De Kalb Meeting House Museum - Part 4

The last unexplored corner of the meeting hall was a reconstruction of an old parlor. It sure looked homey to me and I thought it would indeed be interesting:

There was an old stereoscope, an amusement popular from the 1850s to the 1930s:

An old telephone which still had the local phone number on it and a pair of eyeglasses in a leather and velvet case:

An old crank telephone, appropriate for an old crank like me:

Another stereoscope and a hurricane lamp:

A lovely old rocker:

And a cabinet filled with glassware, undoubtedly local folks' heirlooms:

Having once been the owner and operator of old fashioned wood stoves, I especially appreciated this clever model with its extra chamber for efficient heat radiation:

But the most wondrous object of all was this ornate pump organ, possibly from a local church, perhaps even the meeting house in which it is now displayed. The Victrola next to it brought back memories of my old Sunday School room. We had one there and were allowed to use it. On the other hand, that sure reveals how very old I am, doesn't it?:

When I was done with the parlor, I looked around the room to see if I'd missed anything:

I took another look at the cabinet and tea set, its mirror now reflecting the military uniforms on the other wall:

I'd missed this nifty railroad lantern, but that was about all. So I thanked the historian and bid him farewell so he could lock up the meeting room and put the insulation back against the door. I had an hour's drive back home and planned to do my weekly shopping on the way:

De Kalb Meeting House Museum - Part 3

I moved on, following along the wall because there were no displays in the center of the meeting hall. This cabinet surely warranted a closer look:

There were lots of kitchen utensils, containers and serving-ware:

Cast iron skillets, hand scales, old enamel-on-steel coffee pots suitable for wood stoves or campfires:

Bread boxes, pitchers and all manner of kitchenware from "the old days," some older than others, all mixed together:

An old, burlap potato bag:

World War II uniforms for men:

And for women:

Old chests. The one on the bottom was from World War II. I know, because my father had one just like it:

And hand sewn samplers. My mother sewed one like this and gave it to her mother when I was very little. It graced my grandma's kitchen wall for the rest of her life:

This sampler was so old that much of the thread had faded. It apparently was made to help children learn their alphabet. Or did the youngsters sew it themselves as a form of lesson?:

This rather deluxe piece of furniture must have graced a home where there was some money:

And it sported a fancy tea set. But there was still a reconstructed parlor filled with furniture for me to see. I'll post about that in Part 4, tomorrow:

De Kalb Meeting House Museum - Part 2

When I was done looking at the displays in the foyer, I called to the historian who was working upstairs, for he had to let me into the meeting hall. It was unheated, with large sheets of insulation over the doors. I entered and looked around. It clearly had once been a place of worship with rows of pews. Now it is a museum:

There was fancy glassware. That odd shaped "bowl" on the right with a hole in its top was a "Hair Receiver," apparently to store hair for use in making hair wreaths, a popular hobby and art form in the 1850 to 1875 era:

Fancy glassware from Europe. There must have been some folks with money in old De Kalb:

I loved this old washing machine and flat iron. I walked over to remove the soda bottle from the top of it before I snapped the picture, but discovered that it really was an old time bottle of bluing:

Two baby cribs:

Quilts, rockers, dolls and toys:

This cradle was built about 1900 and was so small that I wondered if it was really for a baby or for a doll. Apparently, it was for a real baby:

A spinning wheel:

This was a yarn winder, used to wind yarn off the spindle of the spinning wheel. It measured skein lengths by clicking every so many revolutions:

If you thought the previous washing machine was old timey, take a gander at this beauty - complete with bars of soap. Now who keeps bars of soap long enough to become museum artifacts?:

And of course, a washboard:

Table, chairs and dinner plates. But there was lots more to see at the museum, so I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

De Kalb Meeting House Museum - Part 1

I've driven through the town of Dekalb many times since I moved here, but never noticed there was a museum. Instead, I learned of its existence on the internet. It was only open a few hours each week, but open all year long, so I drove about one hour southwest to see it:

It was located in the former Methodist Episcopal Meeting House, erected in 1839. I recognized the the foyer as that of an old church immediately. I used to attend an old country church with the same layout:

Indeed, this clearly had been a church where the pastor stood at the door after services and shook hands with the members as they left for home. I met the historian (whose offices were upstairs) and asked where to find a bathroom. He told me they were out back, so I went right back out through those doors and began looking:

I found these two doors, both locked, plus another, smaller outhouse. It too was locked, but there were plenty of trees, so I was soon back inside the museum:

The foyer contained mostly photos and charts and maps, etc., but there was this telegraph which was used at the De Kalb Junction railroad station until it closed in 1964:

At the De Kalb Junction Post Office in ----- Oops, it didn't give a year. I would guess, judging by the outfits, 1890 to 1915. What do you think?:

This was Main Street in 1962. It doesn't look much different today:

Franklin D. Rooselvelt passed through De Kalb Junction in 1940:

And there was theater:

And a stage coach. Again, no year:

The bell from the old De Kalb Junction school:

You may wonder what that school looked like. Well, here is a photo of it. There were geology displays and Civil War displays in the foyer, but I was anxious to get into the meeting house hall and see the artifacts. I'll post about that tomorrow: