Title: William F. Steuber Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1886-1996 (bulk 1927-1977)

Creator:

• Steuber, William F., 1904-

Call Number: Mss 1042; PH 6546; AC 284-AC 289; VBB 242; VBB 406; VHA 340

Quantity: 5.0 cubic feet (11 archives boxes and 1 flat box), 0.8 cubic feet of photographs (1 archives box and 1 flat box), 6 films (16 mm), and 3 videorecordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of William F. Steuber, a highway engineer and novelist. Materials documenting Steuber's long career as an engineer and public relations spokesperson at the Wisconsin State Highway Commission (1926-1943, 1946-1970) include technical writings, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and films, speeches and manuscripts intended to promote highway safety. Although Steuber's short stories and articles are included, the bulk of the materials in the collection relates to Steuber's three novels: Us Incorporated (1953), and the historical novels The Landlooker (1957), about the Peshtigo Fire, and Go Away Thunder (1972), about the Menominee tribe. Steuber's writing process, from the research phase, through the drafting process, to the distribution and reception of his final work, is documented in extensive research files, annotated drafts and manuscripts, publisher's and congratulatory correspondence, and clippings. A small amount of personal papers are included with the collection; among them are board game and puzzle prototypes Steuber developed, family photographs, and a diary (1892-1908) kept by William F. Steuber Sr. and Milton C. Steuber.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01042

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William Floyd Steuber Jr. was born on 5 November 1904 in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin to William F. Steuber Sr. (also known as Wilhelm Hriedrich Jakob Steuber) and Louisa Steuber (née Luice Wintermantel).

William F. Steuber Sr. was born the son of an immigrant German stonemason in 1861 in Sauk, Wisconsin. As an adult, William F. Steuber Sr. took up the trades of stonemasonry and bricklaying. On February 25, 1886, he married Louisa Wintermantel and the couple moved to Prairie du Sac, where William F. Steuber Sr. constructed a brick house and ran a lime yard. The Steubers had five children: Helen (born 1888), Milton C. (born 1889), Elda (born 1891), Lillian (born 1895) and William F. Jr. (born 1904).

In 1911, the Steuber family moved to Madison. William F. Steuber Jr. attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he majored in engineering and English, earning a bachelor's degree in 1930. While a student in 1926, Steuber found summer work doing surveys and planning for the Dane County Highway Commission. He began working as a drafter, then worked as an instrument man, and finally became chief of a survey party. In 1927, he also freelanced for the Kinegrams newsreel company. After graduation, he began working for the State Highway Commission and was sent to the La Crosse district.

While in La Crosse, Steuber met vocational schoolteacher Marie F. Droster, also a Madison native and University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate (1929). In 1935, Steuber was transferred to District 1 back in Madison, where he married Droster.

In 1937, Steuber became Associate Director of the State Highway Safety Division. There, he began writing professionally, authoring pamphlets on highway safety. Steuber appears to have published technical articles “on the side” through the 1940s and 1950s, as well. Over the course of his engineering career, Steuber published articles in engineering and popular science journals, including Highway Magazine, Public Roads, Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated. As part of his work for the Highway Safety Division, Steuber began to make highway safety films.

In 1941, Steuber was promoted to Executive Secretary of the Highway Advisory Committee to the War Department. Then, in 1943, he took a leave of absence for a war service appointment as an editor and technical writer for the United States Forest Products Laboratory.

After the war, Steuber returned to the State Highway Commission, where he worked as assistant to the state highway engineer and as a technical writer, garnering a prize in a 1953 General Motors essay contest. In 1955, Steuber became the first chief of the newly formed Public Information Section. In 1958, he was promoted to assistant state highway engineer, where he remained until his retirement in 1970. During the last years of his career as a state highway engineer, Steuber served as unofficial division historian, working to maintain and preserve records and photographs pertaining to Wisconsin highways.

As early as 1933, Steuber began writing short fiction in his free time. Steuber handwrote his manuscript drafts while his wife Marie edited and typed them. He tried, without success, to publish his stories in periodicals like Harper's and The New Yorker. Steuber wrote his first novel, Us Incorporated, a coming of age story that takes place in a small Midwestern town, over the course of eight years between 1945 and its 1953 publication. In 1957, Steuber published his best-known work, The Landlooker, a Friends of American Writers award-winning historical novel about the Peshtigo fire of 1871. He published his third and last novel, Go Away Thunder, a historical novel about the Menominee tribe before European colonization of the Americas, in 1972. Steuber promoted his novels through public speaking appearances in the Madison area.

In addition to his fiction work, Steuber authored historical articles for the Wisconsin Magazine of History and various local newspapers. Steuber also developed many puzzles and word-games, as well as one board game, all of which he sought unsuccessfully to copyright and distribute.

Steuber was a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers, the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Society of Midland Authors. He served as secretary of the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Planning Committee, as vice-chairman of the Natural Resources Council of State Agencies, and as chairperson of the Historical Markers Committee. He also served on the Menominee Indian Study Committee.

Steuber died on October 27, 2005 at the age of 100.

Professional Timeline

1926	Begins working for the Dane County Highway Commission
1927	Freelance news filmmaker, Kinegrams Newsreel Company
1928-1930	Chief of Survey Party, Dane County Highway Commission
1930	Bachelor's degree in Engineering and English, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1930-1935	Chief of Party/Junior Assistant Highway Engineer, State Highway Commission Division 5, La Crosse, Wisconsin
1935-1937	Junior Assistant Highway Engineer, State Highway Commission, Division 1, Madison, Wisconsin
1937-1941	Assistant Director, Highway Safety Division
1941-1943	Executive Secretary, Highway Advisory Committee to War Department
1943-1946	Technical writer and editor, Forest Products Laboratory (war service appointment)
1945	Begins Us Incorporated
1946-1955	Assistant to State Engineer, State Highway Commission of Wisconsin
1953	Us Incorporated published
1955-1958	Chief of Public Information, State Highway Department
1957	The Landlooker published
1958-1970	Assistant State Highway Engineer, State Highway Commission of Wisconsin
1966	Begins Go Away Thunder
1972	Go Away Thunder published

This collection consists of papers created and compiled by highway engineer and novelist William F. Steuber Jr. The collection primarily documents Steuber's professional career as a highway engineer and a writer, with a particular emphasis on the latter. A smaller portion relates to Steuber's personal life and family. The materials date from approximately 1892 to 1993, with the bulk dating to the half-century between 1927 and 1977. Most of the materials consist of correspondence, clippings, research files, drafts and manuscripts, photographs, and films. Also included is a diary kept by Steuber's father, William F. Steuber Sr., and later by Steuber's brother, Milton C.

