Cornhuskers Everywhere!
Heading north out of Kansas Highway 81 enters Nebraska, appropriately called the “Cornhusker State”. Here it is late fall and the corn harvest is in full swing. The countryside flattens out and cornfields stretch in every direction.
Our next destination is the “Number #1” attraction in Nebraska, located in Minden, so after passing the small town of Geneva we turn left on Highway 6 and head for Hastings to stop for the night. This is one of those times where I just need a place to plug in for the night so I camp out at the Adams County Fairgrounds (one of the things that I have discovered in the last couple of years is that most rural counties actually have an rv park on their fairgrounds to accommodate people during the annual fair, the rest of the year they are a relatively inexpensive place to camp for people like myself who really are not looking for a “rv resort” but just a clean, safe place to stay). While talking to the people in the fairgrounds office I pick up the local visitor’s guide and discover that Hastings, Nebraska, is the place where Kool-Aid was invented. In 1927 Karl Perkins (whose wife, Kitty Shoemaker, developed Jell-O) discovered a process that removed the liquid from a concentrated fruit drink. He packaged the remaining powder and sold it as Kool-Ade, later revised to the familiar Kool-Aid. Can’t pass that up, so the next morning (after a night where it got down to 21 degrees!) Augie and I swing by the Kool-Aid Museum. It’s closed, (again, another lesson learned, many of the museums in these small towns either close for the season or are only open on weekends after Labor Day) but the windows are covered with reproductions of original posters.
So, having my “thirst” for Kook-Aid trivia unsatisfied I left Hastings and continued west on Highway 6 to the real goal for the day, the universally acclaimed “Number 1” attraction in Nebraska publicized on billboards all over the area, Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village.
Harold Warp was born on a homestead near Minden, Nebraska, in 1903. After graduating from high school in 1921, he worked at odd jobs around town while tinkering in his brother’s garage on a project designed to find a cheaper alternative to window glass in chicken houses. He perfected the process used to create plastic wrap (originally called “Flex-O-Glass”) and founded the company that created “Jiffy Wrap” and plastic garbage bags. Eventually the company held 30 patents for various “flexible” plastics. Harold was fascinated by what he perceived to be the “giant leap” in the development of man that occurred in the years 1830-1960 and decided in 1953 to create a museum devoted to those times. I can’t begin to tell you of the breadth and depth of this collection of over 50,000 items distributed in 28 buildings over 20 acres. Some of the buildings are historic, others are metal buildings, it’s all a fascinating eclectic mix. In many ways it seemed like time had stood still, even the museum entrance building looks virtually the same as it did when constructed in the 1950’s. Each display has the original 1950’s typed description on yellowing paper (yes, youngsters, to the right is what something from a typewriter actually looked like!). I apologize if this took a long time to load as it is very picture intensive, but I thought it necessary to at least scratch the surface of what the Pioneer Museum has to offer. Enjoy!
“For thousands of years Man lived quite simply. Then like a sleeping giant our world was awakened. In a mere hundred and twenty years of eternal time Man progressed from open hearths, grease lamps and ox carts to television supersonic speed and atomic power.” Harold Warp
The first section of the front building houses a collection that details the development of the automobile from covered wagons to buggies to “horseless carriages” to cars from the late 1950’s
Two of the crown jewels of the collection are the 1902 Cadillac (second oldest Cadillac in the world) and the 1903 Ford (oldest Ford in the world). The Cadillacs were actually designed and developed by Henry Ford, who parted ways with his original backers after a disagreement about the potential of a more powerful motor. The backers bought him out, agreed not to use the name “Ford”, and installed Henry Leland as their new superintendent. The name of the company was changed from “Detroit Automobile Company” to “Cadillac Motor Car Co.” which was taken over by Billy Durant in 1908 and became part of General Motors. Upon leaving in the Detroit Automobile Company in late 1902, Henry Ford built essentially the same car in 1903 as the 1902 Cadillac except that he produced a more powerful two cylinder engine instead of the Cadillac’s one cylinder. Both cars were priced around $850 when first built.
The history of the fire engine is also developed in another area of the main building. This 1880 fire engine used by the Kansas City fire department was originally horse-drawn. In 1909 a steam engine replaced the horses and the fire engine was used until 1926. I had to take a “two-part” picture in order to show both the front and back sections.
Stepping out of the back door of the front building a circular park opens up, with the grassy center surrounded by various buildings, in no particular order.
Turning to the left, the first building is the Elm Creek Stockade. Built in 1869 at the headwaters of the Little Blue River in what is now Webster County, Nebraska, five families lived in this house and small yard surrounded by a stockade. A bell hung in the enclosure and when Indians were spotted the bell called in people from the surrounding fields.
