This photo, taken by George Waite circa 1939, shows James Conklin and Ovitt Wrangam poised on top of a fire truck extension ladder to photograph an American Legion floral design in Milwaukee’s Kilbourn Park. The 35-acre park, located at East North Avenue and North Humboldt Boulevard, was created on land donated to the city in the 1870s. Today, it is known as Kilbourn Reservoir Park, for the 20-million-gallon drinking water reservoir it once housed.
—This photo is from the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Photo Archives collection. Additional images can be viewed online at www.mpm.edu.