Yesterday in La Crosse
Waiting for a light to change took longer in 1941
Seventy-seven years ago, in 1941, La Crosse police chief Herman Rick and traffic sergeant Lyle Gilbert said traffic lights would stay on 45 seconds before changing. The old time had been 33 seconds for a red or green light. The idea was to give pedestrians more time to cross the street, as well as reducing rear-end collisions.
Modern 1940’s technology may have put washing machines into people’s homes, but plenty of folks still used a wringer and a clothesline to get their duds dry. A new Speed Queen washer at Kroner Hardware on Pearl Street sold for $60, including the wringer. Ideal for squeezing water out of the laundry before it gets hung on the line…and for inflicting pain, if you get your hand caught between the rollers.
The Wisconsin Badgers won the NCAA men’s basketball title, 39-34 over Washington State. It would take the Badgers 74 years to get back to the title game again, but they won in 1941, yesterday in La Crosse.
