Among the manufacturing industries now located here, are:

-- Wisconsin Condensed Milk Co., condensed milk.
-- McCanna and Fraser Co., butter.
-- Burlington Blanket Co., manufacturing horse blankets, robes.
-- Burlington Brass Works, brass goods of all kinds.
-- Verstraete-Fyfe Manufacturing Co., camera and supplies, automobile parts, etc. (shown at right)
-- Multiscope and Film Co., photographic supplies.
-- Finke-Uhen Brewing Co., beer and malt.
-- F. G. Klein Co., soda water, soft drinks, weiss beer.
-- Burlington Brick and Tile Co., brick and tile.(shown below)
-- Lingle Manufacturing Co., levels and plumb bobs.
-- Hugh Agner, vending machines.
-- Security Lightning Rod Co., lightning rods.
-- Cement Products Co., cement blocks.
-- Lawton and Bushman, harness and shoe repairing outfits.
-- Badger Basket and Manufacturing Co., baskets and veneer woods.

In the way of public utilities the city is exceptionally favored. The city owns a splendid water works system that furnishes water and fire protection to all parts of the city. A sewerage system is being installed that covers every street in the city. An electric light plant furnishes light and power, and a gas plant furnishes light, heat and power.

Banking facilities are unexcelled, and a comparison of this business in this city with that of other cities will be found on the first page (not included here).

New and modern residences are being built in every part of the city; in fact local contractors have drawn on all neighboring cities for mechanics to help out in building operations in this city. A house for rent is a scarce article in Burlington, but local capitalists are coming to the front to relieve the situation.

Burlington has an enterprising, pushing, progressive lot of manufacturers and business men who are combining brains and capital to make Burlington "Busy, Booming Burlington."

Everybody Knows Your Name

Recently a fire in Lyons destroyed a piece of my childhood. I know how you say good-bye to people you love and care for when they die, but how do you say good-bye to bricks and mortar -- buildings that are not living, breathing individuals but inanimate objects? I know the face of Lyons has changed in many ways since I was a child roaming the village streets, but the very core of the village has not really changed that much in the last 50 years. Whenever I have the opportunity to visit Lyons, I can still drive up one street and down another and everything I see will trigger a memory from my past. When I think of home, I still think of that village as our family home even though none of us has lived there in over 40 years -- but what an impact living there had on all our lives.

If the fire had destroyed more than the old post office building, it would have taken a huge portion of the downtown area of Lyons. The Barber Shop, the old Post Office, the Ehlen house and the old McCann's grocery store would have ceased to exist except in our memories or maybe in some old photographs. It was a ritual for us to sneak downtown on a Friday or Saturday night so we could peek in the barber shop window and stare at everyone while they got their haircut -- or watch the ones who were brave enough to let the barber shave them. You could always count on good old Ramie R. -- Ramie worked on a farm outside of town but come Saturday night he always came to town -- all dressed up in his suit, good shoes, hat and smoking a big cigar. We loved it when old Ramie would come in for a haircut -- he had maybe a half a dozen hairs on his whole head but he felt the need to have a haircut just like everyone else and he always got a shave. After the shave, the barber would slap on the after shave and talcum powder and Ramie would exit the chair, put his hat on his head at a rakish angle, shove the cigar back in his mouth and jauntily exit the barber shop headed for the tavern next door. There he would spend a few hours trading stories and keeping his eyes open for some female companionship. I have to admit, I never ever saw him with a lady but that didn't stop him from dressing up on a Saturday night and coming to town just to see what he could see.

Assistant postmistress Eunice Peck sits on the porch of the Lyons post office in this circa 1940s newspaper photo. The photo appeared in the Standard Press Pictorial Section of May 1, 1969.

