This building and the historical society has always interested me. Recently on a cold Winter day we were down on that end of State St. (near the University) and decided to explore. John likes nothing better than a building to poke around in. Not to mention any small door, especially locked ones. This building always looks so European to me.

This piece of Americana really intrigued me. It is a combination alarm clock and study desk made by John Muir about 1862 while a student at the University of Wisconsin. The mechanism controlled a collapsing bed which awoke Muir by sliding him to the floor while at the same time lighting a lamp. After a few minutes allotted for dressing, the deck began ejecting and retracting Muir's books following a pre-set schedule of time allowed for study of each subject.

The building is being remodeled to undo previous remodels and take it back to it's original state. Loved the reading room. As we strolled through I noticed dusty books on shelves, people with their laptops and one young man reading a well-worn paperback copy of Lolita.

And I we also saw this poster for the History Sandwiched In Series which I have always wanted to attend. I am going to try and get to this one because our neighbor David Mollenholf is presenting so I know it will be interesting as Dave is a very interesting guy.

So if you haven't been though this building I highly recommend it. Especially on a snowing Winter afternoon. And we topped it off with a brat from State Street Brats. A perfect day.