How do you make history?
Carrie Frost was a fly fishing entrepreneur who paved the way for other female business owners in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Despite the fact that women could not vote and in many cases could not own property, Carrie Frost created a successful manufacturing company, and she gave over 150 Stevens Point women a chance to earn their own wages in a time when they were not often able to do so.
Meet Carrie Frost
Questions to Consider
What were the expectations of women during the time Carrie was growing up, and how did those expectations affect her?
How did Carrie’s business change Stevens Point? How did it change opportunities for women in Wisconsin?
Carrie fought against the stereotype that women shouldn’t own and run a business. What stereotypes do you see in the world around you today?
Peek Into the Past
Company Picnic
Carrie sits in the middle next to her brother, G.W. Frost, at a company picnic in 1911. Note that all the workers here are women.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie and Her Catch
Carrie holding a German Brown trout caught in the Tomorrow River in 1917.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie on the Water
Carrie enjoyed fishing at Wedde Creek near her farm. Today the farm is owned by her relative, Trace Frost.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie and Friends
Carrie (standing second from the left) poses with her sister Florence (far right) and three other friends in 1895.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Portrait of Carrie
Carrie worked as a school teacher in Motley, Minnesota, and Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
When Carrie retired in 1919, her business was the largest manufacturer of flies in the United States.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie and Her Dad
Carrie and her father, John Clarke Frost. This photo was taken a few years before John’s death in 1914.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
C.J. Frost Fishing
Carrie’s business was eventually purchased by the Weber Lifelike Fly Company which operated into the 1980s.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie’s Home
The Jefferson Street house where Carrie and her family lived and where she started the business in 1896 still stands today.
Bill Frost Jenkins.
Carrie’s Flies
Carrie eventually included her full name on the ties she sold in stores.
PBS Wisconsin.
Card with Hooks
Carrie eventually included her full name on the ties she sold in stores.
Photo courtesy of PBS Wisconsin.
Read On
Carrie Frost: Fly Fishing Boss
Get the full story with this biography book. Audio files are available on each page if you’d like to listen along!
Project Credits
Producer
Ian Glodich
Jessie Nixon
Illustration
Stephanie Hofmann
Animation
Ian Glodich
Brandon Ribordy
Animation Voice Over
Tricia Stewart Shiu
Sound Design
Curt Sorensen
Audiobook Narration
Aika Zabala
Audiobook Editing
Kerman Eckes
Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Vicki Way Kipp
Translation Services
University of Wisconsin-Madison Cultural Linguistic Services
Educator Support Materials
Jessie Nixon
Mia Forslund
Web
John Vieth
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Tim Schneider
Design
Charles Barrows
Additional Production Support
Philip Ashby
Mike Baron
Holly De Ruyter
Steven Dorchester
Georgia Beaverson
Vicki Pierce
Executive Producer
Megan Monday
Director of Education
Alyssa Tsagong
Director of Television
Jon Miskowski
Story Advisors
Debra Burmeister and her students
Tullar Elementary
Neenah, WI
(2021)
Kaitlyn Beguhl
Section Elementary School
Mukwonago, WI
(2021)
Bill Frost Jenkins
Trace Frost
Jen Ripple
Funding provided by
This project was part of Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Stevens Point funded by major support from Sentry Insurance, Dr. Henry Anderson and Shirley Levine, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Dick Cable Family, Mitzi and Bernie Hlavac, Delta Dental of Wisconsin, Judy Cable Anderson and the John Anderson Postcard Collection, Dr. Henry Anderson, on behalf of the P.J. Jacobs High School Class of 1964, Sue and Jim Buck, Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin, JHL Digital Printing, Tina and Don Peters, Rebecca Wiegand and Marvin VanKekerix, the Ward and Ethel Family Fund, and the Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs.
Additional support from The Timothy William Trout Education Fund, a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout, the Focus Fund for Education, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.