Sod House Curtain Volunteers

The sod house on the grounds of Prairie Museum of Art and History has new curtains. Thanks to the sister team of Doris Imhof Johnson and Carol Thiel for volunteering to make the curtains. Dedicated volunteers are one of our greatest assets.

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Doris Imhof Johnson

Carol Thiel

The Thomas County Historical Society & Prairie Museum of Art and History offers many opportunities to volunteer. Some tasks can even be done at home such as the sod house curtain project. Volunteering is easy. Just stop in and visit with museum director, Chris Griffin; call 785-460-4590; or email prairiem@st-tel.net 

 Chris will do her best to match projects with your interests, ability, and time available.

Player Piano

Prairie Museum of Art and History recently received a lovely player piano from the Max Embree estate. The player piano and bench were manufactured by Wegman Piano Company in Auburn, New York. The piano was purchased by Pat Embree from Johnson Music Center at Hutchinson, Kansas in December 1986. This piano has been converted from toot-pedal operated to motor-driven.

Along with the piano were about 80 music rolls with classical, vintage popular, and even some early rock and roll tunes.The piano will be on exhibit and played only on special occasions. 

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A Swiss emigrant, Henry Wegman found employment with the Steinway firm in New York City. In 1882 Wegman and a partner, Christian Hanning, established their own piano company. Located in Auburn, New York the factory made grand pianos, uprights, player pianos and organs. In a facility measuring 266 by 300 feet, they had eighty employees and made 1,200 instruments annually.

After the company reorganized in 1913, the Wegman Piano Company produced pianos under the Malcolm, Vough, Love, LeRoy, and Alexandria names, in addition to its own. It was one of only two factories in Auburn operating both night and day. A 5,000 square foot addition was being built onto the plant and the company anticipated it would soon be producing 3,000 instruments annually. The fate of the company was set on May 1, 1914 when a watchman detected a fire on the second floor of the factory. The fire started in the finishing room where oils and varnishes were stored and rapidly spread consuming the entire building. Over $100,000 in damage resulted from the fire, and a three-month supply of pianos had been ruined by water. A large quantity of special tools was also destroyed. Unable to recover, the Wegman Piano Company declared itself insolvent in January 1915.

 

Powder Compacts

This temporary lobby exhibit of powder compacts and rouge cases is on loan to us from Dolores Leak. Her collection started in about 1950 when she bought her first compact while working at Frederick Pharmacy in Colby. She started actively adding to her collection about 20 years ago. She and her husband, Duane, have done some traveling. They always look for compacts at garage sales, flea markets and antique stores while they are gone. Her collection now numbers about 500 different designs. She enjoys researching their history and looking up current values.

Thank You, Dolores for sharing this great collecting with us.

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The beginning! The first compact Dolores bought.

Compacts date from the early 1900s when make-up had not gained widespread acceptance and the first powder cases were concealed within accessories. In 1908, Sears’s catalog advertised a silver-plated case with mirror and powder puff (price 19 cents) and described it as small enough to fit in a pocketbook. Some U.S. manufactures produced metal compacts with finger chains which were designed to be displayed rather than fitted into a handbag. Compacts were heavily influenced by prevailing fashion trends over the years.  Compacts continued to be in widespread production until the 1960s. Their popularity diminished as the industry created plastic containers designed to be discarded when empty.

Visit Prairie Museum of Art and History during the month of April to see this excellent collection. As always, there is no admission fee to visit the lobby exhibit or browse the gift shop.