100 years ago, the @nhlblackhawks were new, Wandawega was new, and the world looked very different.They spent the day at @bureauoftourism shooting their new Centennial Collection. It reminded us how much can happen in a centurywe love a good origin story.In 1925:The Chicago Blackhawks played their first season. Camp Wandawega welcomed its first guests.Hockey gear was wool and leather; (our cabins were lit by kerosene lamps) Most rural Wisconsin roads werent pavedgetting to camp meant banging down the road in a car that likely overheated every 30 miles.Radio was a novelty. Only 1 in 10 households owned one.Prohibition was in full swing, and speakeasies thrivedincluding the resort history Wandawega is known for.The average American made about $1,200 a year; camp weeks and hockey tickets were things you saved for.Guests traveled with wooden trunks and wool blanketsthe original camp gear.Only a third of Americans had a telephone.Women had been allowed to vote for just five years.Most furniture was handmade or locally built; mass-production was just beginning.Camping was entering its Golden Age, with Scouts booming and national parks rising in popularity.Canvas tents were heavy; everything was wool, leather, or steel.Kodak Brownie cameras cost two bucks The New Yorker debuted its first issue.( BTS from when the mascot bellied up to our bar)
November 13, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
Our First snow at @bureauoftourism only lasted a day.(But we got our lights up) Getting ready for our holiday party and market! Mark your calendars:Dec 6 10am – 2pmwith:@thegoodyvault @mindysbakery @_rawson @heritagebikesandcoffee @__all_together_now__ Raffle entry for a free camp vacation for all who stop by @nathanbobey
November 12, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
Mark your calendars for our Holiday Party & Market. Join us for food by @__all_together_now__ , coffee by @heritagebikesandcoffee & @mindysbakery, our first ever Sportsmens charm bar hosted by @_rawson, curated vintage and a reworked Wandawega collection from @thegoodyvault, and three new camp collections, including the official launch of the Wandawega Birding Association capsule. DECEMBER 6TH10AM – 2PM1429 W GRAND AVE. CHICAGO, IL.::END TRANSMISSION::
November 8, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
Were officially celebrating our 100th fall here at camp. Not much has changed, by design. You can still do the same things folks did here in 1925: paddle a canoe, hike, fish, birdwatch, cook over an open fire, sleep in a log cabin-whatever.Weve spent the last few decades keeping this place basic. Thankfully, some things really dont need reinventing.
November 4, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
If these walls could talk, (theyd complain about how small this room is)The 4th & last room in this little house is barely a room at all, 8×10, paneled floor to ceiling in wood. It feels more like a ships cabin than a bedroom, which made it easier to decorate & a lot cheaper. We just carried the green floor in from the living room (felt floor Mat) and called it good.What it lacks in architectural detail, it makes up for in lack of square footage. No closet. No trim. You can make the bed without taking a full step. Apparently, people didnt own many clothes when this cottage was built.The MCM Chinese sideboard was a FB Marketplace findhand-painted gilt landscapes, brass hardware, $190. The mirror came from guy we met in a McDonalds parking lot in Delavan. (Nice person. Great mirror. $40.) The curtains are barkcloth Navajo print from our DepartmentOfObjects.com stash. The headboard is a 1940s entry sign salvaged from a camp (probably long gone) up north.Bedside: Lucite end tables (from Target !?) with metal mushroom lamps. The artwork is a mix of eras1950s etching, a Stephanie Novas print from a shoot here. We swapped the 80s ceiling fan for a nautical pendant pulled from a 1943 Electrical Appliance catalog.The beds layered in decades An 1880s hand-woven Welsh coverlet on top.A 1940s woven spread underneath.(Just gonna embrace that in here Nothing matches). We collect vintage Bates plaid bed spreadsthe one here originally cost $9. 75 years later, only 50 bucks more (this is also why we love vintage!) Youll find them all over camp: curtains, tablecloths, pillowcases, throws.Its our little a wooden shoebox :)Next up (and- Next year) we convert the weird basement with a fireplace to go.
