Pennsylvania Lumber Museum

Step right this way, friend, and behold the next selection from the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum’s patent medicine collection. While this tonic does fall under the category of patent medicine since it was made before any regulation, and the box does say it is registered with the patent office, it does differ in that it could have been effective. One of the listed uses was as a Malarial tonic, and Quinine is an effective treatment for malaria.

The box describes this tasteless syrup as “It is Pleasant to the taste. CHILDREN LIKE IT”. Which begs the question of how something tasteless has a pleasant taste? (L73.18.1 A,B)

Curator’s Corner

St. Patrick’s Day is a day for the wearing of the green. You know who wore green? The boys of the Civilian Conservation Corps, that’s who. For most of its existence, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did not have its own distinct dress uniform. The uniforms initially given to the CCC Boys consisted of a mix of old and new Army issue clothing. In the first years of the CCC, surplus World War I shirts and trousers were issued. That changed in 1939 when the CCC received a spruce green wool dress uniform designed specifically for them. It is unknown who owned this particular coat but it represents the dress coat worn by the CCC from 1939 until it was disbanded in 1942. (LM2019.16.1)

Is there ice cream in there? I want some ice cream….Alas there is no ice cream in my freezer only artifacts. This freezer can be a useful tool to help with the preservation of some of the artifacts that come to the museum. Mold and insects can eat away and destroy some artifacts if they are allowed to infest a collection. Paper and textile items are at particular risk. Such items can be frozen to help treat against such dangers. Freezing an item will kill insects and active mold. (It will not kill inactive mold but as long as the item is not exposed to high humidity the mold should remain inactive and not spread) Currently I am in the process of freezing some paper material from the Emporium Lumber Company. These items had been stored in an area that wasn’t climate controlled and that could have been exposed to insects. Prior to being placed into the freezer they are wrapped in freezer paper to keep out moisture. These items then frozen as a precaution before they are moved into the main storage area.

To Help celebrate Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday this post highlights a new donation for two posters featuring everyone’s favorite Forest Fire preventing bear. These two posters, donated by the Brownawell Family, are 84 inches tall, making them by far the largest in our collection. These posters are so large they come in two pieces, known as 2-sheet posters.

The first poster (LM2019.14.1A-B) is from 1956.

The second poster is from 1963.

Before electric power tools there were human powered tools. This late 19th century wood working tool was foot operated using pedals. They would have been an improvement over hand tools and used by carpenters working in and around Pennsylvania’s Lumber towns.

This bicycle like Wood Former/ Shaper was made by the W.F. & John Barnes Company  and was used for molding edges and scroll work. This particular machine was given to William Chastain while he was a carpenter’s apprentice to his Uncle, Theodore Grabe, in Coudersport in the 1890’s. Mr. Chastain was born in Roulette, PA in 1875. In addition to working as a carpenter’s apprentice, he worked in local logging camps, often as a teamster, using his father’s horses. He moved with his family to Rochester, NY in 1909, where he spent the next 50 years working as a carpenter.