Steuber's papers are divided into four series, which largely reflect the collection's original order: PERSONAL PAPERS, TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENGINEERING PAPERS, CREATIVE AND HISTORICAL WRITINGS, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Because Steuber was involved in many activities at once, there is a degree of overlap in materials between series in the collection.

The PERSONAL PAPERS are organized alphabetically by subject and consist largely of correspondence and clippings. A journal written by William F. Steuber Sr. and Milton C. Steuber is also included. The papers cover two discrete date ranges: the first, relate to William F. Steuber Sr., and Milton C. Steuber (1892-1908); the second, relate to William F. Steuber Jr. (1951-1990). William F. Steuber Sr.'s journal provides a detailed account of his work and daily life in Prairie du Sac with virtually no interruptions in entries over the period between 1892 and 1903. Milton C. Steuber's entries are sporadic, and cover only an eight-month period in 1908. Materials related to William F. Steuber Jr. tend to highlight his public achievements rather than illuminate his personal relationships. In addition to clippings, correspondence, certificates and awards, and religious and fraternal membership files, puzzles and games developed by Steuber are also included. Steuber was unsuccessful in selling and copyrighting his puzzles and games.

The TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENGINEERING PAPERS are organized chronologically and include correspondence, clippings, technical writings (both drafts and finished pieces), and drafts of speeches. Documents are limited for Steuber's career at the Highway Commission before 1937 and are summarized in clippings and other secondary sources scattered throughout the files. The bulk of the papers date from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, with Steuber's work in safety promotion and public information best represented. The series also includes some scattered correspondence about Steuber's 1927 stint as a news film camera operator, and his wartime tenure at the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory. Also included are a few technical articles Steuber published independently from his professional position such as his pool table article in Mechanix Illustrated.

The CREATIVE AND HISTORICAL WRITINGS series constitutes the bulk of the collection. It contains materials produced and collected over a sixty-year period, from 1933 to 1993. The series is further divided into five subseries: Short Stories and Historical Articles; General Novel Files; Us Incorporated; The Landlooker; and Go Away Thunder. The files within each subseries are arranged alphabetically by subject. Steuber's writing process, from the research phase, through the drafting process, to the distribution and reception of his final work, is documented in extensive research files, annotated drafts and manuscripts, publisher and congratulatory correspondence, and clippings. Steuber's early, handwritten drafts and manuscripts are not in any coherent order.

The Short Stories and Historical Articles (1933-1993) subseries contains manuscripts and drafts of Steuber's short stories and historical articles. In some cases, related correspondence is included in the file. Such files are labeled “article” rather than “manuscript.”

The General Novel Files (1946-1985) relate to Steuber's novels and include clippings, contracts, and copyright renewal correspondence. These files each cover a date range spanning at least two of Steuber's publications. There is some overlap between the materials with the three subseries that follow: Us Incorporated; The Landlooker; and Go Away Thunder.

The Us Incorporated (1946-1987) subseries contains drafts and manuscripts, correspondence to editors, publishers, libraries, critics and friends, and clippings about published pieces. Because of his success with Us Incorporated, and in order to further promote his work, Steuber became active on the local public speaking and contest-judging circuit. His speeches and correspondence with event organizers are also included in this subseries.

The Landlooker (1955-1994) and the Go Away Thunder (1964-1975) subseries are analogous in terms of content with the Us Incorporated files, with one crucial difference: because these subseries relate to historical novels, they include extensive research files, as well. The VISUAL MATERIALS series is extremely diverse, representing a wide range of media created over the course of an almost equally wide range of activities.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series includes photographs, a scrapbook, plans, and films. There is overlap from this series with the previous series. Personal photographs include promotional photographs for Steuber's Blackball board game, photographs of Steuber and wife Marie taken over four decades (circa 1932-1970), photographs of Steuber's first Ford (1926), and photographs of Steuber's parents, William F. Steuber Sr. and Louisa Wintermantel, in Prairie du Sac and Madison (circa 1888-1920). Negatives of the Blackball game, and of Steuber's Ford, are also included. Technical Writing and Engineering photos include one still from Bill's Bike (1939) and one photograph of Steuber delivering a radio road report (1952). Photographs of the Peshtigo cemetery (circa 1959) were taken in conjunction with Steuber's article, “The Problem at Peshtigo.” Also included are two WISC-TV stills (circa 1953), probably taken at an appearance to promote Us Incorporated. These last two are annotated, displaying a slightly promiscuous sense of humor on Steuber's part.

A Scrapbook documents Steuber's early highway career. The scrapbook contains rare photographs of Wisconsin Highway Commission personnel in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Also documented in the scrapbook is a highway-engineering project related to flooding from the same period.

Films in the collection relate to Steuber's work with the Wisconsin Highway Commission as well as to one of his novels. First Inventory of Wisconsin Roads (1936) was produced while Steuber was a junior assistant highway engineer; Safety News (1937), Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade (1938), Watch the Road Signs (1938) and the celebrated Bill's Bike (1939) were all produced during Steuber's years at the Highway Safety Division. A videorecording of a reading from The Landlooker presented by Bill Steuber is accompanied by a question and answer session. Refer to Appendix I for a more detailed description of the films in the collection.

Acquisition Information

Presented by William F. Steuber, Madison, Wisconsin, 1975-2001. Accession Number: M75-282, M78-262, M80-406, M86-590, M87-165, M88-226, M95-053, M95-266, M2001-060

Processing Information

Processed by Heather Heckman (Practicum student), May 2008.

