Janik - Odd Wisconsin: Amusing, Perplexing, and Unlikely Stories from Wisconsins Past

If it's the offbeat, the paranormal, or the downright odd that you crave, there may be no better place than Wisconsin. Wisconsin's past is full of crazy characters, bizarre events, and surprising incidents that somehow didn't make the official account of state historyand the state would not be the same without them. Wisconsin's published history often seems less a story of real people than a prepackaged virtual reality, neatly grouped by decade and offering the big speeches, the big names, and the big moments. Let's face itthese stories are a lot less fun.

Despite this, history has always been one of my favorite subjects because I had teachers who read between the lines. I loved hearing stories about where we came from and why. Family trips were usually educational: my parents thought it equally important to visit George Washington's Mount Vernon as it was to see Francis Johnson's huge ball of twine in Darwin, Minnesota. I was blessed with teachers who thought it was important to make history three-dimensional by sharing the stories that slipped through the cracks of our textbooksand hearing those stories felt like getting inside information. History is more than a list of names and dates, and it isn't a smooth ride to the present day. Odd Wisconsin offers Wisconsin with all the bumps, bruises, and perplexities that make a place more than a location on a map or an entry in an encyclopedia.

While Fighting Bob La Follette's exploits as a leader in the Progressive Era are legendary, did you know that he personally saved countless valuable government documents and executive department paintings from destruction during the capitol fire of 1904? Or that the practice of placing Bibles in hotel and motel rooms originated in a Boscobel hotel more than one hundred years ago? Lowering the bucket into the well of history brings to light some of these curious fragments of Wisconsin's past. Some are simply amusing or unexpectedthat happened here? Others are completely strange and creepy. But all contain some truth and have a historical point. These stories present an important and intrinsic part of Wisconsin's past and are worthy of recognition. One thing is certain: while the accuracy of some might not hold up under intense scrutiny, all of the tales contained here reflect real people, real events, and real reporting from the time.

Odd Wisconsin is your history, my history, our historyand it is a history in which we can take a kind of quirky pride, because it is hard to believe that any state could be odder than Wisconsin.