It’s not every day that the newspaper carries the story of an escape from prison by a criminal involved in a “blast, airplane, and submarine scheme,” but that’s what happened 75 years ago today. The September 29, 1944, issue of the Milwaukee Journal carried the story of the escape of Walter Minx from a minimum security prison in northern Wisconsin.

Minx’s crime had been elaborate, but he nearly got away with it, but for a few blunders. His plan was to extort $100,000 from the manager of the Milwaukee Sears stores. In 1940, he delivered the extortion note, but to the wrong address, as the executive had recently sold the house to a judge, who promptly reported the crime to police.

The note threatened to explode two bombs. The first, a relatively harmless one, went off as scheduled. To prevent a second blast, the executive was to pay $100,000. The money was to be dropped at a certain point in Lake Michigan.

Minx had constructed a submarine which initially tested well in the waters of Whitefish Bay, where it seemed to work well. But when he took it out into the open waters of Lake Michigan, he was unable to submerge due to the waves. Undaunted, he came up with an alternate plan involving motorcycles.

But before the money could be exchanged, the police examined the first bomb, and noticed that some of the parts appeared to come from ornamental ironwork. A Sears employee remembered that Minx had worked on a cashier’s cage at the store, and police went to his shop to investigate. There, they saw other incriminating parts, and Minx soon confessed.

Minx was released from prison in 1946, so his escape was apparently of short duration.  Minx died in Florida in 2009 at the age of 92.  You can read more at Milwaukee magazine.

On this day 75 years ago, the United States was at war, but the City of Milwaukee was at war against Polio. Because of an outbreak, all children under 12 years old were confined to their homes.

That didn’t stop these girls from socializing with their friends two doors down. Shown here are Rosemary O’Brien, 12, Peggy O’Brien, 9, and Florence Ann O’Brien, 12, of 5321 N. Diversey Blvd., Milwaukee. They have rigged up a pulley system to send notes to their friends at 5335 Diversey, Betty Ann Dundon, 12, Sherman Dundon, 9, and Monica Dundon, 11.

Meanwhile, Schuster’s Department Store offers to help with these toys, books, and records for kids who are quarantined.

Both images appeared in the Milwaukee Journal, August 30, 1944.

Seventy-five years ago, wartime labor shortages meant that critical defense industries had to be creative when it came to staffing their plants. A logical source of labor came in the form of high school students, who eagerly took up the cause of defending the nation, and getting some spending money in the process. Today, there would probably be a great deal of hand wringing if kids were sent in to work with lead and acid, but these Milwaukee teens were eager to lend a hand.

Hundreds of students, both boys and girls, ages 16 and 17, were working for the Signal Battery Co. plant. Shown above cleaning batteries are Midge Wagner (left) of 2471 Fratney St. and Patsy Lee of 3219 N. Bartlett Ave. Both girls were students at Riverside High School. Also shown testing battery current is Mary Lou Burke of 2563 N. Farwell Ave., a student at Holy Angels Academy.

Northern Michigan University has on its website an interesting 1989 oral history interview with another teen worker at the battery plant, Evelyn Cieslick. She recounts:

I worked in a battery factory, in the summer when I was 16 years old, and we filled the acid that went into the batteries to make them work, and there weren’t enough boys around, so the girls took the summer jobs…. We worked in the factory and felt that we were doing our part in, for the war, along with everything else that was involved with giving up sacrifices for the war.

I had to take a bus to get there … in the mornings and, of course, work all day long, it was a summer job, and, like I said, all of us young people felt that we were doing our part by helping out. The name of the company was the Signal Battery Company. I’m sure they were for walkie talkies, and radios … for the war.

These photos appeared 75 years ago today in the June 19, 1944 issue of the Milwaukee Journal.  These young women are about 91 years old today.  We realize that people Google their own names, and we always enjoy hearing from people we have featured.  Please leave a comment below or e-mail me at clem.law@usa.net.  If you are one of the students shown here, thank you for your service to your country!

A few weeks ago, we showed a snapshot of wartime grocery prices. Today, we show how much it cost to have your auto serviced 75 years ago. This ad appeared in the Milwaukee Journal on May 5, 1944.

Because of gasoline and tire shortages, it’s likely that most cars spent most of the war parked.  But even if they got little mileage, they would need occasional service.  And Sears Roebuck was there to help, with its Milwaukee service stations open until 9:00 every night except Sunday at 1337 W. Forest Home Ave. and 2100 W. North Ave.

A tune-up was $2.39 and included cleaning and inspecting the distributor, testing the coil condenser caps, and checking the spark plug wires for breakdown.  The spark plugs would be cleaned and the gap checked.

In addition, the service included inspection of the fuel pump and adjusting the carburetor.  The battery would be cleaned and refilled, and the generator, fan belt, and radiator would be inspected.