~ Welcome to the National Bread Museum's Day of Discovery😃 ~
LOOP on 92
A drive out in the country towns for "the hunt!"
A son sent me a text with a photo of the 3-day BARGAINS event for a country drive west of Omaha. I marked the map & we took off to see some new land. Again, like the Junk Jaunt last September, we drove down roads through 10s of 1000s of corn fields & a few other grains.
This event was almost all family garage sales (vs. flea market gatherings & antique shops). There were a couple "antique" shops, but generally we were driving down streets to people's homes, or a shed, a church hall, etc., or in a driveway for those along the roads in the country. I'll take you on the route we traveled which took us to 11 of the 19 towns between 8 & 5:00 p.m. I didn't have a Shopper Guide, but just looked for the yellow or other signs in the towns, & asked the seller if they knew of others. And we ran out of time before towns!
Where I have a price, it's what I paid. It WAS a BARGAIN day!
Look for the yellow signs.
(1) Mead
One yellow marker in Mead, one lawn of tables, and my 1st find.
(c) - 1946 The American Women's Cook Book, Ruth Berolzheimer, Director of the Culinary Arts Institute (CAI);
5.5 x 8.25 x 1.58; 816pg; ($3). NOTE: There never was a "school" which is usually associated with an academic "institute." Ruth had a testing kitchen with a staff, but the main business objective was in publishing. This is the 1946 Edition. There is additional information about the CAI books on the "COOKBOOK CULTURE" (CC) page. In the MENU (upper right on this page, 3 orange lines), go to LIBRARY, click on the arrow, & then click on the CC words. Scroll at least 3/4ths of the way down.
I'm thinking about "Historical Heritage' breads people ate in 1776, since this is our country's 250 anniversary. Flapjacks, cornbread, gingerbread, English muffins, rusks, Sally Lunn, . . . many recipes are in this book!
(2) Ithica
(3) Wahoo
A LOT of work goes into some garage sales . . . you usually need tables, then setting everything out . . . sometimes 100s of items, everything priced, and a lot of prayer at times for no rain!!!
So at the first stop . . . There was a box of many "old" kitchen utensils, & there was an old, sticker price on some, & a string with a price tag on others . . . each between $12 and $28 (which seemed high for a garage sale, but you never know). The lady was still busy getting all the stuff set out. I went to her to ask if those tagged prices were the cost of those items. She went over to the table with me & swept her hand across & said that all the items were $1 each. She just needed to get rid of everything, & the ones with a price were old tags from a time when someone had them in an antique shop. Wow, what a blessing🙏.
All of these are from our grandmothers' time at the end of the 1800s to pre-WWII. $1 each. 🙏
The first item that caught my eye was this Bread Knife - 14 1/4" long.
Then scrummaging through the box, these were the additional treasures!
Above - Left to Right:
1. can opener 'Tool Steel Tempered A&J"; red & white paint on wood, 1 3/8" x 8 1/8"
2. 2-tine or prong meal fork, with a "clip" (stand) to rest the fork without it touching the tablecloth; 10 5/8" long
3. The 4 Albers brothers began a milling company in 1895, by Portland, Oregon. For decades, their flour reigned in the Northwest. This "lifter" was given away as an "advertising premium" in the early 1900s to possibly the 1930s.
4. nut cracker, "Harper Pat APD For" - cast iron; Chicago, 1900-1915; 5 3/8"
5. potato masher, white handle, 3" x 4" x 10"
6. "Taylor Deep Frying Thermometer" - 1940-50s; Research said that until this style of glass tubing was invented, you had to read through the glass with one eye (to read the mercury level inside). But with this method of glass, using "Binoc" beginning in the 1930s, was like a magnifying glass. One could use both eyes to see & get the reading. 1 3/4" x 11 7/8"
7. spring-action tongs, 1 5/8" x 9 1/4"
8. apple corer "Androck" "Stainless Steel - Made in USA" - 7"
9. a turner - lifter - flipper - spatula . . . Take your pick! (2 1/4" x 6 1/4" blade x 11" long)
10. pancake turner or slotted spatula; 2 1/2" x 12 1/4" long
11. slotted spoon, "A&J Patented, Made in USA" - wooden, green handle; 11 1/4" long
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ Somewhere between Wahoo and Weston ~
The OMAR Baking Company (a building built in Omaha in 1923) & the OMAR Wonder Flour Company operated out of Omaha. The Omar Baking Company had bakeries in Omaha, Milwaukee, Columbus, and Indianapolis. You can read much more of that history in an online search. These 8" and 9" tin pie pans (or sometimes called pie plates) were each $2. The Durkee's spice cans were $ .75 each and still filled!
