Franklin County House of History - Part 2

I was touring the downstairs rooms of the Franklin County Museum in Malone, New York (see yesterday's post):

The downstairs parlors were elegant and impressive. This obviously was once the home of a wealthy family:

I moved to the foot of the stairs, where antique baby dolls rested in antique carriages:

I've noticed before that museums have lots of baby dolls and dresses, especially wedding dresses, because women cherished them and kept them all their lives, passing them on to their heirs. I always think of how much a doll was loved by someone - or by several people in a family:

I climbed the stairs and entered a room dedicated to weaving and looms:

School groups come here and get to weave a short section of fabric, which is added to the previous groups' sections and displayed in long scarves:

There were also candle making displays where the school children got to see candles being made and a corn broom making machine. There was also a one room school house display. But what really caught my eye was this county themed quilt, memorializing some of the rustic beauty of the surrounding town and countryside:

There was a room crammed full of antique farm implements:

I found these old farm tools fascinating and I'll bet that some of them would still be useful today:

I returned to the kitchen to end my tour but was told that there was one more room, containing a general store. I had not seen that the last time I visited, so it was totally new and fascinating to me:

The general store was full of antiques for display but also had souvenirs for sale:

This was a lively and elaborate display, perhaps my favorite part of the museum tour. But I'd seen everything at that point, so I thanked my guide and began making my way home to do the evening chores:

Found Treasures On The Farm

I've been finding lots of "stuff" around the farm house and barn since the day I purchased it, but only a few items have held enough interest for me to clean them up and keep them. Somehow, they've all ended up on two shelves in my bedroom:

But this odd little fork (or spork), which I found buried in the soil beside the barn, was what really got me interested. It must have lay buried for many decades and yet it's barely tarnished:

Here's a front and back view. It's apparently a specialized eating or serving utensil from the Victorian era, but no one seems to know exactly what it was for. I've guessed it might have been a children's fork, or for serving relish. If you know, please leave it as a comment at the end of this post:

I found this tiny, metal tricycle, a reminder of one I had in kindergarten:

And this little cast metal truck with rubber wheels:

These may or may not be old, but I'm sure they were given away with each box of Red Rose tea. The last I knew, the Red Rose Tea Company was still including one in each box:

And then there are the bottles, lots and lots of bottles:

More bottles and an old lamp base:

One bottle was a half pint milk bottle. I remember getting these at school once upon a time:

This bottle reads, "Lydia Pinkham's Medicine" and I found quite a bit about its history here. Lydia Pinkham concocted women's tonic until her death in 1883. It was meant to relieve women's menstrual and menopausal pains :