Recklessness, corruption, and unnecessary death in the Badger State? None of this is new, of course, and in Anna Lardinois’ new book, Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin: A History of Mischief and Menace, Heroes and Heartbreak, the collected tales of yesteryear’s woe and shame provide a much-needed distraction from present-day events destined to be written about in dreary prose by generations to come.
Lardinois is no stranger to history’s dark sides. She is the founder of Gothic Milwaukee and runs the city’s most popular haunted historical walking tour and published a book, Milwaukee Ghosts and Legends, on the city’s spooky past in 2018. Her latest offering is similarly situated as a collection of short tales arranged by topic. The state-wide scope casts a wide net, bringing in weirdness from such off-the-radar places as Crandon, Ephraim and the little collection of towns near Fond du Lac known as the “Holyland”—which became infamous for its moonshine production during Prohibition. But most of the action in the book takes places in and around the state’s biggest cities. Milwaukee is noted as the place where a crazed man once took a shot at former President Teddy Roosevelt (and nearly killed him), a hotbed of mafia violence, and the home to one of the Midwest finest brothels.
One of the most compelling chapters is the last, which focuses on the Great Lakes and brings to print several stories which even local history buffs might not be familiar with. Of particular note are a pair of murder mystery tales—including one involving a prominent counter-culture couple of the 1920s. While not everything in the volume is as obscure and lost as these stories, Lardinois manages to keep even the more familiar tales (such as that of the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald) lively and engaging.
Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin makes for a quick read, but a devilishly engrossing one. It makes for a lovely trip through the muck and mire of a place without pity without even needing to actually get in your car.
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Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin: A History of Mischief and Menace, Heroes and Heartbreak is available now from Globe Pequot Publishers.
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