Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, known as Sally, grew up in Marathon County, Wisconsin. As an adult she spent a short time working in Washington D.C. before returning to Wausau to marry and raise a family. This series of posts takes us page by page through the photo album of her teen years and young adulthood. She was an active and vibrant gal. These photos show her doing things she could no long do when her mobility became limited in the following decades.

She collected photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. She took most of them and posed in many. This series gives us a glimpse of Sally’s young life, through her own pictures.

Sally and friends

The 28th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken of Sally and her friends in 1928.

Fur coats

The first four photos on this album page feature Sally and friends donning fur coats. Just what was needed to keep out the cold in Wisconsin winters?

Secor’s Women’s Wear advertised a half-price sale on fur coats in January 1928 saying, “You may choose from a Coat of Hudson Seal, Brown Pony, Taupe Pony, Russian Calf, Muskrat, Beaverette, Australian or American Opossum, or Near Seal in a variety of fur trimmings. The price you pay will be exactly one-half of what it was before this sale. It is possible to save as much as $187.50 by purchasing your coat now.“

You could also buy trimmed coats. These black, brown, gray, moonlight, or blue coats were made of Broadcloth, Malina, Venise, Broadtail and Lustrosa. Some of those sound like really fancy material. The main feature of each coat, however, was the trim which could be Fitch, Skunk, Martin, Fox, Wolf, Beaver, Kit Fox or Australian Opossum.

Sally and friend

Sally is pictured donning her fur coat. Her friend models a fur-trimmed coat.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Sally

Sally is warm despite the snow as she poses across the street from the West Side Grocery. The store was located at 111 Clinton Street, opposite Curtis & Yale.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Clinton Street, Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Fur-trimmed coats

Sally’s friends, likely Curtis & Yale co-workers, pose in the snow in their fur-lined coats.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

On a truck

Sally and a friend, pose on the side of a truck. This is likely taken at Curtis & Yale, where Sally worked.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Wedding Dress

Sally models her mother’s wedding dress. Alice Fehlhaber had worn this dress about 26-years earlier when she married Fred Aschbrenner.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

A beau named Reno

This photo was labeled in the album as Reno Wendorf, Sally’s beau. It is weird to think of Sally dating someone other than Norman. But she was a pretty young professional woman, so it shouldn’t be surprising to know that she caught the eye of more than one guy.

Pictured: Reno Morten Rueben Wendorf.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

In this second of two photos of Reno, he is pictured with a friend.

Pictured: Reno Morten Rueben Wendorf, top, and unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

First Knickers

In this picture, Sally models her first pair of knickers.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Knickers and skirts

Sally wasn’t the only one with knickers. Four of her friends pose next to a bare tree and one is styling knickers.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

On the tracks

Sally and friends pose on the railroad tracks.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, far right, and unidentified women.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Resting

It was probably easier for Sally to sit on the ground for this photo than her friends in skirts. Knickers rock!

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, far right, and unidentified women.

Location: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Date: 1928.

Many thanks to Uncle Chuck Krueger for gifting Sally’s photo albums to me. I suppose I’m the only one who is obsessed enough with family history to spend hours and hours doing something with them. Of course, I thought I should find a way to share.

I didn’t join the Krueger family soon enough to meet Sally. She died 15 May 1983, just two weeks after I started dating her grandson (now my husband). I’m sad that I missed getting to know her. I’m glad that she left a legacy of photos that help me see a side of her that maybe even her own family didn’t get to see.

Many of the faces and places in the photographs are not labeled. If you can help identify someone or someplace, correct any mistake I may have made, or otherwise add to the story, please contact me, for example by submitting a comment. Thanks.

Who is Who?

Fred and Alice Aschbrenner family

Sally Aschbrenner, the subject of this series of posts, was the daughter of Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber and Frederick A. Helmut Aschbrenner. She had one brother named Freddy.

Three-generation pedigree chart

Reno Wendorf

Reno Morten Rueben Wendorf, who was labeled in Sally’s photo album as a beau, was born 11 Aug 1905 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin. His father, Charles Wendorf, was an immigrant from Germany. His mother, Minnie, was born in Illinois. He grew up with two older brothers. In 1910, the family lived at 212 Emmerson Street in Wausau. As an adult, he was 5′ 11.5″ tall, weighed about 158, had brown eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion. He was described as having a harelip.

By 1930, Reno worked as an employee of Curtis & Yale and lived at 1717 Fairmount Avenue in Wausau with his parents.

Maybe Sally met him at work?

Their romance was short-lived. That is good for us since things would never have been the same if Sally had fallen for Reno and not waited for Norman.

Reno married Irma Grace Mitchell in Wausau, on 24 Jun 1933. The couple did not have children. In 1940, Reno was working at Fullerton Lumber Co., with an address of 2306 Oakwood Blvd. Later, they lived at 914 Grand Avenue. They remained in Wausau until their deaths. Reno died 27 Feb 1987, in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.

Selected Sources:

“Secor’s Good-Will Sale Features Fur Coats at Half Price —- All Cloth Coats Reduced 1/3 to 1/2,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 12 Jan 1928, page 5 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272060197/ : accessed 21 Aug 2020).

“Announcing Change in Management of the West Side Grocery,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 05 Jan 1929, page 4 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273008002/?terms=west%2Bside%2Bgrocery : accessed 21 Aug 2020).

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), ancestry.com, Year: 1910; Census Place: Wausau Ward 1, Marathon, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1720; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0101; FHL microfilm: 1375733.

Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data – Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Reco), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1920; Census Place: Wausau Ward 1, Marathon, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_1995; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 41

Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.Original data – United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626,), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1930; Census Place: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 0056; FHL microfilm: 2342316

Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), ancestry.com.

“News of Society,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 23 Jun 1923, page 7 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273055753/? : accessed 21 Aug 2020).

The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Wisconsin, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 775.

Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), ancestry.com, Year: 1940; Census Place: Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin; Roll: m-t0627-04497; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 37-58

“Reno M. Wendorf,” Wausau Daily Herald, 01 Mar 1987, page 24 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/273732693/ : accessed 21 Aug 2020).

The Aschbrenner Family