I’ve recently returned to my job behind the counter at the local mercantile. This is good—for all sorts of practical reasons—but requires an adjustment to my research and writing schedule that I’ve not quite figured out. Yet.

Main counter and clerk, 1880s General Store at Old World Wisconsin, July, 2016. Photo by Reed Perkins. Click to open larger image in new window.

I should be back with the conclusion of Infrastructure Week! next week. Meanwhile, here are a few more photos of the General Store at Old World Wisconsin — “big box” retail at its finest, circa 1880.

All photos by Reed Perkins, July, 2016, hence the lack of masks. No re-enactors were harmed in making this photo essay.

Be well. See you next week.

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NOTES:

• I’m experimenting with a WordPress photo gallery format that I’ve not used before. Readers: how do you like this “collage” layout, versus the “one enlargable image at a time” format that I usually use? Just wondering.

• Old World Wisconsin, in Eagle, Wisconsin, is one of the great outdoor living history museums and is a wonderful place to visit. Of course, the pandemic has caused ongoing changes to their opening days and hours. According to their most recent information:

Old World Wisconsin is opening for our 2021 season in June!

Our season will look a bit different than usual, but it will be as fun as ever! From June 16th until August 29th we will be open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays each week. We will be closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays to deep clean our spaces. On Wednesdays will have 3 exciting guided experiences running multiple times a day for small groups. You can join us for our general admission, self-guided exploration experience Thursdays through Sundays too!

Whether it’s your first time visiting or your family has been coming to Old World Wisconsin since we opened in 1976, please visit our website: https://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/ and make sure you know what to expect from our season this year!