Milwaukee Then and Now(r)

A Visit To Milwaukee

I lived in Milwaukee from birth until graduating from college in 1969 but have hardly been back since. I remember the city fondly and love to see old photographs and other reminders of my youth.

"Milwaukee: Then and Now" (2004) by Sandra Ackerman is a coffee-table sized book of photographs of Milwaukee. The book presents a photograph on an old Milwaukee scene or landmark on the left-hand side of the book followed by a photo of the same site as viewed today on the right-hand side. The old photographs generally are in black-and-white while the recent photos are in clear, well-defined color. Ackerman, a Milwaukee native and Executive Director of the preservationist organization Historic Milwaukee, selected the photos and wrote informative commentaries about the sites and their histories.

Many of the old photos predate my time in Milwaukee while the recent photos postdate it. A city which seemed to me stolid and unchanging in my younger days has actually changed a great deal. Still, the book brought back many memories.

I enjoyed seeing places and landmarks I knew well, both before and after the time I knew them. Photographs of downtown Milwaukee, with the unique bridges over the Milwaukee River that would divide and rise in the air for passing ships brought back memories. I remember places that I knew, including the lakefront, the old Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Station, the Northwestern Life Building, Layton Art Gallery, County Stadium, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the old Plankinton Mansion and much more. The only photograph of a place near my home was of Washington Park, where I spent some time at the old zoo and even more time walking around the lagoon and hearing concerts at the band shell. The park, lagoon, and band shell are still there and Ackerman's photograph of the shell and amphitheater look much as it did many years ago. Ackerman also includes photographs of Milwaukee's famous breweries, Pabst, Miller, Schlitz,and Blatz, all of which had tours which included samples of the breweries product for adults and of root beer for the kids. Most of the old breweries are gone; but Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, also featured in the book, continues in Milwaukee and thrives.

I took little notice when I was young of the old, ornate, German-style buildings which graced the city. I appreciate them more now that they are largely gone. Besides the buildings, the photographs show a great deal of street life, the pedestrians, old cars, streetcars or horse-drawn cars in some instances, and advertising signs that capture the flavor of the Milwaukee of old.

The book includes many photographs of parts of Milwaukee I didn't know or paid little attention to when I lived in the city. It was good to learn about them and to see them with fresh eyes.

This book brought back feelings of a time and a place. Any reader with a connection to Milwaukee would love this book. It made me want to catch a train and to see Milwaukee again and hold it close.

Robin Friedman