A2B-L«KMter Farming, Saturday, January 29, 2000
DR. DARWIN G. BRAUND
Volunteer Curator
Past Agriculture Museum
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co ) - If there is such a thing as
a second year (sophomore) jinx,
it certainly wasn’t evident during
the second annual Pennsylvania
All-Dairy Antiques and Collectibles
Show held September 18-23, 1999
in Harrisburg Twenty-seven
exhibitors from five states provided
beautiful and educational exhibits
of dairy antiques, collectibles
and milk bottles in this highly
successful event held at the PA
Farm Show Complex in
Harrisburg. This compares with
fifteen exhibitors from three
states at the inaugural show in
1998 and all but two returned
for this second year The first
show was started to help cele
brate the 35th anniversary of
the Pennsylvania All American
Dairy Show in 1998
Driving all the way from
Hayfield, MN, Gene Sander and
his wife, Pam, provided a beauti
ful realistic, and educational
exhibit on Butter Making in
Minnesota. Gene is president
elect of the National Cream
Separators and Dairy Collectors
Association. The pretend but
realistic molds of “butter” in var
ious shapes and sizes added
much interest to their exhibit.
Other members of the Cream
Separators and Dairy Collectors
Association exhibiting were
Darwin Braund, State College,
Martin and Diane Brumbaugh,
Curryville; Leslie Firth, Mercer;
David Morrow, State College;
Michele and Jeff Reasner,
Newburg; Jim and Martha
Roberts, Scio, NY, and Margin
and Ellie Stout, Tunkhannock,
Additional exhibitors includ
ed: W. Paul Anderson, State
College, N. Alan Bair, Columbia;
Charles Focht, Carlisle, Dennis
Grumbine, Myerstown; Jan
Harding, Clarion, Jeff and Cindy
Harding, State College; Charles
Itle, Lewisberry; Lolly and
William Lesher, Bernville; Joe
Meyer, State College; Willard
Odenwelder, Myerstown; Lyall
and Vivian Shaw, East
Hartland, CT; Bill Smith,
Landisville; Larry Specht,
Boalsburg; Donald Swiger,
Gettysburg and John Tutton,
Front Royal, V.A.
In addition, the Pasto
Agricultural Museum in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences exhibited 20 dairy
antiques. Also, the Department
of Dairy and Animal Science at
Penn State provided three dif
ferent early milking machines
including the rare BLK (Burrell-
Lawrence-Kennedy), considered
the first successful commercial
milking machine. Professor
Emeritus Don Ace from State
College again exhibited an eye
catching display of his wood
carvings that included dairy cat
tle and farm animal scenes.
The accompanying photos
-show the wide variety of dairy
antiques and exhibits much bet
ter than words can describe. The
Sanders’ Butter Making in
Minnesota exhibit was a very
popular attraction. Jim and
Martha Roberts, Scio, NY,
returned with Martha’s Milk
House. After exhibiting at Penn
State’s Ag Progress Days in
August, two county fairs in
Western Pennsylvania, and this
show they deserve official
All-Dairy Antiques, Collectibles Show Held
At All-American, Scheduled Again
Pennsylvania citizenship. Les
Firth, Mercer returned with his
display of beautiful advertising,
milk, butter and cheese scales.
One scale attracting much
attention was the large platform
creamery scale with seven brass
bars that could weigh up to
1,000 pounds.
Another exhibit deserving
special mention was that of
Margin Stout, Milk Testing
Through the Years. It traced the
development of the Babcock
milk test in 1890 and showed a
wide variety of early centrifuges
and related milk testing equip
ment
In the total show nearly
every aspect of a bygone era of
dairy farming in the late 1800 s
and early 1900 s was represent
ed. That’s when U.S. milk pro
duction was shifting from a few
family cows to the commercial
off-farm sale of cream and milk.
The Dawn of the Dairy Industry
and its continued development
through the 1950 s was described
via a long wall of posters devel
oped by Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences and bor
rowed for its educational value
with this dairy antiques show.
An unofficial survey conduct
ed after several items had been
sold, found butter and cheese
related items well represented.
A total of 61 butter churns
included 21 wood, 26 glass, 9
metal and 5 ceramic. A complete
set of Dazey Bull’s Eye glass
churns included the rare and
increasingly valuable one-quart
or no. 10 size. A very rare double
dasher wood churn from the
Paste Agricultural Museum was
dated 1859. Thirteen centrifuges
of all ages and descriptions
added to the history of milk test
ing.
Butter workers included both
floor and table models. Forty-six
butter prints and molds includ
ed 38 wood, four aluminum, and
four glass. There were two lever
operated butter presses, one
lever-operated cheese press, four
lever-operated cheese cutters
and one country store cheese
safe (patented 1899, Madison
Wisconsin). To help in selling the
butter and cheese and feeding
the cows which made it possible
there were 20 butter, cheese, and
milk scales. A dozen beautiful
wood butter bowls ranging in
size from six to twenty-three
inches were well appreciated.
The critical piece of equip
ment so important in expanding
early commercial milk produc
tion - the cream separator - was
not forgotten. A dozen separa
tors included seven mechanical
and five gravity models. Among
more than 60 milk pails, cans,
and cream cans of all sizes was a
very rare, oval shaped Guernsey
Of course, milk bottle collectors had a lot to show.
The All-Dairy Antiques and Collectibles Show was held at the All-American Dairy Show and
is scheduled again for the year 2000.
These young ice cream eaters get ready to go with antique dippers from the show.
milk pail. This unique shape
helped keep it from tipping over
as cows tethered in the fields on
the Isle of Guernsey were
milked directly into it.
Ice cream, that favorite of all
dairy products, wasn’t over
looked. A dozen hand crank ice
cream freezers (7 wood, 5 tin)
ranged in size from a rare one
pint to eight quart size. There
were at least 70 dippers and
scoops, seven cardboard ice
cream containers, two signs, one
3-gallon metal ice cream can
(State College Cry.), and an
insulated two-can ice cream
storage chest on casters and
three tin one quart ice cream
measures. Other items included
27 cow bells, 39 cow models and
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This platform creamery scale with seven brass bars that
could weigh up to 1,000 pounds was a great attraction.