Artifacts from the Road

Some objects capture a moment in history - the daily, ordinary moments that comprise most of our lives.  Not the grand, granite edifices that are monuments to man or his ingenuity, but the simple (dare I say, mundane?) objects that filled a need or satisfied a whim.  Though once a part of daily life, as these objects became obsolete or unfashionable and slipped into disuse, they were barely missed when they disappeared from the scene. 

And then I came along...

I found all of these treasures during our recent trek through West Virginia.

Compact from Wheeling, WV featuring McCullogh's Leap, a feat performed
in September 1777 during the American Revolutionary War

Limoges China, marked with seller's name, "Simmons Hardware, St. Louis, MO".
Founded in 1874, Simmons was a hardware manufacturer and retailer where the
Keen Kutter brand of knives and meat grinders was first manufactured and sold.

Top: A postcard sent from Versailles, MO to Denver, CO, The sender said
she "...had two sleepless nights on the train."  How did it get to West Virginia?
Bottom: Genuine leather post card dated 1908, a short-lived oddity of the early 20th century.

Vintage tablecloth featuring map and castles of Germany, with
German heraldic badges around the border

Teabag holder, possibly a "giveaway", from the Tenderleaf Tea Co..
Two tiny bisque dolls, made in Japan. unusual because the girl is in a seated
position, and the boy has a queue

Various patterns of heavy-duty restaurant ware. D.H. McNicol made hotel china in
Clarksburg, WV, from 1914 to 1954.  Paden City China Company made heavy
china for hotels, restaurants and state park lodges between 1911 and 1957.

Vintage Blue Hobnail glass pitcher, 3 inches tall, made by
the Fenton Art Glass Co., Williamstown, WV 

Vintage pickle fork from the Greenbriar Country Club; vintage Homer Laughlin
creamer, (left);  current Homer Laughlin cream pitcher (right) that is used today
at the Greenbriar. This piece can be purchased in the Greenbriar's gift shop

Mike bought this porcelain sign at the Fenton Art Glass factory in
Williamstown, WV. I wonder how many workplace accidents were
reported in the 102 years that the factory operated?

Fenton Art Glass is selling everything.  Perfume bottle stoppers made there, 90th
Anniversary advertising piece, and a printer's block with etching of one of their
glass pieces, used to print one of their ads

These decorative brass figures were once used to adorn women's hats, shoes, etc.
They were sourced from a New York firm that closed in the early 1940's

Tobacco tags, used to identify the grower (much like cotton bale tags)  By 1880,
over 12,000 different tags were in use by that many growers. Tags were made
obsolete in 1920, when machines came into use to wrap and label bricks of tobacco.

At a time when things were repaired rather than thrown away, Mendets were used to repair leaks
in pots and pans, enamel bowls, and other kitchen utensils.  They worked much like rivets.
On the right is a sugar spoon with a bakelite handle, circa late 1930's - 1940's

Morning Glory-pattern hankie.  Every well-dressed woman carried
two hankies: One for use and one for fashion.  

Civil War bullet purchased in a museum in Charles Town, WV.  It was in Charles Town
where John Brown was tried, convicted and hanged after his failed raid on the Federal
Armory at Harper's Ferry

Wooden box  used to ship chalk from manufacturer to retail store.  Note the dovetail corners.
"Pearl" buttons from Muscatine, IA, the button capital of the world.  Buckle may be made of
Condensite, another early plastic.  "Slag" vase made by many WV glass companies.

"Frozen Charlotte" tiny bisque doll typically produced in Germany between
1850-1920. Un-glazed, minimal details, limbs do not move. The name came from
a story about a young girl who didn't listen to her mother and froze to death outside

Yellow plastic rabbit holding an Easter egg, sold full of Easter
candy.  Circa 1950's

Collecting souvenir hankies from each state, and Canada, too, was an inexpensive hobby for
travelers in the late 1940's, 1950's, and early 1960's, when these sold for 10 to 15 cents each

Individual coffee creamer from the Chevy Chase (MD) Country Club
Child-size knife and fork with Bakelite handles, far less common than full-sized utensils

Toast holder, found at a store in Moundsville, WV.  
I collect dish and tea towels embroidered with this day of the week ("Thursday's
Child has far to go...").  This one is a dish towel re-purposed from a flour sack.

Red Rose Fine Teas have been made in England from 1890 to present.
They began putting Wade figurine"giveaways" inside packages of tea
in 1950 in England, 1967 in Canada, and 1983 in selected U.S. states

Like the local television stations when they report on a story, there always has to be
a St. Louis connection.  This handkerchief, found at an antique store in Buckhannon,
WV, features scenes from St. Louis,including two now-defunct Famous-Barr stores.

Postcard dated June 29, 1943 from a serviceman named Harold, mailed from
Nashville, TN to his friend in Spencer, WV

So our house is crowded because some would say I collect "stuff" but what is really collected are memories, stories and touchstones to the past.  

We can only imagine that the old farmer in the picture will soon be telling some of his own Road Stories.