Wisconsin Stories: Car Show

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Gallery 1: Car Culture

Gallery 2: Wilderness

Gallery 3: Constructed Landscapes

Exit to Wisconsin Dells Cruising into the Past: Tourism in the Auto Age
This exhibit features photos taken by Ollie Reese and other Bennett family members from the 1920s to the 1960s. These photos explore the ways in which tourists shaped the natural landscape and how in turn man-made landscapes affected the tourist experience. H.H. Bennett played a seminal role in publicizing the beauty of the Wisconsin Dells through his nature photography. As tourists were drawn to the area, entrepreneurs began to transform the natural environment to meet the visitors' needs. Changes to the land both enhanced the tourist experience and controlled it. The vacationer's interaction with the natural beauty of the Wisconsin Dells evolved into an experience that became increasingly manufactured.

The Car Culture of Wisconsin Dells explores the relationship of the automobile to the tourist experience in the Dells. The car increased the number of vacationers drawn to the Dells, which led to an automotive infrastructure. Putting the "Wild" in Wilderness documents the attractions created to capitalize on travelers drawn to the scenic beauty of the Dells. Landscapes: Constructing a Natural Experience shows how the natural environment of the Dells was transformed to enhance the tourist experience.

The images contained in this gallery are excerpted from a photo exhibit mounted at the H.H. Bennett Center in June 2000. The images were chosen from the Bennett studio collections by Wisconsin Historical Society staff member Jim Draeger and former staff member Nicollette Bromberg.

Learn more about the Bennett studio by visiting both Wisconsin Stories: The H.H. Bennett Studio and the Wisconsin Historical Center's H.H. Bennett Studio & History Center.

Photo detail from Roadside Interstate Exit Highway 13 North, Oliver Reese. BN 335-1011D.