Monday, December 15, 2014

Newspapers

This last week we took a venture into our archives to pull out and examine some vintage news papers. The Pinedale roundup had been in print for over 100 years. It has remained a part of local history throughout the years, and continues to document and bring to the public stories and entertainment.
Archives from the Pinedale Roundup years 1904 to 1977 are online and are easy to access and view. You never know when you might find an article about a relative or something interesting you'd like to have a copy of.

Here were some things we found interesting as we were browsing through some 1935 and 1936 issues.

For many years, close to ten decades, Pinedale Wyoming was the farthest town from any railroad, thus the perfect town slogan for every newspaper heading. In a February 1936 issue one of the lead stories was how the small town of Pinedale Wyoming was published in a Shanghai, China newspaper. If you read below you'll find the reason for this was that Pinedale was in 'Ripley's Believe it or Not' for the very reason of being "the farthest town from a railroad than any other in the U.S.A"
Of course we can imagine the locals of Pinedale were very proud of this at the time.







                And here we have an entertaining little story of a fisherman named Bill and his dog from an April 1935 issue.



An observation made by one the the journalists on watching executions...

"The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the son of well-known aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was one of the most highly publicized crimes of the 20th century. The 20-month-old toddler was abducted from his family home in East AmwellNew Jersey, on the evening of March 1, 1932. Over two months later, on May 12, 1932, his body was discovered a short distance from the Lindberghs' home in neighboring Hopewell Township. A medical examination determined that the cause of death was a massive skull fracture.
After an investigation that lasted more than two years, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested and charged with the crime. In a trial that was held from January 2 to February 13, 1935, Hauptmann was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. He was executed by electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison on April 3, 1936. Hauptmann proclaimed his innocence to the end.
Newspaper writer H. L. Mencken called the kidnapping and subsequent trial "the biggest story since theResurrection". The crime spurred Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly called the "Lindbergh Law", which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime."- Wikepedia

On a lighter note...                        


                      

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Cold and Flu Season

As a reminder...Wash Your Hands!

It is never fun to be sick. So to remind you of this...we've dug out some old medicinal items in our archives to share with you.


Here is a doctors medical kit.

                                                       
                                                   Here are some various vintage medicines.
                                      Treatments ranging from headaches to overactive thyroid.

Try to stay healthy and beat the cold and flu season this year!

1960's-1970's Rendezvous


For all Sublette County residents there is an appreciation and awe for Rendezvous Week. 
A fun and historic time for all, it's hard not to get involved.
Be it; dressing up for the parade, going to or joining in the Rendezvous Pagent, checking out the goings on at the museum as the American Mountain Men Association give demonstrations, or even just
walking around, smelling and eating the carnival food and rummaging through countless tents at Trader's Row.  It somehow unites all who are present into a good mood and friendly attitude.
We as a county have been enjoying Rendezvous for countless years...and will continue to do so, because it is a part of our heritage.






Remember Chicago




This past week was Fire Prevention Week. The purpose for this you may ask?
"Fire Prevention Week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871."
Yesterday was the day almost 200 years ago the city almost burned to ruins. To commemorate it today we are going to post a few pictures from the past of our VFD in Pinedale.

The first Picture was taken in 1965 or Bob McFarland driving, D.M Roy in the passenger seat. And Wilfrid Edwards, the Chief standing next to the vehicle.
The second picture of a pinedale fire truck by the courthouse. The people in the picture are Buz Burzlander, Carroll R Noble (as Santa) Harry Steele and Harold Faler.

Thank you past and present firemen for risking your life's to keep ours safe!








Thursday, September 11, 2014

A "look" in the past...






Today, constant entertainment is in the palm of our hands. 
With the touch of a screen we can instantly see a movie right before our eyes.
Back then they did not have that commodity.
Featured below is an item that was actually common in most households.
It is a Stereoscope with a few of it's Stereograms.
Invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838 it was
 meant for a way to view pictures with more
depth, and to see images, usually of exotic and unknown places
 in a way that the viewer could imagine himself there.
 This was quite popular until the 1930's when interest in motion pictures became more prevalent. A family member who would have traveled about would usually bring back a picture
to their family of the location they went to so they as well 
could"view"what their family member saw. Stereoscopes have 
been accredited to the technology that brought us the 3D movies that we all love today.









Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick...



 These days when you need a candle stick you just head down to your local department store, or if your lucky...dollar store, and buy one. Back then it wasn't quite so easy. This here is a candle stick mold....yes....you made your own candlesticks. Imagine pouring hot wax into this monster and waiting several hours for them to cool...

Time to Excersise!!!

 
 
Back then they had all sorts of bizarre ways of exercising.
Just check out some of the, at the time, "modern" exercise equipment.
 
 
 


 
These however, Indian Clubs, were quite useful in building muscle.
 
 
"Indian clubs or meels are a type of excersise equipment used for developing strength. They comprise bowling-pin shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part of an exercise program. They can range from a few pounds each, up to special clubs that can weigh as much as 50 pounds. They were used in carefully choreographed routines where the clubs were swung in unison by a group of exercisers, led by an instructor in the front, similar to modern aerobics classes. The routines varied according to the group's ability and the weight of the clubs used." -Wikipedia
 
 <Curious what one of these sessions would have looked like??>

Our "Rule" of Thumb

 
Tucked away was this retractable ruler.
Donated by: Rose and Bartley Skinner
 
You can only imagine the patience teachers had to have, not only with their children, but with
winding this thing up time and time again after measuring something for educational purposes.
As times change, so do people's patience levels so we of course
adapted to a more convenient ruler that requires less work to use. :)
 
 
 


These little lamps


 
 
Here we have two very old Carbide Lamps. What is a carbide lamp you may ask?
We'll let Wikipedia explain it for you.
 