Mss 1042	Series: Personal Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Articles about Steuber, 1928-1992
Box   1 Folder   2	Black Ball board game, 1947-1948
Box   1 Folder   3	Black Ball board game Patent Office correspondence, 1948
Box   1 Folder   4	Certificates and awards, 1929-1979
Box   1 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1958-1996
Box   1 Folder   6	Essay about William F. Steuber Sr.'s journal, 1986
Box   12 Folder   1	Journal kept by William F. Steuber Sr. and Milton C. Steuber, 1892-1908
Box   1 Folder   7	Puzzles and games, 1991-1993
Box   1 Folder   8	Religious and fraternal organizations, circa 1950-1985
Box   1 Folder   9	University of Wisconsin sixtieth reunion, 1990
	Series: Technical Writing and Engineering Papers	⇧
Box   1 Folder   10	Correspondence, 1927-1946
Box   1 Folder   11	“Sermon (without Benediction)” speech: manuscript, 1933
	Highway Safety Division files, 1937-1942
Box   1 Folder   12	Addresses and conferences, 1937-1941
Box   1 Folder   13	“Danger Meter” article, 1940-1942
Box   1 Folder   14	Education, 1937-1942
Box   1 Folder   15	Films, 1937-1940
Box   1 Folder   16	Publications, 1939-1940
Box   1 Folder   17	Radio broadcast correspondences and manuscripts, 1937-1940
Box   2 Folder   1	“Safety is Fun”: manuscript, 1938-1939
Box   2 Folder   2	“Safety Lessons in Action” book, 1940
Box   2 Folder   3	Career file, 1940-1970
Box   2 Folder   4	“Build This Pocket Billiards Table” article, 1952-1953
Box   2 Folder   5	Public Information Office file, 1952-1956
	General Motors contest files, 1952-1957
Box   2 Folder   6	Clippings, 1952-1953
Box   2 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1953-1957
Box   2 Folder   8	Entry manuscript, 1953
Box   3 Folder   1	Transportation and technical articles, 1953-1996
Box   3 Folder   2	Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers membership, 1954-1955
Box   3 Folder   3	Management conference, 1957
Box   3 Folder   4	Assistant State Highway Engineer file, 1957-1958
	Series: Creative and Historical Writings	⇧
	Short stories and historical articles
Box   3 Folder   5	“Flunked Out-and Him a Professor”: manuscript, 1933
Box   3 Folder   6	Historical marker texts, 1971-1979
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Journalistic articles, 1972-1993
Box   3 Folder   9	Literary and historical articles, 1956-1992
Box   3 Folder   10	“The Problem at Peshtigo” article, 1958
Box   3 Folder   11	“Saint John Church Bicentennial”: manuscript, 1976
Box   3 Folder   12	Short stories, 1970-1986
Box   3 Folder   13	“Ten Targets for the Novel” article, 1958-1961
Box   3 Folder   14	“Twenty Million Men for Sale”: manuscript, 1933
	General novel files
Box   4 Folder   1	Clippings, 1953-1958
Box   4 Folder   2	Contracts, 1970-1974
Box   4 Folder   3	Copyright renewal correspondence, 1981-1985
Box   4 Folder   4	Writing courses and contest judging correspondence, 1955-1959
	Us Incorporated
	Congratulatory correspondence
Box   4 Folder   5	1951-1952
Box   4 Folder   6	1953-1956
Box   4 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1953-1955
Box   4 Folder   8-9	Early drafts and original manuscript, circa 1946-1952
Box   4 Folder   10	International and film rights correspondence, 1953-1957, 1987
Box   5 Folder   1	Library distribution correspondence, 1953-1954
Box   5 Folder   2-3	Master copy and notes, circa 1946-1952
Box   5 Folder   4	Membership in Script Reactors writers' group, 1950-1953
Box   5 Folder   5	Publication acceptance clippings, 1952-1956
Box   5 Folder   6	Publication rejection correspondence, 1946-1951
Box   5 Folder   7	Publisher's correspondence, 1953-1959
Box   5 Folder   8	Reviews, 1952-1953
Box   5 Folder   9	Speech to Arabut Ludlow Memorial Library, 1955
Box   5 Folder   10	Speech to Southern Wisconsin Teachers' Association, 1955
Box   5 Folder   11	Speech to veterans' hospital, 1955
Box   5 Folder   12	Speeches and broadcasts, 1953-1954
	The Landlooker
Box   5 Folder   13	Congratulatory correspondence, 1957-1958
Box   6 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1960-1966
Box   6 Folder   2	Cuts, drafts, notes and research, circa 1955-1957
Box   6 Folder   3-5	Early drafts, 1955-1957
Box   7 Folder   1	Listings and letters, 1960-1969
Box   7 Folder   2	Membership in Creative Wisconsin, 1957-1960
Box   7 Folder   3	Membership in Friends of American Writers, 1958
Box   7 Folder   4	Memberships, 1957-1959
Box   7 Folder   5	Novel summary, 1994
Box   7 Folder   6	Paperback promotion correspondence, 1970, 1991-1992
Box   7 Folder   7	Publisher's correspondence, 1956-1961
Box   8 Folder   1	Publisher's manuscript, circa 1957
Box   8 Folder   2	Research on 1871, 1955-1956
Box   8 Folder   3	Research on carriages, 1955-1957
Box   8 Folder   4	Research on facial hair, 1955
Box   8 Folder   5	Research on harnesses, 1864-1866, 1955-1957
Box   8 Folder   6	Research on passenger pigeons, 1947, 1955-1959
Box   8 Folder   7	Research on Peshtigo, Wisconsin, 1870-1871, 1954-1956
Box   8 Folder   8	Research on railroads, 1953-1956
Box   8 Folder   9	Research on the Great Fires of 1871, 1871, 1944, 1946, 1953
Box   8 Folder   10	Research on the Peshtigo Fire, 1955-1956
Box   8 Folder   11	Research on the Wisconsin Dells, 1953-1956
Box   8 Folder   12	Research on Wisconsin lumbering, 1953-1957
Box   8 Folder   13	Reviews and mentions, 1958-1959
Box   8 Folder   14	Speeches, 1959-1951
Box   8 Folder   15	State Historical Society history award, 1958-1959
Box   8 Folder   16	Student essays about the novel, 1993
Box   9 Folder   1-2	Working draft, 1955-1957
	Go Away Thunder
Box   9 Folder   3-5	Alternate chapter drafts, 1964-1971
Box   9 Folder   6-8	Beaver Brandy Beads and Bells: manuscript, circa 1964
Box   10 Folder   1	Book plans, notes and research, 1971-1976
Box   10 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1972-1974
Box   10 Folder   3-6	Early drafts and manuscripts, 1964-1971
Box   10 Folder   7	Final chapter discards, circa 1971
Box   10 Folder   8	Indian clippings, 1966-1975
Box   10 Folder   9	Menominee monastery occupation clippings, 1975
Box   10 Folder   10	“The Novel as a Vehicle to Tell the Story of the Menominee Indians” article, 1974
Box   10 Folder   11	Promotion, 1970-1974
Box   11 Folder   1-2	Publisher's manuscript, 1964-1971
Box   11 Folder   3	Reference sources, 1964-1971
Box   11 Folder   4-5	Research files, 1964-1971
Box   11 Folder   6	Speech to Capitol District Librarians' spring meeting, 1977
Box   11 Folder   7	Speech to Wisconsin Junior Academy Prose Workshop, 1976
Box   11 Folder   8	Speeches, 1972-1973
PH 6546	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
	Blueprint
Oversize	Personal Black Ball board game prototype, 1948
	Photographs
	Personal
Box   1 Folder   1	Black Ball board game, 1948
Box   1 Folder   2	William F. Steuber Jr. and Marie Droster Steuber, circa 1932-1970
Box   1 Folder   3	William F. Steuber Jr.'s first Ford, 1926
Box   1 Folder   4	William F. Steuber Sr. and Louisa Wintermantel, circa 1886-1920
	Technical writing and engineering
Box   1 Folder   5	Bill's Bike still, 1939
Box   1 Folder   6	Radio road report, 1952
	Creative and historical writings
	Short stories and historical articles
Box   1 Folder   7	Peshtigo cemetery, circa 1959
	Us Incorporated
Box   1 Folder   8	Annotated WISC-TV still, circa 1953
	Scrapbook
	Technical writing and engineering
Box   2 Folder   1	Early highway career, 1927-1934
	Films
	Technical writing and engineering
AC 289	Bill's Bike, 1939 Note: Viewing copy: VBB 406
AC 284	First Inventory of Wisconsin Roads, 1936 Note: Viewing copy: VBB 242
AC 285-286	Safety News, 1937
AC 288	Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade, 1938
AC 287	Watch the Road Signs, 1938
	Creative and historical writings
VHA 340	The Landlooker / Bill Steuber presentation, circa 1980s

