Farmers and Merchants Bank

The January lobby exhibit commemorates the 130th anniversary of the founding of Farmers and Merchants Bank. The items in this exhibit are from the collection of Prairie Museum of Art & History.

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The bank first opened its doors at 360 North Franklin Avenue in Colby on January 3, 1887. 

In 1907 a new building was built on the same location.

That same building received a face lift and interior remodel in 1955.

The bank moved to its current location at 240 West 4th Street in 1978.

Following is an example of the artifacts and memorabilia associated with Farmers and Merchants Bank over the years.

 

While preparing this exhibit it became apparent we don't have items associated with the Hopalong Cassidy Savings Club and Pet Parade sponsored by F & M Bank. If you have one of their savings banks, account passbook, etc., Please call 785-460-4590 or send e-mail to registrar@prairiemuseum.org Your donations are appreciated.

As always, there is no admission to visit the lobby and gift shop.

The "Food For Thought" program scheduled for noon on Thursday, January 19th will be presented by Farmers and Merchants Bank. The programs are free and donations are suggested for the light lunch.

Nativity Collection

The nativity scenes in our lobby exhibit for December are on loan from Regene and Evan Barnum of Colby.

"A few years ago, we noticed that we seemed to have a lot of nativities," they said. "So we started counting, but got lost after 70. Ans we keep find new ones that catch our eyes." 

 

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 Made by Regena

The nativities come from around the globe, and many are unique to different areas of the world. Places represented include Bangladesh, Congo, Ecuador, Ghana, Isreal, Mexico, Peru and handcrafted sets from the United States and locally from Thomas County. Unusual materials used to make them include brass, clay, nuts, pressed straw, olive wood and gourds.

"Some we collected in traveling, and some came from Fair Trade organizations that promote better prices for those who actually create the nativities," they said. "And a garage sale or two . . ."  

Norman Kuska Collection

In August we received a gift of fine art glass, ceramics, and Russian lacquer boxes from Norman Kuska. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Joe and Nellie, he has an eye for quality decorative art pieces. Part of this amazing collection will be in our temporary lobby exhibit during November.

Norman's collection includes crystal pieces from glassworks like Rene Lalique in France, Mats Jonason and Orrefors in Sweden, and Murano Glass from Italy. He also collected glazed ceramics from Lladro a company near Valencia, Spain and Russian lacquer boxes. 


These Russian lacquer boxes get their name from the many layers of lacquer (usually black or red) applied to both the inside and outside of the papier-mache boxes. The boxes are then decorated with miniature paintings, and covered with layers of clear lacquer giving them a brilliant shine.  

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These Orrefors crystal pieces were made in Sweden. The large bowls and candlesticks shown are all the same style and are very heavy.

Lladro, a company near Valencia, Spain is the maker of these quality glazed ceramic pieces. The elephant and baby, sorceress, and polar bear have a somewhat whimsical style.

Murano Glass from Italy produces fine figurines. Murano perfected the process of adding gold fleck, gold strands, and jewels into the glass-making process as shown in this pair of angels and the deer figurine.

As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit or visit our gift shop.

An additional part of Norman Kuska's collection consisting of outstanding French-made Lalique crystal is now on exhibit in the "Glorious Glass" section of the Kuska Gallery.

Halloween

The October lobby exhibit features Halloween collectibles on loan to us from Dan Baalman of Colby.

The collection was started in the 1960s when a paper mache Jack-O-Lantern was found at a garage sale for only a few cents. The hunt was on! Many more items were found at garage sales and auctions. Some were given by friends and a few were purchased new. The items are made from paper, plastic, wax, tin, and ceramics.

Dan's collection continues to grow and now includes several hundred unique items.  

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As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit.

Join us Saturday, Oct. 29 for "Boo at the Mu" from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for a FREE afternoon of Hallaween fun at Prairie Museum of Art & History. Everyone of all ages dressed in costume will receive a treat.

Dolls & Bears

Kelsi Lewis is sharing her collection of dolls and bears with us in the lobby exhibit during September. Kelsi's collection started on her second birthday when her mother bought her a doll. Another doll was added to the collection every birthday  for several years. 

 

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Kelsi's first doll is the one on the right with the red hair ribbons.

 

The sleeping doll is Kelsi's favorite.

In 2000 Brass Button Bears started a series of 20th Century Collectibles. They introduced a new bear every year for 10 years. Each bear represents a decade starting with 1900. Kelsi has all ten of them.

As always there is no admission to visit the lobby exhibit or browse the gift shop.