Earlier this month, the Museum had a booth at the Meeker County Fair. Part of our display was a collection of “what is it?” artifacts. Visitors could see how many of the six artifacts they could identify.
Many people knew what the matchbox holder was. Originally, it would probably have been kept in the kitchen and used to light the stove or oven. Some matchbox holders were more decorative, but this one advertised Fairway Fine Foods in Rosendale, Grove City, and Manannah.
Several fairgoers could identify the curling iron and corn shucker. Old curling irons were sometimes heated by being suspended in the glass chimney of a kerosene lamp. The corn shucker was used to remove ears of corn from the stalk in days before machines.
The last three “what is it?” items were more mysterious for visitors. First up was a small wheel with a metal fish. Many people thought it was for descaling fish, but it is actually a fishing line dryer reel. Back in the day, fishing line was made from natural fibers such as cotton. If the line was still wet when it was wound around the fishing reel, the line could mold, rot, and break, so it had to be dried first.
The line dryer was invented in 1904 by Charles A Laughton of Litchfield. Laughton was a traveling salesman for J.I. Case Co. before settling in Litchfield where he continued to sell farm machinery. One can imagine how a machinery salesman might tinker with bits and pieces and come up with a new invention.
Another mystery item was a sugar nips. Sugar used to come in a sugarloaf which was sugar compressed into a large, cone-shaped mass. A sugar nips was used to cut the loaf into smaller pieces. Although the nips are over 100 years old, the blades were still plenty sharp!
The last item we brought to the County Fair remains a mystery. Our hope was someone would know what the strange item was, but we have yet to come up with a conclusive answer. The item appears to be a type of spool or roller on a metal handle or hanger. It’s been in our creamery display, so it might have something to do with the dairy industry.
We had a few guesses at the fair. Several people said it looked like a paint roller. One gentleman thought it was for cleaning the rubber piece that went on cows’ udders for milking. Another popular guess was a type of paper dispenser, perhaps butcher paper for wrapping meat, cheese, or butter. We’ve since ruled out the paint roller, and further research didn’t reveal any matches for the other guesses. We even paged through a copy of the 1902 Sears catalogs and sought out old dairy catalogs online. Still, no luck! (See "Update" below)
If anyone has any other ideas as to the mystery item, stop by the museum and take a look! 308 N Marshall Ave, Litchfield; Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10-4; Saturday 12-4.
UPDATE After sharing this blog post on our Facebook page, one of our followers, Steve Becker, said our unknown item is a disc washer for a cream separator. He also linked a page from an old publication that showed the item in use. Thanks, Steve!
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