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.

Postcards from the Road.....

...because sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words.

Mail Pouch Tobacco sign on a barn...a sure indication that you are in the south

We recently completed a journey of 3,959 miles.  For about 2,254 of those miles we had our RV in tow, and the majority of those miles were in the mountains and hills of West Virginia.  The West Virginia mountain scenery was breath-taking...and sometimes the roads were, too!

This one was a "mere" 8% grade for 3 miles.  We encountered several that
were 8 1/2% grades, one of those 11 miles long, plus a lot of 180 degree
turns. West Virginia would be a much bigger state if it could be flattened out.

We actually started our West Virginia trip with a weekend at the Country Living Fair in Lebanon, TN, a Christmas present from Mike.

Mike Wolfe, owner of Antique Archeology and star of TV's
American Pickers was a featured panelist at the Country Living Fair

If the New River Gorge is one of the most spectacular natural settings in the state, the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville, WV only serves to emphasize both the grandeur of the terrain and the skill and ingenuity of the designers, engineers and builders.  The third-highest bridge in the country, and one of the longest steel-arch span bridges in the world, it spans 1,700 feet and towers 876 feet over the river below.

Fog shrouds the New River Gorge Bridge on a rainy spring morning.

Tucked away in the hills of the Greenbriar Valley is a lovely historic town that was voted "America's Coolest Small Town" by Frommer's Budget Travel magazine in 2011.  Lewisburg was the site of Civil War battles, was an early center for education, and is the county seat of Greenbriar County.

Confederate dead from the Battle of Lewisburg are buried in this mass grave in the
shape of a cross outside of town. Originally interred in a church cemetery, the 95
unknown soldiers' remains were moved when parishioners objected to their burial.

Carnegie Hall, built with funds donated in 1902 by steel magnate and philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie as a classroom building for the Lewisburg Female Institute (later,
Greenbriar College for Women) now serves as a cultural center for the town.

We camped at the West Virginia State Fairgrounds in Fairlea, four miles
from Lewisburg.  The fairgrounds can accommodate 400 RVs during
the state fair.  It wasn't particularly crowded in early May

People have been "taking the waters" since 1778 in White Sulphur Springs, WV.  One of the most opulent resorts is the Greenbriar Country Club, home of the PGA's Greenbriar Open.  During the Cold War the Eisenhower administration had a secret underground bunker built at the Greenbriar.  We toured the Congressional bunker, but photographs aren't allowed.

View of the front of the Greenbriar as you approach through beautifully landscaped grounds.

Main dining room of the Greenbriar.  We had high tea here on a Sunday afternoon

One of the ballrooms at the Greenbriar.  Every area of the hotel is beautifully decorated.

Seven miles and a century south of Lewisburg is the old railroad town of Roncevetre, WV. The town has dozens of beautiful Victorian homes but only a few functioning business.  One that we loved is a wonderful 140 year old hardware store.

The interior of the still-operating Martin & Jones Hardware in Roncevetre, WV

Visits to Harper's Ferry, Antietam Battlefield, and the National Cemetery at Sharpsburg add a sense of realism to the history we learned from books, and provide a sobering reminder of the toll in human lives and suffering that the American Civil War caused.

After raiding the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry on the night of Oct. 16, 1859,
Abolitionist John Brown and his men took refuge in this (reconstructed) fire engine
house, which became known as John Brown's Fort. They were captured two days later.

The Battle at Antietam Creek, Sept. 17th, 1862 resulted in an estimated 3,650 killed, 17,300
wounded and 1,770 captured or missing on both sides.  Six other Civil War battles had more
casualties but were all over multiple days. This was the bloodiest single day in American history.

The National Cemetery at Sharpsburg, MD, lies adjacent to the Antietam Battlefield

Since we were only about 70 miles away, we decided to spend a day at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

USS Constellation, launched in 1854, is the last sail-only warship designed and built
by the Navy, and is the second Navy ship to carry that name.  There is now a third
USS Constellation (CV-64) a Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier launched in 1960

Fort McHenry.  Francis Scott Key, held captive on a British warship during an overnight bombardment
in the War of 1812, saw the flag still flying when dawn came. In 1814 he penned a poem entitled
"Defense of Ft. McHenry", the words of which later became the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner

Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, constructed 1854-55 at the mouth of the Patapsco River,
the northern reach of which is Baltimore Harbor.  The lighthouse is made of wrought
iron.  It was decommissioned in 1988 and moved by barge to the Inner Harbor

Camden Yard, home of the Baltimore Orioles, sits just blocks from the Inner Harbor

Heading west from Harper's Ferry, we made a quick detour into Pennsylvania to visit Fallingwater, one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces, near Mill Run.

Fallingwater, built in 1936, was the summer home of Edgar Kaufmann, Sr. of Pittsburgh
and his family from 1937 until 1963, when his son entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania
Conservatory. The home contains original furniture and priceless original art works.

If you grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s you probably remember being approached at the airport by orange-robed Hare Krishna (more formally, members of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) or seeing the whirling, chanting devotees on a college campus.  We visited Parbhupada's Palace of Gold in the remote hills outside of Moundsville

Begun in 1972 as a simple residence for the founder of the International Society of
Krishna Consciousness, Srila Prabhuapada, who died in 1977 before its completion.
 The Palace of Gold is now a monument to him. 

Beautiful peacocks roam the grounds.  While the interior of the Palace is beautiful, four
decades of neglect have taken a toll on the exterior.  A five-year, $4.27 million restoration is
underway, funded in part by the sale of the rights to oil and gas reserves under the property. 

Moundsville offered a number of interesting stops including the Marx Toy Museum (see our blog dated June 12, 2015); the Fostoria Glass Museum (no pictures permitted); Grave Creek Mound, the former West Virginia Penitentiary; and the now-closed Circus / Carnival Museum.  Mike is often able  to get people to see things his way. The Circus / Carnival Museum was located on the second floor of an ice cream parlor but the original owner has sold the ice cream business to a nice young couple.  When I asked the proprietress if we could tour the museum, I was firmly but politely turned down and told that the upstairs was no longer open and that items collected over the decades were being sold off.  Upon returning from the restroom, I discovered that Mike had convinced the ice cream parlor owner to allow us to go upstairs.  She even joined us and chatted about the collection.  What a treat!  Too bad it is being dispersed.

Grave Creek Mound, a 2,000 year old burial mound created by the prehistoric
Adena people in what is now Moundsville, WV

The West Virginia State Penitentiary, built by convict labor, operated from
1876 to 1995.  It is now open for tours.

Cell in the West Virginia Penitentiary.

Some of the toys and artifacts in the Circus / Carnival Museum, which
is now closed.  The collection is being sold off in pieces.

Although the museum is now closed, Mike talked the owner of the
ice cream parlor, located on the first floor, into giving us a peek.

Southeast of Morgantown is the village of Arthurdale, established in 1933 as the nation's first New Deal Homestead Community.  Eleanor Roosevelt took a special interest in Arthurdale, and visited the community often.  Not far away, in Quiet Dell, is a small CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Museum.

Arthurdale was one of several communities build to help those who lost everything
in the Great Depression.  This was one of about 165 homes in the community.
The Federal Government liquidated its holdings in the social experiment in 1947

A small museum at Arthurdale contains photos, along with political memorabilia
and examples of patriotic wartime propaganda, including the "Buy War Bonds" sign

The Civilian Conservation Corps museum at Quiet Dell, WV includes this original
housing unit from a CCC camp.  The CCC was started by Executive Order 6101 on
April 5, 1933, and lasted until 1942, when WWII required all able-bodied men.

Many West Virginia towns, including Weston, had thriving glass and pottery manufacturing.  Unfortunately, few remain.  Weston is also the site of the Citizen's Bank Building, an Art Deco showplace built in 1928-1930. The wrought iron work is by noted artist Samuel Yellon and the interior woodwork is hand carved American walnut.

Weston Art Glass, made locally, in the Museum of American Glass in Weston, WV

Citizens Bank Building, believed to be the tallest single-story building
in the U.S. is made from Indiana limestone in beautiful Art Deco style

The carved American walnut and plaster ceiling.  Bank employees
were very friendly and cooperative when we appeared with our
cameras, and even gave us a tour of the bank's Board Room

A local motorcycle club was holding a fund-raiser called "Thunder on Main Street" 
to benefit local children's charities while we were in Weston. The rainy Saturday did
little to bring out the crowds, but the participants didn't seem to mind the weather.