(4) Weston
The church hall "garage sale" in this town had this handmade family recipe notebook of 254 typed pages! ($1)
When I see one of these pans in the 11" x 17" size for $1, I get it because they are so handy as lap trays.
Tins that tell of history are of interest for the Tins of Taste Museum. (2 @ 25¢ & 1 @ 50¢)
(5) Malmo
Turning off Hwy. 92, people in the country towns are still driving many miles of gravel roads. But when you get to the town, the roads are paved again. It's a bit tricky driving on the gravel roads, if you're not used to them. The gravel is quite loose & sometimes piled up along the edges. It can be a bit slippery & pull you into the ditch if going too fast & you lose control of the car. And generally there are 3 worn paths (1st photo on the left), & if there's an oncoming car, you both can't have a wheel in the center of the center lane! Time to slow down . . . especially staying to the edge going over the hilltop in case a car is coming.
Following a sign before we got to town, & 2 miles down a hilly gravel road, was the Big Blue Shed! Coke cans $1 & $2. Baby Ruth with it's 1920's nostalgic advertising signs was $1.
(6) Prague
Czech Heritage territory began in Nebraska by settlers back in the mid-1800s❣
It was great to see the old farm implements in town . . . a lumber saw;
. . . iron wheels on a horse-drawn seat which would pull something . . . possibly a plow, drag, disk, cultivator, cutting blade, rake, etc. Someone before my time would know more!
. . . 2 plow blades.
There wasn't a yellow sign, but we did see a "garage sale"-type sign, so we went in that direction. The entire basement of an old brick-building "hall" was a man's "storage & sorting area" filled with dusty boxes, tables, & the floor area. He said I could come in, but watch my step😳! (The "weekend garage sale" was upstairs.) Right off, I found the jug in a box (below & 3rd row down, the "sticky syrup" dispenser). There was no cell reception (down under ground), although we were both curious🤔. I began a pile. Next was the Foley Chopper in a box & with the instruction sheet! Walking along the tables was a box of old kitchen utensils 😁 . . . I dug in! By the time the guy came back (in & out for 30 minutes), I asked him about the price of a pile of items down on a table. He went, gathered them all, added them to the original pile, & said, "How's $10 for all?"👍🙏❣ Fantastic! It was a huge THANK YOU. He's on my list for a return visit some day.
By the way . . . before the shine of most items below, there's usually a layer of dirt, grime, dust, rust, cobwebs, and sometimes a greasy feel coating the treasured historical artifacts which are the voice of our grandmothers, telling us to not let them fade from our memories.
These (above & below) averaged out to 65¢ each❣
Down the street . . . around the corner . . . 2 more stops . . .
<-- Seeing a WATKINS tin takes me way back to the farm days in
Wisconsin in the 1950s when a traveling salesman would stop in once a year with his suitcase of products! I couldn't date this tin of pepper, but what was unusual was that it was in two languages! Maybe this was made for Canada?!? 3" tall; 25¢
The "cross stitch" & possibly ---> "tatting"-border (vs. crochted) is a well-made & preserved "doily." 25¢
BELOW: This cake stand would have turned as the Happy Birthday song played. The seller didn't know what song played because it had never worked. I told her it was the Happy B-day song & the plate turned as the music played. And I knew this only because the only 1 of 2 artifacts I have from my mother-in-law is an aluminum, music box, B-day cake stand like this. And this is the only other one I've ever seen. And of all things, it's carved with wheat . . . i.e. bread culture which is "God's Good Grains" foundation in this country and world!
(7) Abie
West of Prague . . . from gravel to blacktop . . . turn to go a few miles north "just to see." The familiar John Deere farm tractor like Dad had on our farm, but today they have those enclosed cabs =s air conditioning. Abie turned out to be a small town of 60-70 . . . one stop, lots of tables of "stuff," but only 2 x 25¢ for me this day.