Bill's Bike (1939)

Physical description: 16 mm, color, silent, 408 feet

Abstract: Bill's Bike: The Story of a Boy and his Bicycle is a narrative short that illustrates the value of bicycle safety. It is silent, and has no narration or intertitles. William F. Steuber is credited with the photography.

Summary: Bill watches with longing as other children ride bikes. An older boy posts a “For Sale” sign by a used bike. Bill dreams of himself riding the bike (represented by a matte in the upper left corner of the frame). Bill does yard work for money and buys the bike. Bill rides up to other children with bikes. He rides his bike in front of a car. He rides up to a bike club meeting but does not go. He passes a little boy oiling his bike chain, but gives him a dismissive wave. Bill rides his bike through a mud puddle, splashing a little girl who runs into the street to get a ball. He refills a flat tire. He goes to the grocery store and rides away holding his brown bag in his hand. He rides through a stop sign when other children stop. He almost is hit by a car, and is admonished by a police officer, who lets him go. Then Bill does get into an accident, and his bike is totaled. Bill takes his bike to the junkyard, and walks forlornly through town. In town, he sees a brand new, red bicycle on sale for $29.95 in a store window. He asks to do yard work again, but is scolded. He goes home, and dreams of the red bike (again, in a matte in the upper left corner of frame). Bill sells radishes door-to-door. He sells “Kool-Aid.” He piles wood. He mows the lawn, and keeps working, even when two boys toting fishing poles pass by and invite him along. Bill rakes hay at a farm, and then counts his money at home. Bill sells newspapers, he pulls weeds, and he counts his money again. He thinks about his bike. He dresses up, and pours his money out. We next see Bill riding his shiny new bike up to the other kids, who all crowd around to admire it. Bill goes to the bicycle club meeting, stops at the stop sign, and even signals when he makes a left turn. He rides with his lunch in a basket rather than his hand. Finally, he rides through town with the other children.

First Inventory of Wisconsin Roads (1936)

Physical description: 16 mm, color and black and white, silent, 328 feet

Abstract: First Inventory of Wisconsin Roads summarizes the duties of inventory crews during the State Wide Highway Planning Survey of the Wisconsin Highway Commission. The majority of the film is in black and white, with some color shots. William F. Steuber is credited with photography and editing. Shots are in black and white unless otherwise noted.

Shot list:

• Road with light spilling through the clouds (color)
• Intertitle (scrolling): WISCONSIN ROADS The State Wide Highway Planning Survey of the Wisconsin Highway Commission is making a detailed study of conditions on all public roads throughout the state. Information is gathered by survey inventory crews driving over the roads. Let us visit a few of these inventory crews to watch them at work and experience with them some road conditions they find. This work is conducted in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Public Roads.
• Road with light spilling through the clouds (color)
• Intertitle: Mileage is measured by the survey car after a check run has been made to determine its accuracy
• Tracking shot from inside moving car (color)
• Intertitle: Each inventory party has a personnel of three
• Inventory crew on site
• Intertitle: The Chief of Party reads the car odometer and directs the work
• Man with a clipboard
• Intertitle: The Recorder puts all the information into the survey notes
• Three shots of the survey crew working
• Intertitle: The Chairman assists in all measurements
• Survey crew measures a drainage structure under the road
• Intertitle: A tag is placed at the beginning and end of each road inventoried
• Crewmember nails a tag to a tree
• Intertitle: This tag bears the date and identifying information so that future investigation can be made of questionable features
• Close-up of crewmember nailing a tag to a tree
• Intertitle: Inventory parties make notes of all road defects because defects limit traffic
• Car drives on a dirt road
• Intertitle: Mud
• Car drives on a muddy road
• Close up of tires spinning in mud
• Intertitle: Sand
• Car drives off a sandy road, pan to close-up of another car's tires spinning in the sand (color)
• Intertitle: Extensive cracks
• Crewmember measure depth of a crack
• Close-up of crewmember measuring width of a crack
• Intertitle: Rough spots
• Tracking shot from inside moving car
• Intertitle: One County has built considerable concrete nine feet wide. This is adequate for single traffic
• Car driving on a narrow road
• Intertitle: When cars meet or pass, this narrow pavement is not usable by either vehicle
• Two cars meet on narrow road, both drive onto dirt shoulder
• Tracking shot from inside car as it passed by a second car on the dirt shoulder
• Tracking shot from inside car, which uses dirt shoulder to avoid oncoming traffic
• Intertitle: Every road shown on the map as a public highway must be inventoried. Some of these roads have not been traveled in many months
• Car drives on overgrown road (color)
• Intertitle: A recheck party travels over a questionable road to determine its status as a public highway
• Car drives on an overgrown road
• Intertitle: Each drainage structure of six foot span or larger is measured and its condition noted
• Crew measures drainage structure under bridge
• Intertitle: Condition of substructure, floor, and superstructure of each bridge is noted
• Crewmembers pat walls of drainage structure
• Crewmember takes notes on clipboard
• Intertitle: All dimensions that limit traffic or water flow of bridges are measured
• Crew measures width of bridge
• Intertitle: Railroad underpasses and overheads are carefully measured
• Crew arrives at a railroad underpass
• Crew measures the underpass
• Crew takes measurements on top of the underpass
• Intertitle: Overhead clearance is an important limiting dimension of an underpass
• crew measures the height of the underpass
• Intertitle: Bridges of obsolete types or of locally improvised design are commonly found on township roads
• Crewmember hits bridge while recorder watches
• Close-up of crewmember hitting bridge
• Intertitle: Some bridges, improvised by local authorities, defy classification
• Three shots of a crewmember inspecting an unclassifiable bridge with no guardrail
• Intertitle: In questionable cases as this, a sketch of the structure is drawn for future reference
• Crewmember sketches bridge inside car
• Intertitle: One township used to build iron box culverts because concrete ones cost too much
• Crewmember inspects box culvert bridge
• Water runs under box culvert bridge
• Intertitle: However, they did not solve the problem of adequate footings
• Close-up of rocks in stream under culvert bridge
• Intertitle: In township bridges built without engineering inspection the concrete is sometimes very poor
• Crew inspects concrete bridge
• Crew inspects top of concrete bridge
• Two shots of crewmember hitting concrete with hatchet
• Close-up of crumbling concrete; close-up of crewmember hitting concrete with hatchet
• Crewmember inspects wooden beams under bridge
• Crewmember runs hands under beam, then hammers beam
• Intertitle: Bridges with untreated wood floors cannot withstand time and traffic
• Crewmember walks on wooden bridge
• Crewmember hits beams with hammer, pulls up rotten planks
• Crewmember kicks splintered wood; crewmember drops stick through hole in wooden bridge
• Intertitle: Older bridges were built square with the stream making sharp curves necessary at the approaches
• Car crosses a bridge built square with river
• Intertitle: Construction of new roads is going on at a faster rate than ever before
• Three shots of construction equipment
• Men saw wooden posts in river
• Intertitle: But Wisconsin still has thousands of miles of roads like this
• Car drives off overgrown road
• Intertitle: To improve these thousands of miles of unimproved roads is a task for many years to come
• Intertitle: Photographed and edited by William F. Steuber
• Car drives on road with light spilling through clouds (color)

Safety News (1939)

Physical description: 16 mm, color and black and white, silent, 787 feet

Abstract: Safety News is a two-reel film composed of three segments: 1937 (black and white); Manitowoc Two Rivers safety parade (color); and 1939 (color). The 1937 segment fills the first reel (403 feet); the second two segments are both on the second reel (384 feet). The leader on the first reel reads as follows, “Vol. 1 1937 Poor Condition-Perforations-Sprocket Holes Ripped.” This reel is particularly shrunken at the head. There is also some emulsion damage at the head on the first reel. Part of the text on the leader on the second reel has worn away. The legible text reads as follows, “Safety News 1937 Vol. 2 Manitowoc Two Rivers Safety Parade Highway Signs.”

Segment 1: 1937

Abstract: The 1937 segment is a black and white documentary on automobile accidents in Wisconsin. Also includes shots of the “Reactometer,” a machine designed to record a motorists' reaction time.

Shot list:

• Intertitle: Each day the accident reports come into the state highway commission by the handsfull [sic]
• Accident reports
• Intertitle: Each card reports one accident. Total 1937 crashes on the road 10,870
• Woman transcribes accident reports
• Man marks accident sites on map of Wisconsin
• Intertitle: 10,870 pins Each pin marks a spot where some driver ran into trouble
• Two shots of man marking accident sites on map of Wisconsin
• Intertitle: Traffic of four counties made all this wreckage in just three years
• Two shots of junkyard
• Intertitle: A tenth of these cars wore out. The rest were smashed in collisions
• Four shots of junkyard
• Intertitle: Two died here
• Two shots of junked car
• Intertitle: Four died in this wreck
• Another junked car
• Intertitle: Five lost their lives when this car was smashed into junk
• Another junked car
• Manitowoc Herald-Times headline that reads, “Car Crash Kills 8”
• Intertitle: Two days later the ninth victim died
• Intertitle: The officer and the man who found the victims show how the two cars met head-on
• Police officer and man re-enact accident on foot
• Intertitle: This was the better car after the crash. The other was cut up and sold as scrap
• People inspect smashed car
• Man tugs on mangled car hood
• Intertitle: The steering wheel went through the top. Imagine what happened to the driver!
• Man tugs on steering wheel sticking out of broken windshield
• Man pulls something out from under car and throws it inside car
• Men and children watch as car is towed
• Intertitle: There is a serious automobile accident every 48 minutes in Wisconsin
• Totaled car
• Intertitle: Icy roads tossed this car like a horseshoe. IT'S A RINGER
• Two shots of overturned car on snowy road
• Intertitle: Even though you escape with no injury accidents are costly
• Wrecked car drives a short distance
• Intertitle: A few days ago this car was worth eight hundred dollars
• Totaled car
• Totaled car interior
• Intertitle: What would you give for it now?
• Two shots of totaled car
• Intertitle: What are Wisconsin counties doing to make automobile driving safer?
• Intertitle: Monroe Green County
• Intertitle: A brake test was put on by the Lions Club and conducted by the police
• Car drives in downtown Monroe
• Intertitle: This is the instrument that measures the distance it takes to stop the car
• Man holds meter
• Intertitle: The instrument is put on the floor board of the car at the start of the test
• Man puts meter in car
• Close-up of meter in car
• Intertitle: Each driver was asked to apply his brakes when his car speed reached 20 m.p.h.
• Car stops
• Intertitle: When the car stops, the dial shows the distance used in coming to rest
• Close-up of meter in car
• Man holds meter
• Intertitle: After each test an officer checked lights, rear view mirror, and windshield wiper
• Two shots of man inspecting car
• Intertitle: Some of the cars came to a slow stop
• Two shots of cars stopping
• Intertitle: Several cars stopped in fifteen or sixteen feet
• Two shots of cars stopping
• Intertitle: Brakes of old cars can be kept in good condition too!
• Car stops
• Intertitle: Each driver was given a set of safe driving rules
• Officer gives driver brochure
• Intertitle: An accident report blank (we hope he never needs to use it)
• Officer gives driver blank accident report
• Intertitle: A state highway map
• Officer gives man map
• Intertitle: Good brakes, kept in proper adjustment, may save your life in an emergency
• Car stops, officer inspects car
• Intertitle: Union Grove Racine County
• Crowd of people at county fair watch “Reactometer”
• Intertitle: Visitors at the safety council booth at the county fair watched this machine in action
• Officer hands man at “Reactometer” a booklet
• Intertitle: It is a “Reactometer.” It measures the time used by the driver to respond to danger
• “Reactometer” lights up, man steps on brake
• Intertitle: The person taking the test sits behind the wheel as in driving
• Man on “Reactometer”
• Intertitle: When the bulb lights, representing danger in the road, the driver jams on the brake
• Man on “Reactometer”
• Close-up of “Reactometer” bulb lighting
• Close-up of man's foot on brake
• Close-up of dial, with hand between 5 and 6
• Intertitle: This dial, divided in hundredths of a second, shows the time it takes the driver to reach the brake pedal
• Dial reads between 6 and 7
• Intertitle: E.B. Yanny, county coroner, explained reaction time to all who took the test
• Coroner and “Reactometer”
• Intertitle: Average response was three quarters of a second
• Coroner and “Reactometer”
• Close up of dial reading between 6 and 7
• Intertitle: At 60 miles per hour this means a car goes 66 feet before the foot touches the brake
• Tracking shot from inside moving car
• Intertitle: This machine proves to the driver that his reaction to danger is not instantaneous
• Close-up of feet on brake
• Intertitle: This reactometer was built and loaned by the Milwaukee Safety County Safety Commission
• Officer and man at “Reactometer”
• Intertitle: Green Bay Brown County