The old Post Office -- how many trips I made there! I can still remember our Post Office Box Number -- 189 -- and the combination: twice around, turn to 8, back to 12 and then forward to 2. The post office boxes back then were very ornate looking, not the plain fronted ones you see now -- they had real character. I used to love to stop and look at all the wanted posters -- my imagination would just run wild -- "What if one of them walked into the post office? What would I do?" Everyone who walked into the post office was regarded with suspicion and looked upon with narrowed eyes -- I was just sure I would be able to spot some desperado and turn him or her in for a big reward and get my picture in the paper and everything but that only ever happened in my imagination. Much to my disappointment, I never actually saw anyone who resembled any of those wanted posters.

I would also get sent to the Post Office on a daily basis from St. Joseph's School to pick up their mail. Mary and Jeanne and I would very importantly strut off down the street to fulfill our mission of picking up the mail for Sister Superior at the school. The postmaster would always look at us suspiciously when we asked for the mail and he would ask us if we had permission to do this. I think he thought we were secret agents of some kind out to gather secret information for an enemy school. When I looked at that building I never saw a TV repair shop, I saw the old Post Office. It was a gathering place, people picking up their mail would stop to visit with their neighbors, exchange gossip and comment on happenings around the village. It was in many ways the heart of the village.

Bonnie & Betty's Tavern used to be known as Otto & Hazel's Tavern. It serves the same purpose but yet is very different. In the Otto & Hazel's Tavern days, they catered mostly to farmers and town's people. It didn't attract a whole lot of young people. As a kid we could run in there and buy ice cream bars or a soda and no one yelled because you were a kid in the tavern without your parents. Of course we all knew the rules -- in and out -- no hanging out and only during the day. I remember when they first started to serve Pizza in the taverns. How your Pizza turned out depended entirely on who was tending bar. If it was a female, you usually did all right; some of the male bartenders -- not so good. Until they all got the hang of the pizza machines you could get a pizza that was baked to perfection or get one that was brown and crispy around the outside edges and sort of cold and doughy in the middle.

The Ehlen house (left) and the tavern and barber shop are west of the former post office building, a part of which can be seen at the far left.  Gus Wuttke and Henry Robers are standing center.  This circa 1940s newspaper photo appeared in the Standard Press Pictorial Section of May 1, 1969.
 

 I remember a story about Mr. Leo who lived next door to us. He and his wife moved to the village when they retired from their farm. They were very nice people and never seemed to get upset when we were out hooting and hollering in the yard as kids do. One night Mr. Leo decided to walk to the tavern and get himself and his wife a pizza. So off he ambled down the street to Otto & Hazel's. He ordered a beer while waiting for the pizza and one thing led to another and pretty soon the pizza was done but Mr. Leo wasn't finished talking yet. Well, by the time Mr. Leo was finished talking he was in a really jolly mood and off he went carrying his pizza but I'm thinking by the time he got home his pizza must have been a real mess. He walked out the door and instead of carrying the pizza flat, he grabbed one end of the bag and off he went swinging the pizza at his side. Can't you just imagine what happened to that pizza on the way home as he swung the bag back and forth at his side? The toppings had to have gone sliding to the bottom of the bag instead of staying on top of the pizza where they belonged. I can only imagine what his wife said when he got home and she saw the condition of Mr. Leo and the pizza in the bag.

The old McCann's General Store has been gone for years -- there is a house on that lot now but I remember going in there to buy penny candy. Do you remember penny candy? With a quarter you could buy enough candy to give you a sugar high for two days. I think they did more kid business than grown-up business. When you walked in the store, it was absolutely quiet -- the only thing you heard was the loud ticking of a huge pendulum clock. Miss Mildred would suddenly appear from their living quarters and just stand there looking at you. The lure of the penny candy was stronger than the spooky feeling you got when she seemed to appear out of nowhere. There was always some kid in there with their nose pressed tightly to the case. All those little nose and finger prints -- they must have spent hours trying to keep the glass clean and shiny.

If the walls in those old buildings could talk, what kind of stories would they tell? How much history have they seen? Lyons isn't any different than thousands of small towns spread across America. You might give up a lot of conveniences by moving to a small rural town like Lyons, but you gain so much in other ways. There's something to be said for living in a town where "Everybody knows your name."

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