Oral history interview with W. R. Cain / interviewed by William H. Cain

Cain discusses his life as a traveling salesman for the shoe industry, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He details his travels to La Crosse, Wisconsin, describing the city, living conditions, and his business accounts, including Menards, Sears, and Montgomery Ward. He also describes staying at the Stoddard Hotel.

Interviews form basis for student reports cataloged separately.; Forms part of: La Crosse Urban History Project, 1945-1960, conducted by students of History 325, American Urban History, at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1987. La Crosse owns supplemental material: 1 sound cassette.

00.40.00—Childhood | 00.01.35—Family drug store | 00.02.43—Move to Green Bay | 00.03.35—Shoe merchant transportation | 00.04.38—Highway system development | 00.05.28—Development of La Crosse, 1920s | 00.06.02—Shoe accounts | 00.07.50—La Crosse area impressions | 00.09.40—Greek restaurant | 00.11.50—Making appointments | 00.12.37—Working hours | 00.13.20—Different store accounts | 00.14.42—Women’s dress shoes | 00.15.40—Rubber footwear demand | 00.17.58—La Crosse restaurants | 00.20.00—Shoe brands | 00.21.07—Gasoline prices, 1950s | 00.22.00—Rubber goods competition | 00.24.03—JC Penny’s Marshal Fields in La Crosse | 00.25.50—Norwegian, Swedish, German, Greek ethnicities | 00.26.57—La Crosse traffic | 00.27.45—La Crosse food quality | 00.28.50—La Crosse architecture | 00.29.18—Entertainment | 00.31.01—Development of La Crosse | 00.31.46—Gunderson Hospital | 00.32.37—Shoe sales Sparta, WI | 00.35.26—Business attitudes, 1950s