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Carpenter’s Slick

by | Artifact of the Month, Tools

Donated by Dr. Stanley Applegate

A carpenter’s slick is a type of chisel used with two hands to pare long surfaces of wood following the grain. It was used in timber framing where heavy timber (logs and tree trunks) rather than dimensional lumber (like two-by-fours) was used in construction of buildings.

This Witherby-brand slick comes from the Lockwood Searcy estate. His grandparents came to Northwest Arkansas in the 1850s where they settled on a farm east of Springdale. The family moved into Springdale in the early 1870s. Lockwood (1879-1966) worked as a cooper as a young man, making barrels for the fruit industry that thrived in the area in the early 1900s. In the 1940s he inherited many items from his grandparents, including a box of tools. In later years Lockwood kept a workshop in the back of his garage. The Searcy garage and home are now part of the Shiloh Museum campus.

Thomas H. Witherby, of Milbury, Massachusetts started making fine steel chisels in 1827. The quality of production brought Witherby high regard among tool users. Witherby sold his company to the Winsted Edge Tool Company of Winsted, Connecticut in 1869. Three years later that company decided to drop its line of tools and concentrate on making Witherby chisels. They later added high-quality gouges and drawknives to their product line.

Witherby trademark.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Derby Hat

by | Artifact of the Month, Clothing and Accessories

Donated by Dorothy Morsani

This derby belonged to Memo Morsani of Tontitown (Washington County). The inner lining sports a stamp (below) from Price Clothing Company in Fayetteville.

Richard Dominic “Memo” Morsani (1889-1951) was born in Orvinio, Italy. Memo, his father Emidio, and brother Camillo were among the first families who came with Father Pietro Bandini to settle Tontitown in 1898. Memo was well-known in the region for his beautiful singing voice. After serving with the U. S. Army during World War I, he returned to Tontitown, became a nursery agent in the local fruit industry, and married Rose Bastianelli (another of Tontitown’s founding citizens) in 1926.

Tontitown get-together, circa 1920. Memo Morsani is on the back row, holding a tuba. Lavinia Zulpo Collection (S-2003-2-1191)

Artifact of the Month Archive

Corduroy Hat

by | Artifact of the Month, Clothing and Accessories

Donated by Hunt’s Department Store

This 1960s bucket-style corduroy hat comes from Hunt’s Department Store.

Fred Hunt established clothing stores in Fayetteville and Rogers in the 1940s, with a Springdale location coming later.

Hunt’s flagship store in Fayetteville expanded in 1964, opening a second location, both on the Fayetteville Square. Hunt’s on the north side of the square specialized in clothing for women and children, while Hunt’s on the east side of the square focused on men’s clothing.

By 1980, Fred Hunt had retired from the retail business. He died in 1995.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Baseball Mascot Shirt

by | Artifact of the Month, Sports and Recreation

Donated by Susan and Orville Hall Jr. 

Growing up in Fayetteville in the 1930s and 1940s, Orville Hall Jr. was surely the envy of all his buddies when he wore this snazzy shirt emblazoned with professional baseball team mascots of the day. Several teams on the shirt no longer exist. The St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954. The Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 to become the Twins. The New York Giants remained in New York until 1957 when they and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Brisé Folding Fan

by | Artifact of the Month, Clothing and Accessories

Donated by Ann Sims Ingrum

In the late 1800s and early 1900s folding fans were popular accessories for women. Retail ads called them “a warm-weather necessity.” Brisé is French for “broken,” which refers to the fan blades that overlap and are held together with a ribbon attached to each blade tip and a rivet at the base.

This fan is made of celluloid plastic. In the early 1900s the price of a celluloid fan ran anywhere from twenty-five cents to five dollars, depending on fan’s quality and decorative elements. While many fans at that time were imported to the U. S. from Japan, China, and Europe, there was also a stateside celluloid fan industry which centered in Massachusetts. The 1914 Statistics of Labor report for Massachusetts shows that of the 96 people who worked at home in the manufacture of celluloid novelties, 25% were children under the age of 14. The publication points out that children between the ages of 5 and 14 have “nimble fingers [which] make quick work of running ribbon in fans. . .”

The fan-making process and rates of pay are also included in the 1914 report:
1914 Massachusetts Labor Statistics Report for Celluloid Novelties

Artifact of the Month Archive