At most the building is fourteen feet by fourteen feet, and the one room interior is furnished as it might have been in the 1880’s. Next is a 1913 one room school house, the detail of the furnishings of the interior is amazing.
When you enter the front door you do not enter the classroom but rather a long, narrow “anteroom” with openings to the classroom on each end. In the entrance side of the room are cases full of period artifacts, including sports equipment and a collection of lunch boxes. On the other side of the front wall is the chalkboard and the teacher’s desk. Encased in glass, the teacher’s desk has original copies of a Bible, Webster’s Dictionary, and other books as well as an original lesson plan book.
Continuing around the park a replica of an 1878 sod house with original design and furnishings in the interior illustrating how many who first settled the prarie lived in the absence of trees. This is a two room house with kitchen/living room in the front and bedroom in the back.
Next up is an original 1884 church, complete with a Snelitzer pipe organ that was originally brought from Germany in 1856 for a church in Natchez,Mississippi, by steamboat up the Mississippi River. The organ was removed and stored during the Civil War and so was not damaged when the church burned during the Union occupation of Natchez. The organ made its’ way to various churches during the ensuing years, finally resting at the Lutheran Church near Chambers, Nebraska. It was replaced by a newer organ in 1956 and moved to the Pioneer Museum.
America’s oldest merry-go-round graces the entrance to the back area, site of the larger metal buildings housing collections of cars, farm equipment, tractors, blacksmith shop, etc. The complex just seems to go on forever. I do have to say that it was a bit cold walking around the 20 acres! However, the next building was one of the most interesting. The subject was the evolution of the house from 1830 to 1950 and the history of the kitchen and living room from 1830 to 1950 is traced in a series of small rooms (probably about 15 feet by 15 feet). Each room represents a year and is furnished with original furnishings from the time period. Kitchens on the left, living rooms on the right. Check out the mannequins!
1830 The kitchen and living room where essentially the same room as most people lived in a one room house. Here are two examples from the period.
1860 By 1860 a Franklin wood stove had replaced the fireplace and “modern” conveniences included a foot and hand crank sewing machine as well as wooden bucket, wringer and zinc scrub board for washing clothes. Living areas still typically included a bed and the walls were “finished”.
1890 The 1890 kitchen has oven doors on the wood stove, a tin ice box, and more finished furniture. Kerosene lamps had replaced candles.
1910 The 1910 kitchen sees more metal with porcelain finishes throughout, a water reservior on the coal stove for hot water, coffee grinder, wooden ice box with porcelain finished interior, a pressure cooker, hand cranked ice cream maker and a wall phone operated on batteries. There is no bed in the 1910 living room and the furnishings were probably made in factories.
1930 The 1930 kitchen has a natural gas stove and electrical appliances like an iron, toaster and electric ice box. The living/dining room is still heated with a gas stove in the corner.
1950 The 1950 kitchen has a porcelain gas stove with temperature controlled oven, porcelain sinks, electric washing machine and gas refrigerator with a freezer compartment. The first dishwashers were appearing. The 1950 living room begins to reflect sleek “modern” lines.
My feet are getting tired and Augie needs a potty break so I turn back to the main building. On my way out I pass what has to be one of the highlights of the visit, as well as pretty thought-provoking. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the northeast part of the state, is the oldest active U.S. Army post west of Washington, D.C., having been in use for over 187 years. It was the center of power in the west for much of the 19th century and anyone who was important visited the post. The social life of the post was equally luminous, with dress balls being held in honor of distinguished guests. The ballroom at Fort Leavenworth was decorated with these mirrors and portraits from the early 1860’s through the 20th century. The portraits are of George and Martha Washington, done by Jane Stuart, daughter of famous portrait artist Gilbert Stuart. The mirrors reach nearly twelve feet high. The mirrors have refected many important people from America’s history: President’s Lincoln, McKinley, T. Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower as well as General’s Grant, Sherman, Custer, Lee, Andrew Jackson, MacArthur and Patton. There is no escaping the sense of history when gazing into the bottomless mirrors. It was a moment!
And, of course, now me, hiding behind the flash of my trusty camera!!!
And with that my visit to Harold Warp’s Pioneer Museum in Minden, Nebraska, ends. Truly a find in the middle of nothing but corn, and worthy of its’ title as “Nebraska’s #1” attraction. Thoughts now turn towards home as a bit of pressure to move on has started to build. It was 20 degrees last night, and there’s a possibility of snow is the forecast for southeastern Wyoming so I need to get a move on. In addition, I am finding it a bit more challenging to find a place to hang my hat for the night as the farther I move north, the more likely it is that seasonal RV parks are either closed or have rented out their spaces to oil workers for the winter. It’s time to get going!
Next up: The Oregon Trail
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