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In mid-century Wisconsin Dells and elsewhere in Wisconsin, any picture was a good picture if it included an "Indian Chief". In the Dells, it was a gig involving a great amount of theater. Among the most renowned was Chief Silver Tongue (1882-1964) (a/k/a Oscar Norton), a Hopi.  He was an attorney turned singer on the vaudeville circuit who later staged an "Indian Pagent" that ran for 30 years each summer on Stand Rock in the Dells.

Now part of the American kitsch landscape, the "Beautiful Indian Maiden" won't go away. These mid-century postcards fetishize the fringed suede and beaded form fitting attire, feather head dress and braids. The maiden gazes ponderously at the landscape--there to be consumed by the postcard recipient. A simple alteration of the Land O Lakes Butter box (still available at your local grocery store) turns an Indian maiden's knees into knockers (albeit hidden behind a box of butter on a tray). Directions for the alteration appear online. Land O Lakes, Inc. corporate office, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, apparently evolved from a co-op named Minnesota Co-Operative Creameries Association with "new ideas about producing butter" in sticks (rather than tubs in the early 1920s). The LOL website offers no background on the adoption of a "beautiful Indian maiden" as part of its logo. Disney's Pochahontas 1995 film further perpetuates the Indian princess in popular American culture. "Indian Maiden" wigs and "very sexy-looking" Sacajawea costumes are abundantly available on the Interwebs and the fashion world continues to include such imagery only to be reprimanded.

In a time of industrial scale agriculture and massive confinement barns that keep cattle out of view, cows grazing along the road have become a rare sight, even something the tourism department people want to nurture to create quaint views. Once America's Dairyland, Wisconsin has lagged behind in milk production to California. Massive farms pop up in Wisconsin as the small farms with red barns and a manure pile fade away to be replaced by big "dairies" with computers displaying commodity prices in the office, scores of employeees, human resource managers, manure lagoons and 10,000 cows always waiting to be milked. Cheddar cheese carving, artisanal cheese, and small operations are re-emerging and reinventing themselves as public interest in "local" grows.