This book is about life in a small turn-of-the-century Wisconsin town. Lesy has collected and arranged photographs taken between 1890 and 1910. Against these are juxtaposed excerpts from the Badger State Banner, from the Mendota State (asylum) Record Book, and occasionally quotations from the writings of Hamlin Garland and Glenway Wescott.

First published in 1973, this remarkable book about life in a small, turn-of-the-century Wisconsin town has become a cult classic. Lesy has collected photos taken between 1890 and 1910 by a Black River Falls photographer, Charles Van Schaik, and juxtaposed them against newspaper accounts and state asylum and police records.