DISCLAIMER: This exhibit is still being worked on. There are still areas that are under development and may not be finished. However, if you have any corrections, would be willing to contribute your images or materials relating to these companies, or just want to share your experience with windows; please feel free to leave a comment on this page or send me an email (bclark@marathoncountyhistory.org).

The Window Capital of the World

This exhibit has been created to document and tell the story of the window industry of Marathon County through the companies and individuals who made the greater Wausau area the Window Capital in its time. 

Window making has been part of the history of Wausau from the beginning, as the first window factory making wood window sashes was established in 1872, the same year that Wausau was incorporated as a city. And since that time, the area has seen the rise (and sometimes fall) of dozens of companies in the window business, not only in Wausau, but throughout Marathon County and beyond.

The goal of this exhibit is to peer through the stories of these companies and the people associated with them, and to give a good look at the history of the industry.

Ed Jablonski's Museum

This online exhibit was made possible by the E.F. Jablonski Foundation. It's namesake Edwin Jablonski, spent a long career in producing windows, and he often went out of his way to promote the window industry and educate the public about its importance for Marathon County. 

In 2000, Jablonski opened a small museum in Wausau, to tell the story of the window industry to which he had dedicated his career and 50 years of hard work. It was housed in a building repurposed from some light manufacturing, and came to house collections of materials that Ed felt were of historical importance. 

Jablonski filled the building with artifacts and displays that spoke to the Window Industry, but also to other topics of interest. There were displays on the U.S. Civil War, on the murder of DuBay, Paul Revere and the U.S. Revolutionary War, on sailing regattas, on Native American history, and (of course) the Green Bay Packers.

^ Ed was such a big fan of the Green Bay Packers that he was inducted into the Fan Hall of Fame in 2001

Yet Jablonski's museum was at heart, an exhibit dedicated to the window industry. He filled it with pictures, brochures, and drawings saved and borrowed from window companies. There were window cutouts, aluminum extrusions, and display blinds. And throughout, Jablonski boasted that Wausau was the "window capital."

After his death in 2014, Jablonski left behind his museum and its contents. The E.F. Jablonski Famliy Foundation offered much of the historical materials to MCHS.

This exhibit emerged as the legacy of Ed's efforts in the early 2000s. Much of the information about the window companies of Marathon County came from his collection, as do many of the photos, brochures, and other visual materials used throughout. (Many images are also from the Becker-Giesel Collection at the MCHS, and most of the newspaper clippings were accessed through newspapers.com).

But more than the information and photographs, this exhibit seeks to follow in the footsteps of Edwin Jablonski and his wish that we remember the history of our window industry, and to build on his legacy by developing the history further. By making it an online exhibit, it can be read by visitors far beyond Marathon County, and it can remain up for viewing permanently.

Other Things

Ed always claimed that Wausau was the "Window Capital." But the reality is that the window industry of today is much more decentralized. And so today the Window Capital is less about Wausau proper, but the wider Marathon County region.

At the same time, there are other notable window companies from across Central Wisconsin, in neighboring Counties. We have focused this exhibit on Marathon County, but it is worth noting that there have been and continue to be important window companies in nearby cities like Merrill, Stevens Point, Medford, and more. For the time being, companies such as Semco, Hurd, Vetter, or Weather Shield will not be included here, except where they interact with the history of Marathon County companies. In the future, we may expand the scope of the exhibit beyond Marathon County, to include other companies in the "window alley" of Central Wisconsin. But for the moment, we have chosen to focus on Marathon County's window industry.