Train ride on the Durbin & Greenbriar Valley Railroad out of Elkins, WV.
The New Tygart Flyer, which normally makes this run, was in the shop for
repairs so our train was pulled by the Western Maryland Engine No. 82

View from the platform between cars as the train makes a left curve

The High Falls of the Cheat River, our destination on the New Tygart Flyer trip

We encountered this dog and another, both wearing multiple electronic collars, at
the Falls. The Conductor told us they are "bear hunting" dogs. The owners track
the dogs through GPS units in the collars, and thus are able to locate the bears.

The only remaining covered bridge on a Federal Highway is located in Philippi, WV.  The town was also the site of the first land battle of the Civil War on June 3,1861.  Another historic stop in this part of the state is Jackson's Mill, where three generations of the family operated grist and sawmills.  The most famous member of the family was General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Exterior of the covered bridge at Philippi, spanning the Tygart Valley River

The interior of the bridge shows the craftsmanship that went into its construction.

Jackson's Mill, on the West Fork River, near Weston.  The property is also 
home to the State 4-H Camp (the first state 4-H camp in the nation) 
and West Virginia University's Jackson's Mill Farmstead

One of our favorite quirky stops was the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston. Construction was actually started prior to the Civil War, but not completed until 1881. A state-of-the-art facility for its time, it was originally designed to treat 250 individuals but at its peak in the 1950s housed as many as 2,400 patients.  It closed in 1994.

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is the largest cut stone building in the U.S. and reportedly
the second-largest in the world, behind the Kremlin in Moscow.  It was so much a part of the
community that Weston High School held their proms there, while it was still housing patients 

The initial construction was done by convict labor.  Later, skilled stonemasons
were brought in from Germany and Ireland.  The stonemasons added gargoyles
like these at every door to ward off evil spirits 

The Medical Center behind the stone building took care of the medical needs of the asylum's
residents and also served as the primary medical facility for the entire town of Weston. The
flowering trees are Rhododendrums, the state flower of West Virginia. 

The Blennerhassett Mansion was reconstructed on the original mansion's foundation, on an island in the Ohio River near Parkersburg, and is now a West Virginia State Park.  The Blennerhassett family only lived there a few years because in 1806 the wealthy Irish immigrant and landowner was accused by President Thomas Jefferson of treason.  Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett allegedly conspired to raise an army, conquer northern Mexico (present-day Texas), and establish their own southwest empire.  Burr was acquitted at trial.  Bennerhassett, never tried, was released from prison but was financially ruined.

Captain Mike pilots a stern-wheeler on the Ohio River just downriver
from Parkersburg, WV on the way to Blennerhassett Island

Blennerhasset Mansion, reconstructed from original plans and drawings, on
the foundation and footprint of the original mansion, which accidentally
caught fire and burned to the ground in 1811

The foyer of the Blennerhassett Mansion, with tour guides in period costumes

Just across the Ohio River from Williamstown, WV lies the city of Marietta, OH. It was here that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark assembled the party that would explore the American west.  In Muskingun Park a statue commemorates their expedition. Across the Muskingum River the historic district that was once Harmar Village but is now part of Marietta, is another interesting stop.

This statue of Lewis and Clark entitled "A Nation Moving Westward" was dedicated 
in 1938.  It is the work of Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who later 
designed and sculpted the figures of the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore. 

Across the Muskingum River, in what was once the Village of Harmar,
check out who we found hiding out in an alley - - Big Boy, in person!

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Chimney Rock RV Resort near Harrodsburg, KY, just a short drive from the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

Hand-built stone wall, about 4 feet high, near the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.
There are literally miles of walls like this in the area.

After a leisurely Saturday morning breakfast in the Blue Moon Cafe, we
strolled the streets of the charming downtown area of Harrodsburg, KY

Harrodstown, established in 1774, was the first pioneer settlement in Kentucky.  As the population
grew, a bigger fortification, Ft. Harrod was built to protect the settlement.  A full-scale replica
of the fort was constructed on the original site in the 1950's.  Today it is a Kentucky State Park
  

We have, and I guess always will, love the water.  Memorial Day 2015 found us
right back where we have spent dozens of holidays - - having dinner at a marina
on a lake...this time at Chimney Rock Marina on Lake Herrington in Kentucky

Like the antique postcards that I collect on our travels, we hope that someday our Postcards from the Road evoke fond memories of great Road Stories.