• Intertitle: Brown County keeps an accident record with this large clock on the courthouse lawn
• Two men in front of clock that counts injuries and deaths, reads, “Make Brown County Safe Injuries Last Year 588 Deaths Last Year 31 Weekly Radio Broadcast WTAQ Wednesday 8:15 p.m. Brown County Traffic Safety Council”
• Close-up of man in front of clock reading letter
• Second man advances injuries hand on clock
• First man reads letter
• Second man advances deaths hand
• Intertitle: These hands tell us it is high time to be careful
• Man advances death hand walks away
• Intertitle: Arena Iowa County
• Marching band
• Intertitle: The business men of the village made a plea for highway safety by sponsoring this parade
• Marching band
• Clown with small dog
• Gardner's Purity Bread truck with sign that reads, “Safety for Home Safety for School Arena High School 1937”
• Towed car
• Four shots of car with “dead” dummy on hood, sign that reads, “Death rides the dark side”
• Women holding sign that reads, “We are the Dead Who met our End on Iowa County's Highways in 1936”
• Women with signs
• Boy holding sign that reads, “There were more bicycle accidents in Wisconsin last year than train accidents”
• Two shots of children with signs and children on bikes
• Intertitle: The spirit of this parade was carried on in window displays
• Poster in window, reads, “Your share of the road is 50 percent”
• Poster in window, reads, “'Rubber' before backing, to make sure the coast is clear”
• Intertitle: What activity has your county engaged in for greater safety on its highways?
• Officer directs pedestrian to walk on other side of street
• Intertitle: Must highway crashes continue unabated through the years to come?
• Headlines about crashes
• Totaled car
• Accident reports
• Accident map
• Broken windshield
• Accident reports
• Accident map
• Totaled car
• Accident reports
• Accident map
• Man reads to camera
• Intertitle: Let future issues of this film carry the story of your county safety activities
• Man reads to camera
• Intertitle: The End

Segment 2: Manitowoc Two Rivers Safety Parade

Abstract: The Manitowoc Two Rivers safety parade segment is color footage filmed in 1937.

Shot list:

• Two shots of a marching band
• Intertitle: Education is the basis of safety in scouting
• Boy Scout float
• Intertitle: Playgrounds will keep children out of the streets
• Swing set on truck bed, sign reads, “Playgrounds for safety”
• Manitowoc Clearing House Association float, sign reads, “Help Make Our City Safe for Children”
• Intertitle: The American Red Cross maintains emergency first aid stations throughout the nation
• Red Cross float
• Intertitle: The American Legion joins wholeheartedly in every program of accident prevention
• American Legion members with flag
• Marching band
• American Legion members with flag
• Intertitle: The final resting place for careless pedestrians
• Aluminum Goods float with church and graveyard in truck bed, sign reads, “39,780 victims 1937 Drive Carefully”
• Intertitle: Keep brakes adjusted properly!
• Towed car, sign reads, “I was tight, my brakes were loose”
• People in black cloaks ride Lorge's Banquet Ice Cream float, sign rides, “We are the dead who met our end this year on Manitowoc County Highways”
• Intertitle: Merchants and business houses all enter the Safety Parade. A life is a continued customer
• Junias M. Pleuss Realty Co. truck, signs read, “Join the Not Over 50 Club No Obligation” and “Not Over 50 [mph] For Safety”
• Timm's Tires Batteries Truck, sign reads, “Lifeguards Save Lives”
• Green truck, sign reads “Don't Over Load Your Car!”
• W.M. Schawus & Son Sheet Metal Works truck, sign reads, “This is one of Five units Operating on Manitowoc Highways for 12 Years Without an Accident Drive Safely”
• AAA truck, sign reads, “Now that Your Car is Checked It's up to You to Drive Safely”
• Goodrich tire float carrying old tires, sign reads, “We Killed Thousands Last Year”
• Intertitle: Two headlights are safest
• Car with blacked out headlight and “dead” dummy on hood, sign reads, “Death Rides the Dark Side”
• Intertitle: You must have clear vision in all directions
• Car with scratched windows, sign reads, “Keep Your Vision Clear”
• Large plow, signs read “Safety First,” “Drive Carefully” and “Accidents do not 'happen' they are caused ”
• Intertitle: It's always train time at a railroad crossing
• towed car wreck, sign reads, “I beat the train every time-except once”
• American Legion train float
• Manitowoc County Automobile Dealers Association float, picture of policeman holding dead child, reads, “If This Were Your Child You'd Care! Is Your Car Safe to Drive?”
• Clowns
• Marching band
• Intertitle: School Safety Patrols are doing excellent service in protecting pupils
• School safety patrol, banner reads, “We do our part-do you?”
• Intertitle: No one has sympathy for the reckless driver
• Man on electric chair in truck bed in front, sign reads, “A drunken driver is just as guilty”
• Manitowoc Lions Club float with lion tamer and man in lion suit, sign reads, “A lion masters the jungle, You can master the highways Drive safely”
• Intertitle: Yellow is used for highway signs because it is a contrasting color in any season
• Float covered in highway signs, sign reads, “These highway signs are for your convenience Heed them-Safety First”
• Schmitt Lumber Co. float with red cross, bandaged child and child in safety patrol belt holding a sign that reads, “Save our children Drive Carefully”
• Intertitle: Yes, Death is so permanent
• Float with injured people in wrecked car, signs read, “Death is so permanent,” “Drive carefully,” and “Sudden death”
• Intertitle: Popular sentiment condemns the drunken driver
• Float with prisoners breaking rocks, sign reads, “Here's the place for the speeder-drunken & reckless drivers”
• Intertitle: As the last band fades away in the distance, Manitowoc and Two Rivers pledge themselves to continue working to prevent highway accidents
• Two shots of marching band
• Black

Segment 3: 1939

Abstract: The 1939 segment is a color documentary about the manufacture of road signs.

