Do you know what this is? That's right. It's a butter churn, but not everyone knew that. The guide told me that one of the volunteers thought it was used to wash clothing. I'm still trying to imagine putting clothes inside the churn. I suppose you could, but ...
The butter churn picture also gives you a close-up of the packing crates that were used to panel the enclosed back porch. Isn't the handwriting beautiful? That's become almost a lost art.
I continue to be amazed at the variety of goods you could purchase in a Penney's store and, later, through the catalog. As many of you said when I featured the Mother Store in blog posts last year, the Penney's name triggers happy memories.
I highly recommend a visit to the Mother Store and the homestead if you're anywhere near Kemmerer. It's a trip back in history.
We lived in Meeteetse, WY many years ago. During a trip to Salt Lake City, we passed through Kemmerer and made a point of stopping at the Flagship store. Glad for that memory!
ReplyDeleteJudy -- I'm so glad you got to Kemmerer. It was one of the best trips we took last year -- so many things to see in such a small town.
DeleteI recognized it as a butter churn. And I agree about the handwriting. I have a marble top for a washstand that was shipped to Cheyenne in the 1880's and the handwriting on the address is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI've heard some people complain that diaries and other documents written in the eighteenth century were difficult to read because of the penmanship, but the nineteenth and early twentieth seem to have been better times for good handwriting. Or maybe it's because the ink and paper haven't faded as much.
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