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.

Winter in Marathon Park

The 16th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken in Marathon Park in wintertime. They were most likely taken in early 1924.

Marathon Park is large park in the city of Wausau. It has several buildings, and, among other uses, it is used each summer as a fairground. It wasn’t summer when Sally and her friends visited and took these photos. These ladies seem to have been enjoying their Wisconsin winter.

Sally and the fountain

The Marathon Park fountain was frozen over and provided a nice place for Sally to pose.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Marathon Park Fountain with friends

Sally, center, poses with two women on the frozen Marathon Park fountain.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, center.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

In the snow

Three friends pose in the snow at Marathon Park.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Really in the snow

Three friends pose sitting in the snow at Marathon Park.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Sally in the snow

Sally sits in the snow outside the kitchen at Marathon Park.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Winter picnic

Sally and a friend enjoy their picnic lunch while sitting in the snow at Marathon Park.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, left, and unidentified friend.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Resting

Sally’s friend rests on the top of something instead of sitting in the snow.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

The exhibition building

Sally, center, and two friends explore Marathon Park. They are probably posing by the exhibition hall which was constructed in 1924. Today, the exhibition building is the tallest building in Marathon Park. It was designed by the firm of Oppenhamer and Obel and built in 1924. The building consists of a hexagonal-shaped building, with cupola, from which radiate six rectangular wings with gable roofs. That building features arches like the ones the ladies are standing in.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, center, and unidentified friends.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1924.

Embracing winter

Sally, center, and two friends are enjoying a nice winter day among the pines.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, center, and two unidentified ladies.

Location: Marathon Park, Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: 1924.

Lunch time

This appears to be a different outside adventure. The weather looks chilly, but perhaps this was taken in late fall or early spring instead of during the snowy part of winter.

Pictured: Unidentified.

Location: Probably Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1923-24.

Another snowy day

Sally, third from right, and five ladies rest on a fence in a snowy field. Guessing this was taken on a different day than the Marathon Park outing since Sally is wearing a different outfit.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and five other unidentified ladies.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1923-24.

On top of the snow

Sally, second from left, and her friends pose on top of the snow. They appear to be almost as high as the utility pole.

Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, second from left, and unidentified ladies.

Location: Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Date: circa 1923-24.

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

Selected Sources:

List of Parks, Marathon County Parks, Recreation and Forestry, (https://www.co.marathon.wi.us//Departments/ParksRecreationForestry/ParksandFacilities/ListofParks.aspx#Marathon : accessed 26 Jul 2020).

History, Wisconsin Valley Fair (https://www.wisconsinvalleyfair.com/p/about/285 : accessed 26 Jul 2020).

The Aschbrenner Family