Shot list:

• “1939,” then “Safety News Volume 2” superimposed over cars driving on an urban road
• Intertitle: Wherever you drive on Wisconsin highways the road signs guide you
• Road sign with “S” and arrow pointing right on it
• Intertitle: In good weather or bad the highway signs stand in full visibility telling of road conditions ahead
• Square sign on snow covered road, reads, “Side Road”
• Intertitle: The Marking and Signing department invites you to watch the manufacture of a highway sign
• Unlabeled signs stacked in warehouse
• Intertitle: The Marking and Signing Department of the Highway Commission will use this stock of lumber for new signs in one season
• Stacked lumber in warehouse
• Intertitle: 10,000 miles of state and federal highways in Wisconsin require 22,000 new signs yearly
• Stacked lumber in warehouse
• Intertitle: No wood work is required in the sign shop as the lumber is purchased dressed and finished to size
• Men take wood from top of pile
• Man loads wood onto cart
• Men push cart away
• Intertitle: The first coat of paint is a white priming coat
• Man stirs primer
• Cart arrives with signs
• Intertitle: Sign boards are primed by dipping
• Two shots of man dipping sign into primer
• Man puts dipped boards on drying rack
• Intertitle: Excess paint drains off and returns to the dipping vat
• Boards drying
• Primer runs off boards down trough
• Intertitle: After the first paint coat dries, the board is strengthened by attaching metal guards
• Three shots of men attaching metal guards to board
• Intertitle: The finish coat of yellow is applied by hand
• Man paints sign yellow
• Intertitle: The message on the sign is applied by stencil
• S and sign pointing right are silk-screened onto yellow sign
• Intertitle: A template is applied to space the holes for reflector buttons
• Silkscreen table
• Man using template to drill holes for reflectors
• close-up of man drilling
• Intertitle: Reflector buttons are finally set into the sign
• Man pounds reflector buttons into sign
• Close-up of man pounding
• Intertitle: The finished sign
• Man holds reflective sign
• Intertitle: Racks hold the finished signs until they are needed on the highway
• Men take signs reading, “Road under construction drive carefully,” down from rack
• Intertitle: Signs are carted for shipment
• Two shots of men crating signs
• Intertitle: Addresses are applied by stencil
• Men hand stencil addresses onto signs
• Close-up of final label, reads, “Wis. High. Comm. La Crosse, Wis.”
• Intertitle: Finished signs are loaded into state trucks for delivery to division offices of the State Highway Commission
• Three shots of man loading crates onto truck
• Intertitle: Highways are safely marked for your protection while driving
• Tracking shot of road signs on highway from inside moving car

Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade (1938)

Physical description: 16 mm, color, silent, 345 feet

Abstract: Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade is composed of color home movie footage. The parade features historical re-enactments, as well as 19th and early 20th century vehicles and equipment. The leader is labeled, “Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade August 11 1938.” The majority of the film was shot from a rooftop; some shots were taken at ground level. There are no intertitles.

Shot list:

• Close-up of a sign, reads, “Welcome Sauk Prairie Centennial August 11-12,” pan down to people standing in street
• Parade begins
• Two men on horseback
• Marching band and men on horseback
• Baton twirler and trombone player
• Marching band
• Native Americans on horseback
• Covered wagon led by men with rifles
• Covered wagon and man on horseback
• St. Norbert's Catholic Church float, sign reads “First Catholic Priest Father Inama arrived 1845 Est. Norberitus House Chapel & Missions”
• American Legion Auxiliary float with cemetery in truck bed, sign reads “Lest We Forget”
• Men with American flag
• Marching band
• Veterans
• Blue-green car
• Convertible, sign reads “Village of Prairie du Sac Sauk City”
• Two shots of children on horseback dressed in historical costumes
• Sauk County Farm Bureau float, sign reads “It's time to co-op”
• Farmers & Citizens Bank float
• Sauk Livestock Shipping Assn. float with bulls in truck bed
• Horse drawn wagon, sign reads, “Hauling-1890”
• Truck with milk cans, sign reads “Hauling-1938”
• Sweet cream butter float
• Wisconsin Creamery Company float with papier-mâché Molly, Sauk County's champion cow, and calf
• Vintage fire truck, sign reads, “Sauk City 1853”
• Marching band
• Two shots of vintage cars
• Free Congregation of Sauk Co. float, labeled 1852
• People watching outside Hall's Drug Store
• Curlee 'Q Beauty Shoppe float
• Sauk City Canning Company Float with giant can of Sauk City Brand Sweet Corn
• Horse drawn wagon, sign reads “MEATS &”
• Women's marching band
• “Shorty's Tavern Roxbury” horse drawn carriage
• Three horse-drawn vehicles
• RNA float
• St. Aloysius Congregation float
• People in 19th century costumes riding in truck
• Horse-drawn wagon
• Vintage car
• Marching band
• Rope-towed vintage vehicle
• Vintage truck, sign reads “pointing the way”
• Four clowns in car
• Prairie Beauty Shop horse-drawn wagon
• Sauk City OES float
• Ellen Hardy boat
• “A History of Sauk Prairie” float, sponsored by attorney Vaughn S. Conway
• Presbyterian float
• Man in man-on-horseback costume
• Man on little bike
• People on decorated bikes, children with decorated wagons, and child with dog
• People on decorated bikes
• People in costume pushing decorated baby carriages
• Vintage truck, sign reads, “International 1906”
• Truck carrying farm equipment, sign reads, “International 1938”
• “International 1906” truck from behind
• “International 1938” truck from behind
• People outside Hall's Drug Store
• Horse-drawn wagon
• Hunting float with trophy animals
• Horse-drawn wagon, sign reads, “Going to Reible Produce”
• Horse drawn wagon
• Curlee 'Q Beauty Shoppe float
• “Fashion Review” float with women in historical dress
• OES float
• Kennedy Mansfield float, signs read, “Kaufman's Restaurant” and “Hall's Rexall Store”
• Two shots of police officer directing traffic
• Two shots of man in gazebo (out of focus)
• Man with ribbon pinned to jacket
• Women sitting in audience
• Audience at gazebo
• Men in gazebo
• Women standing in front of parked OES POS float
• Two shots of men on horseback
• Marching band
• “A History of Sauk Prairie” float, sponsored by attorney Vaughn S. Conway
• Prairie Rose float, labeled “Sumpter Creamery 1888-1938”
• Wisconsin Creamery Company float
• Float, sign reads, “Founded 1890”
• Olsen Bros. Lbr. Co. Sauk City-Prairie Du Sac float
• Conger Schoephorster Co. float, sign reads “75 yrs”
• Decorated car
• L.E. Schultz Co. decorated car
• Horse-drawn OES POS float
• Spellman Granite Works horse-drawn wagon carrying headstones, labeled 1916
• Spellman Granite Works float
• Windmill float
• Kennedy Mansfield float
• Three clowns in convertible
• People on camels
• OES float
• Two shots of Sauk County Progressives float
• Two shots of Liney-Lang Barber Shop float
• First Reformed Church float, sign reads, “Our great grand parents sat on these benches First Reformed Church Sauk City Organized 1858”
• Liney-Lang Barber shop float