"Carbide lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene (C2H2) which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water.
Acetylene gas lamps were used to illuminate buildings, as lighthouse beacons, and as headlights on motor-cars and bicycles. Portable acetylene gas lamps, worn on the hat or carried by hand, were widely used in mining in the early twentieth century. They are still employed by cavers, hunters, and cataphiles" - Wikipedia

Also if your curious what a cataphile is?
(People who Illegally explore underground catacombs in the Paris sewers) Pretty exciting right?
 

Thursday, August 21, 2014

For all you fancy sewing folk

Pins, pins and pins. For anyone who sews you know how dangerous it can be if you don't have a proper pin cushion. Ever stepped on one of those? Ouch!

Here we have quite a find from our inventory. A ornate carved cow horn with a green velveteen pin cushion built into the top. A huge comparison to our little tomato pin cushions today huh?


They're not corn cobs

Any idea what this might be?



Back then they didn't have Ipods, MP3 players or CD's. Thus the invention of the Player Piano charmed many households as they could have music in their own homes.

"The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sales peaked in 1924, then declined as the improvement in phonograph recordings due to electrical recording methods developed in the mid-1920s. The advent of electrical amplification in home music reproduction via radio in the same period helped cause their eventual decline in popularity, and the stock market crash of 1929 virtually wiped out production." - Wikipedia

One of these Piano Rolls here are entitled  "Little Maggie May" it is a traditional liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robs a homeward bound sailor.
Curious what the lyrics to one of these songs were? The Original tune is lost in time but here is an idea for you....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HL-7fANKCU

"Litttle Maggie May"

Over yonder stands little Maggie
With a dram glass in her hand
she's a drinkin-away her troubles
and a-courtin a nother man

Oh how could I ever stand it
Just to see those two blue eyes
They're shinging in the moonlight
Like two diamonds in the sky

Pretty flowers were made for blooming
Pretty stars were made to shine
Pretty girls were made for loving
Little Maggie was made for mine

Sometimes I have a nickel
Sometimes I have a dime
Sometimes I have ten dollars
Just to pay little Maggie's fine

Lay down your last ol' dollar
Lay down your gold watch and chain
Little Maggie's gonna dance for daddy
Listen to this old banjo ring

Oh the last time I saw little Maggie
She was sitting on the banks of the sea
With her forty four around her
And a banjo on her knee

I'm going down to the station
With my suitcase in my hand
I'm going to leave this country
I'm going to some far and distant land

Go 'way, Go 'way little Maggie
Go and do the best you can
I'll get me another woman
You can get you another man

Scrap Bookin'

Today many women, love scrap booking! The reason for this? A way to present your family's pictures in an aesthetically pleasing way. Who wouldn't be into that right? Because of our modern technology when it comes to taking and printing pictures, it comes at great ease to compile family pictures, sometimes alot of pictures!

Did you know that Scrap booking was a big thing back in the 1900's as well, but not quite like you would think. Because taking family photos was a special occasion it was not common to have a stack, or box, or even file cabinet full like we do today. Still it was a fun hobby for the women of the day to cut out catalog and magazine pictures to make their scrapbooks. Here are a few pictures taken from Mrs. Eva Jenkin's (P.W Jenkins wife) Scrapbook.





Population of Wyoming

Have you ever wondered what the population of Wyoming was in 1910?

Here we'll show you. :)
(taken from another of P.W Jenkins Journals)


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

P.W Jenkins



One of our large collections in our archives is that of Perry Wilson Jenkins.
In his article John W. Shields tells of the life of Mr. Jenkins. Here are a few excerpts from it. For the whole article visit http://www.crwua.org/documents/about-us/oral-histories/Perry-Jenkins.pdf

"Perry Wilson Jenkins – known almost universally as “P.W.” to his many friends and colleagues –
earned the honorary title “Father of Sublette County” by introducing and championing the
legislative bill that designated Sublette County as one of Wyoming’s twenty-three counties. This
title also arose from the fact that he filed numerous water right applications and performed the
surveys for a considerable number of irrigation ditches in Sublette County."

"P.W. Jenkins was a most fascinating individual. His journey to being a prominent figure in
natural resource politics and policy in Wyoming is, itself, a fascinating story that is recounted  here. P.W. was, in the classic sense, a 20th Century “renaissance man”4
 who had many, many
occupations, avocations and interests throughout his long and interesting life. Jenkins was
himself a contributor to the “Annals of Wyoming” publication and served on the Wyoming State
Historical Advisory Board.5
 In recognition of his many contributions to his fellow Wyomingites
through service in many capacities – as measured at the national, regional, statewide, county and
local levels, Jenkins was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Wyoming in
1955.6
 Jenkins’ journey to that extraordinary recognition was a most interesting one."

Below is a picture of Jenkins journals that he kept for a number of years, In his 1911 journal, Sat. Jan. 7, we see where he wrote about "starting a petition for a new county."
Before this petition we were part of Fremont County, and it took too long to make any state decisions, having our own county gave us more local control. How thankful we are to him that because of this Pinedale, Big Piney and Marbleton can be part of their own county.