Mystery Item

 We ordered something for Tilly. 

Do you have a guess? 

Now is it familiar?  

I can bet that some of you know what it is...

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Here is the answer! 

Remember going to a Drive In Movie?  This is the speaker that you took from the post and hung it in your window...some were real staticky...then you moved to a different spot.   Some people used to drive off with them before returning them to their  post.   I wonder how often that happened.   It seemed like as soon as the movie was over everyone was in a hurry to get out of there.

Far Guy cleaned the old speaker up and he is looking for an old cord for it...he has a blue tooth speaker inside and from his phone he can play music...he intends to use it during car shows.   We picked music from my phone and from his and made a playlist...all 1950's music. One of our favorites...Teen Angel ..........you are welcome for the earworm:)

Far Side

Museum : Mystery Monday

Museum “stuff” still seems to take up much of my free time.  Even the off season is busy, I am certain the Board members have no idea how much work I do every week. ( mostly as a volunteer)

We have our annual meeting with elections coming up soon.  I hope people that actually volunteer time are elected instead of just figureheads that want to plump up their own obituaries.  The bylaws state that after two terms board members are required to take a term off.  Apparently that doesn’t apply…the same old people are there year after year…some have been on the board for five terms (15 years).  They have no new ideas, are reluctant to change and their get up and go gone up and went.  It is very discouraging to work with those kinds of people.

I have a new contract sitting on my desk.  I am thinking it over.

Here is the mystery item this week.

   What do you think it was used for?  What is it called?

Later today I will post the photo with the identification:)

Big Drumroll.  It is a Hog Whacker/Wacker (knacker).

Museum: Mystery Monday October 14

We might as well have another mystery item.  What is in this jar?

These were not being displayed, I found them under a display cabinet in the school room.  I found a new spot for them.  Not a Hubbard County item, but a Minnesota one for sure.  I had no idea this is what they looked like.

I suppose I could give you a hint, these were from the North Shore town of Silver Bay, but they did not originate there.  Guess away.  Later in the day I will post the picture with the label.

Learn something new every day if we just take the time to look around:)

Update: It is a jar of taconite pellets.

Taconite is a low grade iron ore.  It is crushed and ground into a fine powder.  It is rolled into a pellet that contains 65% Iron.  The pellets are easier to transport than huge pieces of rock that contain less than 15% iron.  The pellets come by rail from the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota and are loaded on Ore Boats in Silver Bay or Duluth and head to the steel mills out east.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was loaded with  26,160 long tons of taconite pellets when it sank on November 10, 1975.

Mystery Monday : A Case and Making that list

The trees are not yet peak here, I will guess that will happen in just a couple of days.

Fall pictures are still at the top of my list! The last hurrah before “brown” and or “ brown and white season” gets here.

A little pond over by Toad Lake

The museum has a program scheduled on Monday night, I must spend part of the day at the museum on Monday, and probably a bit of Tuesday too. 

Far Guy has a big to-do on Tuesday night.  He and another classmate have decided that each year on October 1st they are having a class reunion no matter if they are the only two that show up.  He is excited, just like a little kid in a candy shop.

I had a four hour nap yesterday, my daughter says that does not qualify as a nap it is more like a sleep.  I guess I agree, as I woke up and didn’t know if it was morning or night or what day of the week it was.  Good thing I knew my name or I would have panicked.

I will spend some time here at home getting reorganized, my desk is a mess.  It  became a dumping ground for “stuff” the past couple of weeks.  In fact it has spilled over to another table where I keep my laptop…messy messy.  Clutter drives me nuts.  I have been able to keep the dining room table clutter free but only by being diligent.

Pictures, naps, reading and a little reorganization are at the top of the list this week.

Now for the mystery:

This case holds something.  I used to know how to use it but have since forgotten.  The case has a gentleman’s name on it, it has nothing to do with what is inside.  The couple that donated this item along with many other interesting items have been long time residents of the area, age and health has them moving in with their daughter in Maine.

I will post another picture later in the day, unless I am napping then it might be evening:)

You guys are good guessers! Yes it is a slide rule.

Museum Mystery Monday: A Box

A very nice lady dropped off this box at the museum.  It was one of the last things that I accessioned this year.

We did not have this item in our collection.  It is a great addition to one of our rooms.

The latch on the door did not work so  someone taped it.  Far Guy has removed the tape marks with goo gone and cleaned up the box inside and out.  It is now out on display along with the contents.

It is from the 1930’s. There is a handle on the top of the box.  What do you think is inside?  I know how to use one.  I rather enjoyed learning how to use one.  I would have enjoyed having one of my own because I am a curious person.

The mystery item is temporarily sitting on the counter in my office that holds some hands on items.  A muff for children to try ( black seal skin), the yellow paper is for the nib pen, and the small container partially filled with coins encourages people to get rid of their pocket change…and my Pheasant that has a sign that says “Touch me gently.” 

I have three days of work left.  I have more vacation time coming at the end of the week.  Probably a good thing too, as I have caught a cold and right now my throat is on fire.  I am attempting to fight it off with naps, Zicam and fluids.  Far Guy has it too, he is on his fifth day…I am just on my first.

I will be back later in the day to post a photo of the mystery item…guess away:)

Yes, many of you guessed it.  It is a microscope.  It belonged to a lady doctor who practiced medicine in Brainerd Minnesota, her daughter lives in Park Rapids.

Monday Museum Mystery: Sept 16

Todays mystery items hang on a wall in the museum.

Two items that would used by men to create or repair something. I will post the answer here later in the day.

