822-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 9, 2000
Pasto Museum Curator Teaches
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
MCVEYTOWN (Mifflin Co.)
One of Dr. Darwin G.
Braund’s favorite thank-you
notes came from a school-age
child who toured the Pasto Agri
cultural Museum near the Rock
Springs Agricultural Research
Center in Centre County, a mu
seum filled with farm and home
items powered solely by human
or animal muscle strength. The
note thanked Dr. Braund for
showing them the Nordic Track
for horses.
Dr. Braund serves as curator
of the museum that’s open dur
ing Ag Progress Days and for
tours by appointment. The muse
um houses more than 700 rare
and unusual items. The oldest
item at the museum is a
6,000-year-old Mesopotamian
clay scythe donated by a Penn
State professor of anthropology.
Museum visitors can turn
cranks, move levers, and spin
wheels on butter chums, com
shelters, com grinders, cake
makers, wagon jacks, fannng
mills, cream separators, and
grass seeders. None of the items
used electric or engine power.
These cans have traveled far, by steam train. They were used to ship
milk and cream from the Stouff farm near Downingtown to Philadelphia
in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Both cans have a brass plate showing the
farmer” name, and the smaller cream can also has PRR on it for the
Pennsylvania railroad. The large can was reinforced by four, three
inch steel straps, but even so, it shows evidence of considerable
“banging around” on its back and forth Journeys. It has even been
soldered once. -Paste Agricultural Museum, Penn State University.
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Dr. Darwin G. Braund of the Paste Agricultural Muse
um near Rock Springs, Centre County, talks about farm
and household implements used before the advent of
electricity or engines.
Era of Muscle Power
Recently, Dr. Braund has been
taking some of these interesting
artifacts “on the road” when
serving as featured speaker at
banquets. He presented his pro
gram at the Mifflin County Farm
City banquet the middle of No
vember.
“Who knows what this is?”
Dr. Braund asked, reaching for a
long-handled device.
“No, not a popcorn popper.
It’s a bed warmer. You filled it
with hot coals and slid it around
between the sheets before climb
ing in.”
Dr. Braund showed the audi
ence what he calls the first com
puter a counter for bushels of
“whatever.” The wooden block
with a dial was designed to hang
on the side of a threshing ma
chine. He then lifted up a grain
scythe that he determined is a
left-handed one by the way the
edge is beveled.
Working in the home before
electricity or engines meant
scrubbing clothes on washboards
and ironing clothes with irons
heated on coals. Later, a cast iron
model was built to store hot coals
within.
“Did you know Pennsylvania
Elias Howe generally Is credited with inventing the sewing machine
in 1846. This 1872 step-feed model made by the Howe Company fea
tures a brass medallion showing the bust of the inventor. Ladies, start
your sewing machines. -Paste Agricultural Museum, Penn State Uni
versity.
is the number one state for butter
prints and molds?” Dr. Braund
asked.
Butter branding represents the
beginning of branded products.
Farmers would make their but
ter, identify it with a brand (their
initials or special designs or
prints in the butter), and then
sell it at a store. The customer
would know which butter he or
she wanted to buy by the brand.
Butter molds are found in 1-
and 2-pound sizes. Dr. Braund
showed the audience a rare glass
butter mold with a cow imprint.
Ice cream was appreciated as
much in the mid-1800s as it is
today. Dr. Braund showed an
1880 Victorian ice cream scoop
in which the top turned to scrape
the ice cream onto the plate. His
#6 ice cream dipper with scraper
means that six of these scoops
equal one quart. The tiny #lOO
scoop was reserved for free sam
ples. Dr. Braund held up an ob
long ice cream gadget used to
shape the ice cream for in ice
cream sandwiches. To prevent
wasting any ice cream, the ice
crearti scoop is curved to fit the
side of thq ice cream container.
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