Timeless Tiles

In the fall of 1939, the children of west-side residents took naps on the floor of a new, showpiece kindergarten classroom, warmed by a fireplace surrounded by ceramic tiles depicting well-known nursery rhymes. Jack and Jill are there, with their pail of water, and so is Little Bo Peep. The Big Bad Wolf and Humpty Dumpty can be found near the bubbler (or water fountain, for those unfamiliar with the Wisconsin vernacular).

Eighty-five years later, the storybook tiles and the fireplace are still there, as is the stunning bay window which must have bathed generations of pupils in sunlight as they mastered their ABCs.

While the old classroom remains an inviting sanctuary, it’s been nearly 20 years since schoolchildren took their lessons within its cozy confines. The former West Side school (718 West Phillip Street) closed in 2005. Two years later, federal rehabilitation income tax credits were used to convert the building to apartments for those age 55 and older. 

The former kindergarten classroom, still a showpiece, is now the private apartment of, fittingly, a retired teacher.

On March 22, the former teacher, Jane Eberly, opened her home to a fellow educator, Milwaukee art teacher and ceramic artist Ben Tyjeski.

Tyjeski, who teaches in the Milwaukee Public School system, is working on a book on the unique ceramic tiles that were once a fixture in Wisconsin classrooms. He requested permission to take photos of the tiles in the kindergarten room for his book and Eberly was happy to oblige.

The timing was excellent, according to Rhinelander Housing Authority executive director Janell Schroeder, as the building, now called Historic West Elementary, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. (The school opened in 1924 and the kindergarten room was part of an addition constructed in 1939).

In addition to Eberly’s kindergarten room apartment, Schroeder showed Tyjeski the newer features of the complex which include a throwback media/theater room, a small cosmetology room and a gym. While there are lockers in some of the hallways, and there are plenty of small touches that call back to the building’s history as a school, the bright, spacious apartments are ready to be decorated to fit any tenant’s taste, Schroeder noted.

While it’s not for everyone, Eberly said she loves living in what may be the most unique residence in Rhinelander. 

For one thing, the tiles are a reliable conversation starter.

“When I have friends visit for the first time, they have to go around and tell me what all the nursery rhymes are,” she said. 

She also noted that young children learn nursery rhymes for an important reason. 

“It’s the beginning language, memorizing things, learning about culture,” the former teacher said.

Tyjeski was impressed by the workmanship apparent in the still-pristine tiles. He noted that the nursery rhyme motif was the “child-friendly design of the time” and the colorful storybook art was meant to comfort young ones as they left their parents for the first time.

“This was one way that designers were meeting the needs of children so that when they were designing these big buildings for these little pupils they had something that was welcoming to them to help them transition from home into school life,” he explained.

He spent several minutes photographing the tiles from several different vantage points, often stopping to marvel at their beauty and sharing stories of his journeys throughout the state searching for and documenting historic tiles. 

“It’s so fun,” he said. “I feel like I’m treasure hunting.”

According to Tyjeski, the kindergarten room tiles were made using the cuerda seca technique, a method of decorating terra cotta clay tiles by flood-filling liquid glaze into area delineated by colored wax or grease lines. 

Tyjeski also makes his own tiles and shares this passion with his K-8 students in Milwaukee.

“This type of art tiles represent a very small portion of the tile industry in the inter-war period, so while there are other schools and buildings that have these types of tiles, they are still pretty special and rare because they were not put in every single school,” he explained. “It’s also really fantastic that the housing authority was able to remodel and renovate this building in the early 2000s to make it still a space that can still be a part of the community as an apartment building because then these wonderful, delightful pictures are still with us in some fashion.”

While modern schools do not feature this kind of art, Tyjeski is grateful that it hasn’t disappeared forever.

“It’s important that we preserve them because they are an artifact of time and they tell of the values of our communities in that period,” he said. “These tile designs are from the past but that doesn’t mean they have to stay in the past.”

Tyjeski, who is co-author of another tile-themed book, “Carl Bergmans and the Continental Faience & Tile Co,” said the new book does not yet have a publication date.

“As soon as it’s out I’ll notify all the tenants and the community,” Shroeder volunteered. She also noted that more information related to the building’s 100th anniversary will be shared later this year. For more information on Tyjeski’s work, visit www.tyjeskitile.com. 

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].