriotic songs joined traditional German songs in its repertoire.

As German immigrants in the area declined, so did Frohsinn. The last Saengerfest was held here in 1959. After that, the organization dwindled. Later, Oktoberfest came to be seen as the primary expression of German heritage in La Crosse.

The Frohsinn Singing Society badge represents a time when area Germans enjoyed expressing their heritage through choral singing. The group offered support and community to immigrants, reminding them of the country left behind and helping them adjust to their new life here.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

The Singer Featherweight

Peggy Derrick

Catalog Number: 1978.022.01

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

Sometimes a particular model of a tool or machine is so well-designed and well-made that it outlives its original owners to become a classic and a symbol of its kind. We often think of cars as “classics,” but there are other examples of industrial design that achieve this status.

Everyone who looks at the photo will know this is a sewing machine, but some will recognize it as a Singer Featherweight. The Featherweight went out of production about 1964, but it’s still used and valued today by home sewers and quilters.

This diminutive 11-pound sewing machine was first introduced at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, at the height of the Great Depression. The Featherweight was introduced as an affordable, portable sewing machine for the modern woman.

By that time the profession of dressmaker had been made obsolete by off-the-rack clothing and the growing popularity of home sewing, both of which were made possible by the 1851 patenting of the sewing machine. Sewing patterns and classes allowed any woman with a sewing machine to sew clothes for herself and her family, and furnishings for her home.

Today Featherweights are sought after on online auction sites, and there are experts in their use and care to help you keep your Featherweight running smoothly for decades to come.

For some users, the purring hum of a Featherweight is its most unique, beloved feature. For others, it is the perfect straight stitch that the machines still are known for. And weighing just 11 pounds makes this the ideal machine for taking to quilting retreats and workshops. Can’t you just picture a room full of contemporary women, all sewing on these quaint relics of early 20th century design? It happens.

The Featherweight does just one thing — a straight stitch, and it does it extremely well. By the 1960s, women were interested in machines that could do a variety of stitches, such as zig-zag and embroidery, and Singer stopped making the Featherweight. I suspect that its own high-quality, precision machining also helped to doom it, as it would have become increasingly expensive to produce at the same time that its lack of modern features put a limit on the price point at which it could be sold.

This Featherweight, in the collection of the La Crosse County Historical Society, was made in 1946. We determined its age by the serial number, as well as the style of face plate and foot control. After stopping production during World War II, there was a pent-up demand, and for a while there were waiting lists for new sewing machines.

Yet the demand for Featherweights continues to this day. It speaks to the quality of the design of these little machines, as well as to the human need to make things with our hands — even at a time when the availability of inexpensive manufactured goods has never been higher. The experience of handling materials ourselves is very satisfying, and seems innate to our human nature.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on July 8, 2017.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.

The Art of Woodworking

Natalie Van Dam

Copyright La Crosse County Historical Society

A craftsman’s tools were some of his most valuable possessions. Each one would have been carefully selected and made or modified to fit a specific need. They were highly personalized, and to the craftsmen, often priceless.

These tools — which include several types of rulers, glass cutters, blades, hammers, screwdrivers, saws and wrenches — are from the chest of Frank Roraff, a carpenter and woodworker for Hackner Altar, a company that played an important role in the history of La Crosse. The tools were passed along to Roraff’s son William and were eventually donated to the La Crosse County Historical Society by William’s wife.

Hackner Altar was founded by Egid Hackner, who was born in Bavaria in 1856. He migrated to the U.S. after receiving a letter from his brother encouraging him to join him in the Midwest. He established Hackner Altar in the 1880s, and many of the workers Hackner would hire were expert carvers who also emigrated from Europe.

All of the work done by the company until 1910 — everything from altars to stairs to pews — was done by hand. After Hackner retired, his children ran the company, which outlived its founder. Hackner died in 1952 at the age of 95. The company stayed in business until 1963.

Some of Hackner Altar’s most famous work was the main altar and baldachin at St. Benedict’s in Chicago, the main altar at the church of the Incarnation in Minneapolis, the Pieta altar and canopy at St. Mark’s church in Cincinnati, and the altar at St. Agnes Church in Buffalo, N.Y. The company’s work also can be found in La Crosse inside Mary of the Angels Chapel at St. Rose Convent.

This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on July 1, 2017.

This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.