This illustration once hung in the Mukwonago Post Office in the downtown square. It is done in pen and watercolor in the Spencerian or calligraphic style that was popular in the second half of the nineteenth century. A Federal eagle graces the center of the artwork and there is guidance to patrons about money orders and how to behave while in the Post Office.
Around the perimeter are ten vignettes advertising a bank, a builder, meat market, black smith, clothing shop, barber shop and other businesses that were operating in Mukwonago that can be dated to about 1900. It is quite possible that these businesses contributed money to commission the piece for advertising purposes and the artist may have been itinerant. It may also have been a presentation piece to the local postmaster.
The illustrations, when compared to photographs in the museum collection, can be deemed quite accurate. In fact, the Mr. Gulbronson shown in his men’s clothing ad accurately resembles him in a family photograph.
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