Artifact of the Month Archives

Cardboard Bunnies

by Susan Young | Artifact of the Month, Holidays

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

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 Susan Young | 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 Susan Young | 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

Transferware Plate

by Susan Young | Artifact of the Month, Household Goods

Donated by Melvin and Lucille Ferguson

This transferware plate belonged to Hiram Hamilton and Ida May Lierly Tresner, who lived in the Round Mountain community east of Fayetteville. Their daughter, Laura Pearl Tresner Ferguson, recalled that the plate sat on the family dining table and was always used for serving crackers.

According to the Transferware Collectors Club website, “Transferware is the term givento pottery that has had a pattern applied by transferring the print from a copper plate to a specially sized paper and finally to the pottery body. While produced primarily on earthenware, transfer prints are also found on ironstone, porcelain and bone china.”

The plate was manufactured by Dunn Bennett & Company of England, a producer of stoneware items for the American market in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Shaftesbury is the pattern name.

Dun Bennett & Co. mark

Tresner family, circa 1904. Back row, from left: Myrtle, Harvey, Orlando. Front row, from left: Ida May holding Tot, Laura Pearl, Hiram holding Jim. W. H. Albertson, photographer. Courtesy Melvin and Lucille Ferguson

Artifact of the Month Archive

Vegetable Dish

by Susan Young | Artifact of the Month, Household Goods

Donated by Willa Jean Tresner Crump

When Orlando Hudson “Orley” Tresner (1892-1980) and Virginia Ruth Chesser (abt. 1916-2000) married on November 29, 1934, they received this covered vegetable dish as a wedding present. The dish was made for export to the American market by J & G Meakin, Hanley, England.

Orley Tresner was from the Round Mountain community near Elkins in Washington County; Virginia Chesser was from the neighboring community of Baldwin.

Artifact of the Month Archive

Cottage Cheese Jar

by Susan Young | Artifact of the Month, Business and Occupations

Donated by Deanna Stevens

Located on the corner of West and Watson streets, Fayetteville Milk Company opened about 1930 and closed in 1974. Owners and operators through the years were Albert Ucker, Hoy and Toy Riggins, and Jack Daugherty. William and Deanna Stevens bought the building about 1975. Inside, they found old dairy and processing equipment, and cases of glass cottage cheese jars with the cardboard seals.