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In the 17th and 18th centuries, betty lamps were a readily available lighting source. The name of the lamp is from the German word besser, meaning better. Betty lamps were an improvement over rush lamps in that they provide more, brighter light. They burned oil (fish, animal, or vegetable). The wick was a piece of twisted cotton that sat in the oil and was held in place by the spout. The lamps came with wick picks to pull the wick out farther and keep it burning.

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Nineteenth century laundry day was a strenuous chore. Before the scrubbing or agitating of the dirty clothes began, someone hauled water to the wash boiler, heated it on a laundry stove and then added soap. As you can imagine, water and suds slopped out of the boiler creating a mess that had to be later mopped up. For this reason, many women preferred doing laundry outdoors. One woman became fed up with the mess and invented this laundry drainer.

Made of galvanized metal, this device measures 10 inches deep and 18 inches in diameter. A patent was issued Aug. 12, 1902, to Harriet Blenkhorn of Minneapolis for this invention. Harriet had trouble with the drainer toppling over and clean laundry spilling on the floor or ground. She also did not like having her feet or floor get wet while doing laundry. In the specifications of the patent, Harriet describes her drainer, “My invention relates to improvements in drainers, especially adapted for use on domestic wash boilers for the purpose of draining the clothes saturated with hot water, thus obviating the objectionable wetting of the floor.” In addition to this she provided an improved means for supporting the drainer in an inclined position on the boiler by holding it so that the drainer did not tilt backwards or sideways under the weight of the clothes.

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Horses are one of the earliest modes of human transportation and riders have always needed help to communicate with and steer their horse.

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Many children love dolls, however today few children have toys or dolls that aren’t for play like China Dolls. This week’s What’s New Wednesday comes from Neva Whaley Harding. 

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Any child in the early 20th century would have been excited to see their very own pony cart under the Christmas tree.  This dapple pedal pony has leather ears, glass eyes, and a tail made from horsehair.

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The Little Brown Jug is an early version of a thermos. The jug is tin skin over stoneware liner, a metal stopper with a rubber gasket and a metal cap that acts a drinking cup. The jug label declares that it “keeps foods or liquids hot or cold. Butter, milk, water, coffee, lemonade, set.”  It was manufactured by the T. T. Macomb Manufacturing Co., Macomb, Illinois. Jugs like these were used when camping or taking refreshment to the harvesters in the fields.

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May is National Tourism Month and many visitors will be coming to South Dakota this season. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture published this 15-page guide ca. 1930-31. The contents of the guide promote visiting interesting sites around the state, plus several pages of “South Dakota Facts.” 

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Inscribed inside the front cover of this autograph album is “Merry Christmas to Christine Carlson from your sister Olli.” The cover of the book is white celluloid with embossed purple and yellow daffodils with gilded stems. The 25-page album has pale green, white, and pink pages. The autographs in the book are dated between 1901 and 1905 and are from friends and family.

Sixteenth century Dutch and German students had classmates and professors sign the margins of their textbooks. Later small leather-bound albums with blank pages were used for collecting signatures. During the Victorian era (1820-1901), autograph books became popular with both men and women. Autograph books became treasured keepsakes to those who moved away and might not see friends and relatives for a long time, if ever again. They served as sweet reminders of childhood and school days. Antiques autograph books contained good and silly poetry, witty sayings, the signers’ thoughts and good wishes, and artistic drawings. A lock of hair or pressed flowers may even be found pressed between the pages. Autograph books had a resurgence of popularity around 1914 through the 1920s. Autograph books have not passed into oblivion, yet from the 1950s on, they mostly contain simply signatures and perhaps addresses.

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The South Dakota State College (now ������Ƶ) Horticulture Department invented this grasshopper poison spreader to combat the locust plague during the Dust Bowl.

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With Europe’s agricultural production being war-torn, the US was forced to feed not only troops and civilians from this country but those from other countries. Rationing evolved from this need to support the Allied Forces. Home front mobilization encouraged recipes that used available food, with as little rationed food as possible.

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A bull leader or bull tongs hook into a bull’s or cow’s nose or nose ring to control the animal while being transported or receiving medical treatment. The plier action controlled by the spring keeps the leader in place. 

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This 1911 postcard was sent from Springfield, Minnesota to Charles H. Gamble, Brookings. Gamble’ family moved from Springfield to Brookings in 1907. He received this postcard when he was 21-years-old. At age 26 he worked as a bookkeeper for Farmer’s Coop Elevator. As his friends did in 1911, we wish you a Happy New Year!

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This image of women defending the corn crop from birds is from Schoolcraft Vol. III (1884 re-publication), page 63. The text that goes with the image says: "It is found, among the bands who raise the zea maize, that, as the grain ripens, attention is required, in some seasons, to keep the rails, blackbirds, and other graminivorous species, from destroying the crop. This is a precautionary labor that also falls to the share of the matrons, girls, and boys. Such is the fierceness of these predatory attacks, that a particular kind of staging is sometimes erected in the field, on which the watchers sit, to frighten away the birds." 

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This fancy rosette ribbon with gold fringe and trim an award at the 1987 64th Little International Agricultural and Home Economics Show for the Most Educational Booth. The rosette center has an image of the Little I barn and the date. It is unknown which booth won this impressive pink, purple and white ribbon. The ribbon measures 29 inches long and the rosette is 7 ½ inches in diameter.

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The time-honored tradition of wood-carving dates back thousands of years. This fun example of a cowboy needing to hold on as his horse comes complete stop celebrates this past-time. “A Horse that Stops on a Dime,” by Clear Lake, resident Quentin Rhody, brings a poor cowboy’s plight to life.

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