November 3, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
If These Walls Could Talk: The Kitchen with a Hundred LayersEvery kitchen tells on its owners eventually. This one had a lot to say. (Although we didnt expect to find this under the floor)-First we ripped up the fake plastic wood > Under that, 70s linoleum > under that, another layer of 1960s tile linoleum. Then tar paper. And under that, like the punchline to an 80 year-old joke, we found the original 1940s tile in tact. We were planning on installing new retro VCT tile to begin with, so it was like Christmas coming early.The farm sink stayed – then we spent months on the hunt for a Raymond Loewy-esque 50 Kelvinator fridge (thank you FB Marketplace) & Tappan range. (Turns out, Craigslist still works – we found one for free if we move it- which beat that alternative of its twin for $7800 on RetroStoveAndGasWorks.comIn the far corner, we found a time capsule: one junk drawer they forgot to gut still stocked with mementos from 50 yrs of party weekends (from the elderly former PE teacher & her weekend roommate the nun?) Shot glasses & entertaining sets from an era when house parties were an art form. Then theres the Murphy sink that folds out from the wall – common in boarding houses and tourist cottages in the early 1900s. Ours must have come in handy when the cottages that flank this one all shared a single outhouse. (See David test driving it before restoration. Its why we picked blue bath fixturesAnd we somehow stumbled upon a Chromcraft table for $70 downstate w/the exact same red top & trim as our counters.Tyrolean folk chairs (Alpine peasant chairs) a style used for centuries in Europe & later adopted in the U.S. by rustic lodges & tourist cabins (these were a 40s etsy find. Not a score, but hard as hell to find).Swapped the 70s ceiling fan for a vintage ships wheel pendant. Rug hospital thrift store. The 1925 original lake realtor lot map of Wandawega-6.There was no shortage of elbow grease (or actual grease) as we scraped, sanded, & repaired decades of wear. Glad to be done. Now – we gotta stock its cupboards & drawers. Damn. I hate antique shopping ;)Next up:The bedroom1,3,4,6,9 NathanBobey @mrsjoey8 ceramics
November 2, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
BEFORE & AFTERS (2 of 4) of the newest addition at camp Tomorrow : next room ! If These Walls Could Talk: By the time we got to the bathroom, it was clear the room with the least square footage was gonna be the most expensive to renovate. We found no insulation, a rotted floor, more plumbing problems than we could count and a floor heat duct that a colony of cats had apparently decided was their litter box. It started as a 1940s lean-to addition, built like an afterthought. The shower was a first-gen industrial corner unit: with metal walls. This room is roughly the scale of an airplane bathroom- the only thing worth saving was the original wood door & a doorknobWe stripped everything to the studs and did a custom concrete pour for walls – and a sloping, self-draining concrete base – a variation on Cherokee Red (the signature brand color Frank Lloyd Wright used extensively ).Then came the pilgrimage: 7 hrs to Decatur, Illinois, to meet a Harley rider in his backyard. Under a tarp, next to his trailer : A 60s toilet & sink designed by the legendary American industrial-designer Henry Dreyfuss (19041972). In flawless condition, the same robins egg blue as the Murphy sink in the kitchen.With the help of our pal @teichelman1973 & multiple trips to Owl Hardwoods. Our local craftsman Kai, carved out a miniature Frank Lloyd Wrightinspired bath of concrete, wood & steel. Then he gave us a skylight, clad in wood- with corners mitered so good you forget youre in closetspent most of spring scouring every forgotten corner of the internet to assemble a 70s Yves Saint Laurent towel set. (When you have zero square footage, you gotta allow yourself one fancy-ish thingfor me, its used washcloths)The littlest room may be our fave now. Maybe because its the one we agonized most over or because of its secret behind the door Inset into the wall are 3 lit boxes – little homes for our songbirdsIt started as an afterthought, turned a maniacal passion for bringing neglected spaces back to lifeAnd- its the only place at camp that you can sit on the toilet and take a shower at the same time.tomorrow morning: THE KITCHEN. 1,3.4,15 @nathanbobey
November 1, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
BEFORE & AFTERS- series (1 of 4)Tomorrow : next room !.If These Walls Could Talk:The Livingroom with a twin fireplace For all the decades wed been driving past this house, wed never once seen inside. Our lovely elderly neighbor who lived here had sealed herself off behind heavy vertical blinds. They were the first thing we ripped down.The second owner (a stonemason) had a sense of humor. He built a fireplace 3x bigger than any cottage could need & set a penis fossil in the center. (He also built a twin in the basement ) To his credit, all the walnut paneling & cabinetry hed installed were still intact & shockingly well-preserved. We patched the ceiling, replaced part of the roof, and pulled up the fake plastic wood floors the listing agent had laidThe color in my head: that Hitchcock green – the kind you see in bust-out motels & dive cocktail lounges. It took a ridiculous number of carpet samples before we finally found it from a guy in a Jersey warehouse. Found the Platner table on Craigslist. The 40s Tyrolean chairs from an Etsy seller in upstate New York. A Facebook Marketplace stereo cabinet from Minneapolis (gas cost more than it did). Terrazzo tables from a Lake Geneva thrift store$150! A 5-ft 70s abstract oil from an auction house. David scored a folk art ship in Delavan. Sofa bed from @dean.renaud & Joey. Frankoma pottery from grandmas house. Then came the antiquing trips w/angela & Joey and treasures from the archive of @mrsjoey8 of @lily_pad_wandawega collectiona hodgepodge built over years & borrowed from various corners of camp. Most loved artwork by friends: painting: @f.i.n.n.e.y.f.i.n.n.e.y (also styling till the wee hours with Angela) sculpture by @struggle_inc It started as a room shut off from the world & somehow became the heart of this little place. Someone told me that the best way to restore a place is to start by tearing things open, ceilings, floors, old habits- just to let the light back in. .Filled with things we love, from people we love.Next up: the smallest room & the hardest, most time-consuming, most expensive one. The bathroom. It almost killed us (& everyone who worked on it). nathanbobey
October 31, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
Proof that history repeats itselfat least every time someone says cheers.(3 of the pics in here were shot at Wandawega owners, neighbors and friends in the 40s, 50s and 70s )Turns out, weve all basically been doing the same thing for 100 years: raising a glass to the things that never change.So when our centennial rolled around, we figured the only fitting way to celebrate was with a toast and a bottle. Big thanks to @mensjournal for the write-up on our 100 Years of Summers whiskey (and for digging into the camps slightly shady pastshoutout to Madame Anna Beckford Peck, the original gin-slinger).By the time the issue hit stands last week, @foxtrotmarket had already sold out but there will always be more hiding at camp. And cheers to our creative companions & contributors – its why were here : @nathanbobey @stemsandforks @chevywolf @erikengstromphoto
October 29, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
Christmas came early (& it showed up in a rig, a fleet of movie trucks, and a 70-person crew). Cant share it all yet, but heres a peek at what happens when @americaneagle shoot winter when its 90 degrees out. (And just like that it looked like the set of a 90s mall nostalgia movie.) Some BTS of their 2025 holiday campaign thats just starting to roll out.
October 27, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram
