Join
Free Admission

Printer’s Block

by | Artifact of the Month, Business and Occupations, Technology

Donated by Parker Rushing

This metal-plated printer’s block engraved with a cow  was used by the Prairie Grove Enterprise newspaper, back in the days when the letters and illustrations on a newspaper page were hand-placed—or “typeset”—in preparation for printing.

With the slogan of “A Community Newspaper Dedicated to Building a Better Community,” the Enterprise was first published on November 19, 1936, by George and Ida Wiswell and their son, George Jr. In 1965 Tri-State Publishers of Springdale bought the Enterprise but the commercial printing department and equipment were reacquired by the Wiswells in July of that same year. Boyce Davis, owner of the Lincoln Leader, purchased the Enterprise in June 1967 and sold it back to the Wiswells. The Wiswells continued to operate the Enterprise until 1971 when they sold the business to the Alan Nicholas family of Cleveland, Ohio. The paper has been bought and sold multiple times since 1971; as of 2018, it is owned by Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC and published weekly as the Washington County Enterprise-Leader. 

Printer's block

Donated by Parker Rushing

This metal-plated printer’s block engraved with a cow  was used by the Prairie Grove Enterprise newspaper, back in the days when the letters and illustrations on a newspaper page were hand-placed—or “typeset”—in preparation for printing.

With the slogan of “A Community Newspaper Dedicated to Building a Better Community,” the Enterprise was first published on November 19, 1936, by George and Ida Wiswell and their son, George Jr. In 1965 Tri-State Publishers of Springdale bought the Enterprise but the commercial printing department and equipment were reacquired by the Wiswells in July of that same year. Boyce Davis, owner of the Lincoln Leader, purchased the Enterprise in June 1967 and sold it back to the Wiswells. The Wiswells continued to operate the Enterprise until 1971 when they sold the business to the Alan Nicholas family of Cleveland, Ohio. The paper has been bought and sold multiple times since 1971; as of 2018, it is owned by Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC and published weekly as the Washington County Enterprise-Leader.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Egg Basket

by | Agriculture, Artifact of the Month, Household Goods

Donated by Billy Dean and Catherine Foster

This basket belonged to Elnora Coralee Webb Fritts (1865-1962). She was born at Durham (Washington County) and lived there always. Elnora and her husband, Lon, had four children: Herman, Lillie, Hattie, and Maggie.

Billy Dean Foster, Elnora’s grandson by her daughter, Maggie, remembers filling this basket with eggs when he was a little boy, and what a heavy load it was when he carried it!

Artifact of the Month Archive
Elnora Fritts's egg basket​

Donated by Billy Dean and Catherine Foster

This basket belonged to Elnora Coralee Webb Fritts (1865-1962). She was born at Durham (Washington County) and lived there always. Elnora and her husband, Lon, had four children: Herman, Lillie, Hattie, and Maggie.

Billy Dean Foster, Elnora’s grandson by her daughter, Maggie, remembers filling this basket with eggs when he was a little boy, and what a heavy load it was when he carried it!

Artifact of the Month Archive

Cardboard Bunnies

by | Artifact of the Month, Holidays

Pressed cardboard Easter rabbits,1930s

From left: Ruth Haigh Roberts, Lawrence Roberts, Orville Hall Jr. , and Janie Haigh Hall, at the Hall home in Fayetteville, April 9, 1939. Orville Hall Jr. Collection (S-2009-60-6)

Donated by Susan and Orville Hall Jr.

Bunnies made of molded or pressed cardboard or pulp were popular Easter decorations during the 1930s and 1940s. These belonged to Orville Hall Jr. of Fayetteville, the son of Orville Sr. and Janie Haigh Hall.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Pressed cardboard Easter rabbits,1930s

Donated by Susan and Orville Hall Jr.

Bunnies made of molded or pressed cardboard or pulp were popular Easter decorations during the 1930s and 1940s. These belonged to Orville Hall Jr. of Fayetteville, the son of Orville Sr. and Janie Haigh Hall.

From left: Ruth Haigh Roberts, Lawrence Roberts, Orville Hall Jr. , and Janie Haigh Hall, at the Hall home in Fayetteville, April 9, 1939.

From left: Ruth Haigh Roberts, Lawrence Roberts, Orville Hall Jr., and Janie Haigh Hall at the Hall home in Fayetteville, April 8, 1939. Orville Hall Jr. Collection (S-2009-60-6)

Artifact of the Month Archive

Bisque and Composition Dolls

by | Artifact of the Month, Toys

Donated by Ada Lee Shook

These dolls belonged to Frances Slaughter (b. 1905) when she was growing up in the Washington County community of Goshen. The dolls have no markings; no background information is known about them other than the baby is bisque (unglazed porcelain) and the boy is composition. Bisque dolls were developed in the late 1860s and were popular through the early 1900s. Composition is a mixture of glue and sawdust and was developed in the late 1800s. Sturdier than bisque, composition became the most common material used to manufacture dolls in the 1900s until the advent of plastic in the 1950s.

Artifact of the Month Archive

“Dazzler” Bicycle Lamp

by | Artifact of the Month, Sports and Recreation

Donated by Robert and Marion Roglin

Manufactured around 1910 by Powell & Hanmer of Birmingham, England, the Dazzler is a carbide lamp powered by acetylene gas, produced when water, housed in an upper chamber of the lamp, drips into a lower chamber containing calcium carbide. The acetylene gas serves as fuel for a flame—the lamp’s light source. 

Powell & Hanmer exported their bicycle lamp under the name “Dazzler,” while the same model sold in England went by “Panther.”

In addition to lighting the way for bicyclists in the early 1900s, carbide lamps were used to light up buildings, lighthouse beacons, and automobile headlights.

Speaking of bicycles, we’re located on the Razorback Regional Greenway, a fun and safe way to ride your bike to the museum.

Artifact of the Month Archive