WISCONSIN 1900–WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP. The Economist language I just quoted is fanciful because we think–at least, I think–of Southern Ontario as a nice area where the people are nice. I think people idealize as well the American Midwest in about 1900. It was a shock when Michael Lesy published WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP in 1973. Lesy juxtaposed photographs from a Wisconsin town with newspaper stories from the same time period. The newspaper stories described tragedies and crimes. Diphtheria was a terrible killer. There was a wave of barn burnings. Here is a wikipedia article about the book and a film based on the book (narrated by Ian Holm). Here is a slide show about the book with a caution that “Photos of children in coffins–along with text chronicling murder, insanity, disease, and suicide–can be shocking to a 21st century audience.” The book and the slide show are heart-rending.
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- “A COMFORT BLANKET FOR THE SMUG”? (1)
- Nick: Further informing my perspective was that in the writings of classical Romans the middle-aged authors opined...
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- “A COMFORT BLANKET FOR THE SMUG”? (1)
Meta
We had a book of photos called Wisconsin Death Trip. When we had children, we got rid of it, not wanting them to come across it accidentally and have a horrible, permanent shock.
When Wisconsin Death Trip, I mischievously gave a copy to my father, who grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin,. He skimmed through it and said, “That is the way it was. A lot of things like this happened.”