(8) Bruno
Bruno, pop. around 90-100, was on the route to get back to 92. On a corner there was one yellow sign, & outside the building was this wonderful old jalopy, along with a '57 model! The town's name reminded me of our visit to Brno, Czech Republic, back in the day, & also, right after we had been in Prague . . . in the Czech Republic.
(9) Brainard
Just a mile off 92.
There was a seller in town with boxes of old cookbooks, pamphlets, booklets, fliers, etc. The two of us went through them all, seeking the oldies but goodies 😅. She was as ready to help me buy as I was to find!!! $10/all
On the way out of town, a quick stop, & picked up one more for a dollar!
(10) David City
The last stop of the day.
Was this a great stop! It was almost 5:00 . . . the advertised time for the close of the "garage sale" day. I was hoping there would still be something old that was waiting for me to find!!! Three buddies were inside waiting for a visitor😄. I strolled along the tables, creating a conversation with them. I already had the old items they had for sale . . . until I saw the bag of these antique handmade cookie cutters of "oh, so long ago." The $15 price tag meant $3 each . . . the oldest I've ever had an opportunity to buy in the U.S. at an affordable investment for my dream of a bread museum for historical preservation of artifacts of our grandmothers' lives. Thank you T!
Never having been in this city before, I wanted to drive to the other end to get an idea of what was there. Even though it was after 5:00, there was still one home with shoppers in the yard.
TINS
Throughout the day, a few other food- / beverage-related tins were found here & there for the Tins of Taste Museum.
COOKBOOK CULTURE
A book here --- a book there --- they're adding up to the amazing timeline of Cookbook Culture History in the USA during our Grandmothers' 1850-1999 era! It begins in the time of baking in 1850 in the hearth, in daylight or candlelight, & breathing the fireplace smoke, . . .
to the wood-burning stove around 1900, . . .
converting to the electric stove in the 1920s - only in the largest cities which had electricity;
by 1930, 30% of the homes had electricity (+ a mo. cost), but not electric stoves (still a novelty);
during the 1940s - WWII - electricity spread into rural areas along with electric stoves;
by 1950, about 50/50 electric & wood-burning stoves were in homes throughout the country . . .
(One of my grandmothers, born in the 1890s, always had a wood-burning stove - into the 1970s - for both heating the 2-story house and cooking / baking / heating all water as needed.);
TODAY we don't realize what a HUGE educational process it was for a female to learn the temperature range "by feel" in order to bake in a wood-burning stove (oven), & even a greater skill level when baking was done in a hearth! Or without yeast cake and baking powder until the late 1800s. Or written recipes & measuring cups & spoons (not common until after 1900+). OR standardizing baking pans with recipes such as the sq. & rect. 7x11, 8x8, 9x5, 9x9, 9x13, 10x15, & 11x17; and the 8x8 & 9x9 rounds about 1930.
Even though the Angel Food cake pan came about in the late 1800s, I don't know if it was a "standard size" from the beginning. The bundt pan came about in 1950, and the Wilton pans in 1959. After that, the field was wide open for designs and sizes!
Homeward Bound
The most expensive outlay of the day for one item - a whopping $5.00🤣.
TILL IT'S TIME TO TRAVEL ANOTHER DAY
THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR ONE MORE HUNT, & ROOM FOR ONE MORE PIECE OF GRANDMA'S LIFE, SO SHE'S NOT FORGOTTEN. WE NEED TO PRESERVE THE ARTIFACTS USED IN ALL ASPECTS OF OUR GRANDMAS' HOME BAKING, & TELL THE HISTORY OF HOW OUR GRANDMAS WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN DEVELOPOING THIS NATION THROUGH THE GRAINS THEY FED TO THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH THEIR BAKING.
This brief case is probably not even as old as a grandmother today, but it sure helps to tell the story of getting out and about, and always hoping to find one more historical artifact of what Grandma used to help make her at-home-career life a bit easier in needing to create healthy meals with the grains and other food items she had available to her for baking.
So until we go seeking more of Grandma's home-baking-related treasures, Happy Baking those Yummy Treats❣ 😉 Blessings, Donna