Two weeks left. It is actually five days because I have days off.   I am more than ready to be done for the season.

The shelves in my office are not getting bare.  Saturday was a quiet day, when I got done with research questions I hit the accessions hard.   The “stuff” that has been hidden under my desk for three plus years has been accessioned or sorted out for the rummage sale room. ( The Director before me stuffed one item after another under the desk.)  See that box next to the pink bag…Tom brought me that one.  Tom is a saver, I just peaked inside..oh my.  I may save that one for next spring. Tess and I just finished his last box which contained about 60 hometown newspapers from 1941 to 1946.

The weather has turned cold, I need a sweater or a sweatshirt in the museum now.  We have a fundraiser this week.  A Soup and Salad Luncheon, I will donate potato salad.  The luncheon is held upstairs in the Great Gallery ( old courtroom), I have not been up there all summer to see the “art.” Since it is one of my days off I will take my big girl camera and take some photos:)

On the left we have a Wagon Makers Rasp.

On the right A two sided shave.  Very rare. Probably used for shaping spokes of wagons and buggies:)

Museum Mystery Monday

I have been trying to get my incoming shelves at the museum all cleared off.  One by one the boxes and bags are opened and spread out on my desk for photographs.  Some items  are rather curious.

Some of the items in the background may help you make a guess.  All this “stuff” came in the same box.   This particular item is from the 1950’s and would not be used today.  In some parts of the country it would have been used more than others.

It was something I have never seen before.  I hope no one out there has used this mystery item, but if you have used it please tell us all about it!  I will add a photo of the reveal later in the day.  Guess away:)

You all were good guessers!

The hard plastic parts were for suction, the little red knife was to cut x’s across the bite marks, also included were an antiseptic and a string.  It is a Cutter Suction Snakebite Kit.

On a side note:  A few weeks ago I was contacted by a writer who was researching deaths by snakebite in Minnesota.  I assured him the there were no snakebite deaths recorded in Hubbard County, at least I have not run across them.  However in the south eastern part of Minnesota there used to be two types of Rattlesnakes, a Timber Rattler and what the early settlers called a Prairie Rattler but was actually a Eastern Massasauga, many children were bitten by the Prairie Rattler because it liked swamps and meadows (hay land where the children would run through barefooted)), it took the better part of a week to die from that bite  and it was very painful. Wheresas if a Timber Rattler bit you, you were most likely a goner in less than a day back in the olden days:)

Old Stuff at the Museum

I have been buried in old stuff, sneezing.  Old stuff sometimes makes me sneeze.

That Record Cleaner had most of you stumped the other day.  It had me stumped for a long time too, I turned it every which way and even stood a board game inside of it.  Then I said “Self.. think about it.”  AND the light came on.

Some people actually used a record cleaner instead of just wiping them off on their jeans.

I am making a little headway.  This display case is downstairs. 1970’s items are displayed in the bottom of the case.

“Stuff” is making it from my office into display shelves.  That Mystic Hand Board is from the 1940’s and is considered a little rare. It was manufactured by Haskelite Manufacturing Corp. of Chicago IL it was popular before the Ouija Board.  The Mystic Hand Wooden Planchet is in perfect condition.

The box is a little worse for the wear but the game is a great start to a collection of board games. 

Did you notice the pin on the 1970’s jacket? 

I had the meeting with the mucky mucks at the County.  It went fine, the result will not be known until they have their budget meetings.  I am cautiously hopeful that we will get some kind of increase and maybe new carpet for the foyer.  The two new Commissioners even smiled at me…that is a first…perhaps it was the welcoming pretty picture of the Historical Museum Notecard I sent them after they were elected!

Three weeks and 2 days left, not that I am counting or anything.  Since school started it is quiet in the building, so I can move right along making headway with all the “old stuff”:)

 

Museum Mystery on Monday

On Saturday at work I tried to stay in my office and accession in items that have been accumulating on my shelves.
I was making progress and was able to discard two big boxes that held “stuff.”
Then a little old lady showed up with a huge box full of WWII items.  Some are very interesting but I saved them for another day.  Luckily her husband wrote little tags with great descriptions and told some history of the items…gotta love people like that!

I have four weeks to clear off these shelves.  I might make it.  See those sticks off to the side, it is an old croquet set that doesn’t have a stand.  I don’t know exactly how I will display that yet. Maybe I will put them in an old wooden box if I can find one…or an old bucket.
Everyone is frantically bringing items into the museum before we close. Every item must have duplicate paperwork, a number, a photograph and be entered into our computer system and a thank you letter must be written.  It all takes time.  It is detail oriented work so it is impossible to pass on to a volunteer.
Now for the mystery item!

What do you think it is?  Did you ever have one?  I didn’t and I did not know what it was, but I figured it out.  It looks the same on both sides and it has a battery compartment on the bottom.  I think it takes two larger batteries maybe D cells. 
You would rarely need such a device today. I will update this post tonight about  6 PM with the correct answer:)

Update:  It is a battery operated machine that cleans LP Records.  The slot has a kind of fabric with fine hairs and the record is cleaned while rotating. 

Mystery Item

I have no idea what this is.  Perhaps one of my readers will know.   It was a gift to Far Guy from his cousin Bonnie. She believes that it was their Great Great Grandfather Xaver Aleck’s, he was a tailor in Philadelphia before he became a farmer in Harrison County, Iowa in 1860.  It may or may not have anything to do with being a tailor..

I have put one of Chances new non slobbered up tennis balls next to the mystery item..so you can tell the size.

Let the guessing begin..:)