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Pumping Water

by | Agriculture, Nature and Natural Resources, Photo of the Month

Tom Farish (right) and an identified worker at a irrigation pond in Lowell (Benton County), July 1946. The portable pump was sending much-needed water to fields of green beans. Farish and Joe Steele were co-owners of Steele Canning Company, regional processors of beans, tomatoes, and spinach.

Maudine Sanders Collection (S-2006-132-152)

Photo of the Month Archive

Tom Farish (right) and an identified worker at a irrigation pond in Lowell (Benton County), July 1946. The portable pump was sending much-needed water to fields of green beans. Farish and Joe Steele were co-owners of Steele Canning Company, regional processors of beans, tomatoes, and spinach.

Maudine Sanders Collection (S-2006-132-152)

Photo of the Month Archive

Pillow Sham

by | Artifact of the Month, Military and Homefront

Donated by Norman and Elsie Young

During World War II, souvenir pillow shams were popular gifts sent from soldiers to family and friends back home. This sham boasts a golden castle in the upper left hand corner, the symbol for the Army Corps of Engineers. In the upper right corner, the blue star on a red and white background is a symbol used by the Army Service Forces from March 9, 1942 through June 11, 1946. The large symbol in the center of the sham represents Fort Leonard Wood’s Engineer Replacement Training Center. The phrase “Victoria Ex Scientia” means “Victory from Knowledge.”

Norman Young (1913-1989) was born near the Madison County community of Wesley. He enlisted in the Army in 1943, trained at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and served with the Army Corps of Engineers. Young’s overseas tour of duty took him to Italy.

PFC Norman Young was discharged from service on October 17, 1945. He returned home to Northwest Arkansas, married Elsie Cress, and worked as a custodian at the University of Arkansas.

Donated by Norman and Elsie Young

During World War II, souvenir pillow shams were popular gifts sent from soldiers to family and friends back home. This sham boasts a golden castle in the upper left hand corner, the symbol for the Army Corps of Engineers. In the upper right corner, the blue star on a red and white background is a symbol used by the Army Service Forces from March 9, 1942 through June 11, 1946. The large symbol in the center of the sham represents Fort Leonard Wood’s Engineer Replacement Training Center. The phrase “Victoria Ex Scientia” means “Victory from Knowledge.”

Norman Young (1913-1989) was born near the Madison County community of Wesley. He enlisted in the Army in 1943, trained at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and served with the Army Corps of Engineers. Young’s overseas tour of duty took him to Italy.

PFC Norman Young was discharged from service on October 17, 1945. He returned home to Northwest Arkansas, married Elsie Cress, and worked as a custodian at the University of Arkansas.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Frisco Coaling Tower

by | Photo of the Month, Transportation

Frisco Railroad coaling tower at Fayette Junction, a switchyard that was located near the present-day intersection of Cato Springs Road and Vale Avenue in south Fayetteville, early 1900s.

Virginia Threet Collection (S-88-156-11)

Frisco Railroad coaling tower at Fayette Junction near Fayetteville, Arkansas, early 1900s.

Coaling towers were a necessary fixture along railroads during the era of coal-powered steam locomotives. Coal was carried on the train in a special car called a “tender.” When the tender needed to be refilled, the engineer positioned the train so that the tender was parked under the tower chutes at the coaling tower. The chutes were then lowered and coal was released into the tender. In the 1950s, diesel replaced coal as the fuel of choice for locomotives, and coaling towers fell out of use.

Photo of the Month Archive
Frisco Railroad coaling tower at Fayette Junction near Fayetteville, Arkansas, early 1900s.

Frisco Railroad coaling tower at Fayette Junction, a switchyard that was located near the present-day intersection of Cato Springs Road and Vale Avenue in south Fayetteville, early 1900s.

Coaling towers were a necessary fixture along railroads during the era of coal-powered steam locomotives. Coal was carried on the train in a special car called a “tender.” When the tender needed to be refilled, the engineer positioned the train so that the tender was parked under the tower chutes at the coaling tower. The chutes were then lowered and coal was released into the tender. In the 1950s, diesel replaced coal as the fuel of choice for locomotives, and coaling towers fell out of use.

Virginia Threet Collection (S-88-156-11)

Photo of the Month Archive

Bustle

by | Artifact of the Month, Clothing and Accessories

Donated by Annabel Searcy

Bustles were used mainly in the mid-to-late nineteenth century to expand and support the back of a woman’s dress. This “Taylor’s Cushion No. 2” woven wire bustle dates from the early 1900s, fairly late in the lifespan of these padded undergarments. By the early 1910s, the bustle had been replaced by the long corset which shaped more of the body then just the back of the dress.

View Henry H. Taylor’s 1900 bustle patent.

Artifact of the Month Archive
Taylor;s No. 2 Bustle
Taylor;s No. 2 Bustle

Donated by Annabel Searcy

Bustles were used mainly in the mid-to-late nineteenth century to expand and support the back of a woman’s dress. This “Taylor’s Cushion No. 2” woven wire bustle dates from the early 1900s, fairly late in the lifespan of these padded undergarments. By the early 1910s, the bustle had been replaced by the long corset which shaped more of the body then just the back of the dress.

View Henry H. Taylor’s 1900 bustle patent.

Artifact of the Month Archive