Old Fashioned & Antique Day 2015
Good afternoon! I’ve been wanting to report on the very interesting day we enjoyed on Tuesday, February 17. It was our Old-Fashioned and Antique Day and employees were welcome to dress up old-fashioned if they so desired – AND a few brave souls were up to the challenge! So we had several “grandma’s” walking around in their long dresses, aprons and bonnets – also, several of the girls were looking sharp in their lace-up boots, long skirts and white blouses. They reminded me of how the one-room school teachers of long ago may have dressed for their day of teaching school! Even a few of the residents got in on the action – donning bonnets, etc. The Songs of Yesterday singers treated us to some old-fashioned gospel singing including the German song Gott ist die Liebe. The Antique Display in the Fireside Room was very interesting with a whole range of items brought in by family members, employees and other generous folks. Thank you so much for bringing your items to share!! The interesting notes that explained the history or purpose of the item made for interesting conversation. There were people browsing all day looking at the items – of course, the discussions about the items were very interesting to listen to! On display was an old wooden wagon wheel coffee table, coal buckets, an enormous bread bowl, one of the old Lone Tree ministers chairs, old manual typewriter, German books, etc. brought in by Lola’s family – very interesting! There were numerous old games, lanterns, dolls, canning jars and a 70-year old canner, old dishes, a 90-year old fan that still works, etc. One of Maxine’s daughters brought a quilt that she had pieced and quilted – so interesting to see how every scrap was used! Karla’s dad brought some of his collection of toy tractors and implements, old tools and a tiny working White Mountain ice cream freezer. Butter churns, butter paddles and wooden mashers and other kitchen tools showed how much times have changed! There were numerous other quilts, old baby clothes and shoes, also! Angela brought her antique postcard collection – beautiful postcards from days gone by! Another interesting item was a Delco glass battery charger that was used for generating electricity on rural homesteads using windmill power – this particular one was Nina’s fathers from Oklahoma and was displayed with the original check. In the afternoon, Susan Davis, the author of the book Bushels of Nostalgia, came with her husband and talked about her writing – she shared some stories of her parents. Her father helped put in the rural electric lines when electricity was first coming into the rural areas. Her book is full of stories from her childhood – each chapter is on a different subject. Once again, “many, many thanks to each one who helped make this day so enjoyable”.