Watch the Road Signs (1938)

Physical description: 16 mm, color, silent, 358 feet

Abstract: Watch the Road Signs is a documentary that covers the history of road signs through 1938. The majority of the film is in black and white, with some color shots. All shots are separated by fades.

Shot list:

• Intertitle: To show the way, signs were used long before the control of traffic was a problem
• Native Americans leave an arrow on a log and exit right
• Second group of Indians changes the arrow for stick and exits right
• Intertitle: As the country became settled, and roads were laid out, people often lost their way
• Horse-drawn vehicle pulls up to a road, driver looks both ways and scratches his head, asks farmer for help
• Intertitle: Later many communities put up direction boards at cross roads to help the traveler find his way
• B.R. Falls sign
• Eau Claire/Marshfield sign
• Intertitle: In 1904 the automobile stayed on familiar roads close to home
• Family drives away from home, stop in front railroad tracks and sign that reads, “Look out the cars,” boy gets down, looks both ways, they drive across and over a bridge
• Intertitle: As the automobile chugged its way into history, these old cross road signs soon became useless
• Car reaches an old sign, backs up, passenger gets down and looks at sign, one arrow points toward Mazomanie and Spring Green, another arrow points toward Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, car drives toward latter
• Intertitle: Signs that the driver could read from his car became necessary
• Tracking shot from inside car, pass sign, reads, “Autos go slow”
• Intertitle: Today the highways are well marked. A (sic) uniform system of highway signs throughout Wisconsin guides the motorist wherever he goes
• Intertitle: Modern traffic demands many highway signs of varying types. Every competent driver should understand the system of the signs
• Superimposition of six road signs against black background: Wisconsin US 151 sign, WIS 30 sign, railroad sign, stop sign, school zone sign, and men working sign
• Intertitle: White signs show the driver where to go
• US 151 and WIS 30 signs against black background
• Intertitle: Yellow signs warn the motorist of road conditions he must consider as he drives
• “Cross Road” sign
• “S” and arrow curved left sign
• “Hill” sign
• Intertitle: Yellow signs have four distinct shapes
• Intertitle: DIAMOND shape signs warn the driver of conditions within the roadway ahead
• “Loose Gravel” sign
• Intertitle: The message on the diamond sign tells the driver what to expect on the road ahead
• “Sharp Dip” sign matted in upper left corner against 5 shots of cars going over dip
• “Hill” sign matted in upper left corner against pan of car going down hill
• Sign with arrow curving left matted in upper left corner against tracking shot from inside car driving around curve to left
• “Narrow Bridge” sign matted in upper left corner against shot of car crossing narrow bridge
• “Winding Road” sign matted in upper left corner against a shot of car driving on winding road
• Car drives on winding road
• “RR” sign matted in upper left corner against a shot of train passing, then car crossing tracks
• “Thru Traffic Stop” sign at intersection, car stops at sign, then turns after cross-traffic passes
• Car stopped by railroad tracks, lights on sign flash, and stop sign swivels into place, train passes
• Intertitle: The back of the sign also has a message. It shows the number of the highway you are traveling
• Back of diamond shaped sign, reads “12” and “13”
• Intertitle: In extremely dangerous spots extra emphasis is given to the signs by a conspicuous border
• “Slow Wisconsin River Ahead” sign with checkerboard border matted in upper left corner against 2 shots of cars at ferry
• Intertitle: Reflectorised [sic] signs, used on heavily traveled highways, do not lose their effectiveness when night comes
• “Reflectorised” stop sign in darkness, then light
• Intertitle: Wherever you go, the highway signs will guide you safely if you know how to use them
• Car passes truck
• Car drives
• “Let your driving be guided by the road signs. Let each motoring day be a perfect day” superimposed over shot of cars on highway
• “The End” superimposed over shot of cars on highway at sunset

[The Landlooker] / Bill Steuber presentation (circa 1980s, VHS, color, sound, 41 minutes)

Abstract: A recording of William Steuber reading from The Landlooker, accompanied by a question-and-answer session. It is filmed in a single, uninterrupted shot. The end of the video is a close-up on what appears to be a photo of two Precious Moment dolls.

Summary: Steuber reads the first pages of The Landlooker. He pauses to discuss the implications of writing in first person, and speaks about subjectivity and successful historical fiction. He details his research on the history of harnesses. Steuber credits Mari Sandoz with encouraging him to fictionalize the Peshtigo fire. He says that he wrote The Landlooker in 18 months, and that he is currently at work on a short piece (4 pages in length) that is taking him several months to write. Steuber discusses the 1871 passenger pigeon nesting, their mating habits, and their subsequent extinction. He reads a passage from The Landlooker in which the characters discuss the passenger pigeon nesting over dinner. The audience asks whether Steuber received negative feedback about the book and whether the book is available at the Peshtigo library. Steuber talks about visiting the Peshtigo cemetery and writing the article, “The Problem at Peshtigo.” He discusses the restoration of the cemetery, and then answers several questions about harnesses.