Humboldt County Historical Association
Norm Caldwell, President Connie Overby, Director
332-5285 890-9652
www.humboldtiowahistory.org
MAY, 2009
The April 16th meeting was the last meeting before the summer season. We will begin our next season in September. Be sure to watch the newsletter for upcoming events and the calendar for our fall, winter and spring meetings. Also, if you have any program ideas for our meetings, and if you would be willing to serve as a host/hostess for a meeting, please contact Jeanne Raine (332-3264)
The June board meeting will be held on Monday, June 1 at 6:30 at the home of Norm Caldwell.
Norm’s Notes:
Our opening on
June 1st is “just around the corner”. Most areas are ready to be
viewed but a couple areas are in the phase of “work in progress”. The
livery stable in the barn is being expanded and will be easier to view the
many, many items relative to an old livery stable.
The military room is being organized and is quite impressive. (We were
given a Japanese WW II Army rifle with bayonet from Don Mangle’s daughter
and son-in-law).
The power unit display with gas engines, power shaft, burr mill, electric generation etc. are also in progress.
And the windmills are also being repaired, painted, and readied for installation. On two different windmills, we had to make white oak bushings and then soaked them in oil. Maybe it’s not interesting to you but it is to me…….
And three more trees have been planted, thanks to the Carl Spellmeyer
Family.
I would and could write more but I have to get to work!
News
From Your Museum Director:
The countdown begins!!!
Our museum will open its doors on June 1st, and we are ready.
Our kitchen garden is tilled, ready and waiting for the Master Gardeners to
do their magic.
Our wedding gown collection is stored and back in the closet after being
shown to the P.E.O. members in April. Before we put them back into their
boxes we took photos of each dress; once the photos are printed we will
place them in a catalog along with information on each dress. This catalog
will be available for anyone to view.
We had our Sewing Day last Thursday; it looks like a lot of folks are
donating items or making items for us to sell in our Museum Gift Shop, and
items will also be sold on commission. Some of the hand made items are
purses made from neck ties, corn husk dolls, felt needle cases, dolls,
embroidered dish towels, aprons, quilts, wall hangings, hand made ceramics
and much more. We will also have post cards, books, Gotch coins, and other
items for sale. We plan on having an open house when the shop is ready,
watch the newspaper for more information.
Our Garage Sale will take place on Saturday, May 16, from 8am to 2pm.
If you have any items for this sale please get them to the Clancy Building
a.s.a.p. This garage sale is a great fundraiser for our museum, but only
with lots of help from our members. We will be pricing items early in the
week before the sale.
Have you driven through the museum grounds? If you have maybe you’ve
noticed the irises on the west side of the school house. These irises were
planted last fall by Sandra Newton-Back and LaDonna
Waring. Also, we have planted lilies on the east side of the red
barn. The peony garden behind the red barn is especially beautiful when the
flowers start blooming. These peony plants were left on our grounds after
the old house was removed. The plants relocated from the
berm to in front of the farm house are doing
well and are a wonderful addition, also the hostas
on the west side of the house are doing well. There is a mock orange which
was donated last year and planted near the front entrance of the house, and
a butterfly bush planted on the corner of the school house. All these
gardens were planted using landscape paper and mulch—making them not only
beautiful but low maintenance. In the future we plan on placing two window
boxes on the small windows of the red barn to add some beauty as people walk
by. We plan on planting flowers in front of the new porch/entrance to the
museum store.
We received our grant for two trunks filled with educational information,
books and toys. Carol Bradburn and Marianne Rasmussen have both volunteered
to help develop and take these trunks into Humboldt County schools. We plan
on having these trunks ready by the fall of 2009.
Did you know that on June 4th Iowa Public Television is coming to our museum
to film a program? I can’t stress enough that if you are a member of our
Museum Association you are a “spoke in the wheel” that runs our museum. We
need your help. If you are wondering what help we need, right now we need
help cleaning up the buildings and getting the displays ready for viewing.
From cleaning rooms in the house, to dusting tools in the barn, dusting off
the antique autos in the Clancy Building, or just sweeping floors, we need
your help. Can you give us some of your time? Call Connie if you are able
to help at 890-9652 or Norm at 890-9738.
This summer is already showing signs of being a great season for us. We
have the Humboldt Republicans using our museum for their summer picnic. The
community college in Ft. Dodge is bringing a group to tour in July. The
State of Iowa Girl Scouts has requested to use our museum in October for a
special program that will be made available to girls all over the state!
Also, the Humboldt High School 50+ Reunion is
happening this year, we plan on having special activities available in hope
that some of the alumni will drop by our museum while they are here. We
will, of course, still have our Fall Fling and Victorian Tea plus a new fund
raiser, our Golf Tournament, more information about this will come in future
news.
--Connie
Remember to do the Dues!
Remember to send your 2009 dues ($20.00 single per year or $200.00 lifetime)
to Jeanne Raine, 509 11th
Street S.W. Humboldt, Iowa 50548.
Historically Speaking
“Our Old Cook Stove Part 2”
Irene Slater reminisced about her family’s cook stove in “Voices from the Prairie” Volume XI No. 2. which is published by Humanities Iowa. The first part of her article was printed in last month’s newsletter.
“I remember the importance of that old cook stove when we butchered. The animal fat would be placed in large pans in the oven until it melted down. This would then be squeezed in a lard press to separate the lard from the “cracklings.”
Side meat would also be cooked in the oven until it was done. The meat would be cut up to fit into large stone crocks and covered with lard to be stored in the basement. That was how we kept meat through the summer months.
Choice pieces of beef would be cut up into small chunks and placed in fruit jars with a little salt added. The sealed jars would then be placed in the oven in a pan of water and allowed to cook until it was done. This would also seal the jars so the meat could be stored for future use.
I remember carrying in wood to keep the stove burning. This also meant the ashes needed to be hauled out. We kids had to polish that old stove every Saturday, and did I hate that job.
I remember the large blue graniteware coffee pot sitting on the back of the stove after the coffee had been brewed. There was always a warm cup of coffee available. The grounds were often reused.
I remember the sad irons being heated on top of the stove so we could do our ironing. These irons had handles that were removed while the iron was heating, then reapplied to do the ironing. Some didn’t have that feature and we had to use a hot pad to remove them from the stove and to iron with them so we wouldn’t burn our hands.
I remember the overhead oven being used to keep evening supper or breakfast warm if the chores weren’t done when the meals were ready. I remember the pot roast cooking in the old black kettle with three legs. Nothing could beat vegetable soup made with our homegrown vegetables on a cold day. That soup would simmer all day on top of the stove sending delicious smells all over the house.
What do people do now with out a cook stove?”
Thank you for your memories, Irene!!!
Martha Schmidt