Get a Handle on our Next Mystery Artifact

Happy Monday!

I have yet another mystery artifact this week.

Here's what I can tell you about this one: it's a metal apparatus bolted to a wooden stand. A metal plate sits on the flat wooden plank, and two feet lead up from there to a set of notches. These notches allow for the main part to move up and down as needed. The long metal handle brings the apparatus down, and a spring helps it move back up.

The whole artifact is a little less than 20 inches tall, the wooden plank is around 3 3/4 wide. The handle at the top is about 10 inches long and a little less than 1 inch wide at the widest point.


If you have any guesses or questions about this artifact, leave a comment here or on our Facebook page. And as always, please come in to the museum to take a closer look!

One last note!

Next week, our new special exhibit, the Worth of Water will be opening!
The formal opening is on Saturday, March 19th, starting at 1pm, if you'd like to join us. We'd love to see you. More information on the opening and the exhibit can be found on our facebook page.

Combing through this Mystery

We got a correct answer this week in the form of a comment on the blog! As commenter John guessed, this artifact is an old currycomb.
What’s a currycomb? A weird utensil for eating curry? No. I don't think so...

Currycombs are actually tools used to groom horses. Our artifact is made entirely of wood, but modern ones are usually made of rubber and look something like this:

What are they used for? Well, the comb is rubbed (or curried) on a horse’s skin to loosen bits of dirt, dead skin, and hair. After that is done, the horse can be brushed with a bristled brush to get rid of the loosened debris.

There are also metal versions of currycombs that look a little closer to the mystery artifact in terms of shape, like this one:

Those teeth! Eep.

These are a little different from the rubber type of currycomb. They are used to get rid of tougher bits of caked on mud or manure, since the metal teeth can hurt the horse’s skin if they touch it directly. However, both of these are only meant to be used on the horse’s body, as the face and bony legs are more sensitive and likely to be irritated by the currycomb. If you’re curious, here’s a Wiki-How article about how to use a currycomb. 

This use of the word "curry" has pretty much nothing to do with the Indian food, as that word comes from Tamil -- a language spoken in parts of India. This form of curry in the word currycomb has its roots in an Old French word meaning “to put in order." It does seem to be the reason we use the saying “to curry favor.” If you’re interested, here’s an explanation of that idiom’s etymology. I found it rather interesting.

That's all for this week, but stay tuned for more mystery artifacts. And please come visit us to see the artifact up close!

A New Year & A New Mystery!

Helloooo there!

You may have noticed we took a break from our Mystery Artifact posts for the past couple months. The simple reason for that is, that the museum hasn't been open during January and February. We close during these months to change out some of our exhibits and do some general housekeeping. Since we weren't open to the public, there was no way to see these mystery artifacts up close!

But there's good news. As of tomorrow (March 1st), we are open!

Now, onto the mystery:
This type of object is still widely used by some people, so it may not be much of a mystery.

This is essentially a small wooden tool, with a short handle and six parallel rows of teeth (ours is looking a little worn down, possibly from years of use).

Do you know what this is from first glance? Or do you have a guess what it is? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page. And as always, come visit us, see what's new, and see the mystery artifact up close!

We *Love* History

Here at the Museum of the Grand Prairie “We *Love* History” and want to share it with you! This coming Monday we’ll be having a program all about the history of Valentine’s Day. You might already know the story of St. Valentine and why we celebrate on February 14^th but did you know that in the 1800’s people used to send out “lemon” or “vinegar” valentines? Come to the museum to see examples of lemon valentines and find out why people used to send out these insulting cards!

Not all cards sent out were of this variety. The popularity of Valentine's Day exploded during the reign of Queen Victoria in the late 1800's. The Queen was sentimental and popular- whatever she did everyone copied. These "Victorian" cards tended to be handmade, elaborate, and romantic. Usually, they included a heartfelt poem or message for your loved one. We will be making our own versions of these cards on Monday!

Of course, no program on President’s Day would be complete without talking about Presidents. This year instead of focusing on the presidents we are going to focus on the love of the Presidents: the First Ladies! We’ll play a President and First Lady matching game and find out the way to a Presidents heart! For Mary Lincoln, it was with food of course! We’ll have a taster of her cake famous almond vanilla cake available as well as her own recipe.   

FAVE ABE? Send us your favorite pic of our favorite president

BEARDSTOWN LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln again? Really? 
It's rolling around again, Lincoln's birthday. And we here at the Museum of the Grand Prairie love to celebrate Abe in any way we can. Images of Lincoln abound.  Our favorite story about Lincoln (and his image) centers around the time he went to have his picture taken on Main Street in Urbana.

(Left: Photograph taken of Lincoln in Beardstown Illinois, May 7, 1858)

He appeared in his duster...and his duster was dusty...
(Dusters are long thin coats merely meant to keep the dust from the road off one's normal clothing. )

They called it the Mud Circuit, after all.

This History is Yours

This Monday at the Museum we will be hosting a program called “This History is Yours.” School kids, and probably many adults, have the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and are encouraged to come out to the museum and learn about the rich cultural heritage of the African American community in Champaign County. We’ll be learning about the biggest time periods of movement right after the Civil War and during the years after World War I known as the Great Migration.

The amount of courage it took for people and families to move to a new place and the reasons why it was necessary to do so, will be a big part of what we discuss. The Museum of the Grand Prairie is home to the Doris Hoskins archive, a collection of materials including newspapers and other articles about life in Champaign County for African Americans. Doris Hoskins gave the collection to the Museum for safe keeping and programs like this give us the opportunity to share with the community these stories.

The Smith Family

One of my favorite stories that I've uncovered is the about the Smith Family. This amazing family's story begins before the Civil War with the family patriarch, George W. Smith, who was born a slave in Tennessee in 1836. As George Smith was growing up he was expected to accompany the slave owners children to school and act as their playmate. During his time attending school, Smith actually learned how to read and write- an offense punishable by law. Eventually, he was found out and had to escape Tennessee in order to save his life.

William Walter Smith

Luckily for Mr. Smith, this was right around the time of the Civil War and he was able to serve in the Union Army before settling in Springfield, Illinois post war. In Springfield, he met his bride Mary Oglesby Gaines, with whom he had five sons and two daughters. Their family moved to Broadlands, here in Champaign County, in 1876 and started a farm. He was among the first in this area to use drainage tile farming and was remarkably successful. At the time of his death in 1911, he was believed to be the wealthiest African American in Illinois outside of Chicago. 

As someone who valued education and never forgot how hard won his own education was, he spent a lot of time and effort on educating his children. His son, William Walter Smith, was the first African American to graduate from the University of Illinois in 1900, receiving his bachelors degree in civil engineering. 

This family's remarkable story, and more, will be showcased on Monday as we continue the conversation about Champaign County's African American heritage and stories.  

What Year was the "The Year of the Big Snow"?

Nearly covering the Covered Bridge...

Snow has been scarce this year. And rain has been plentiful!   Take a look at his photograph from last week in Lake of the Woods near the covered bridge! According the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Association, on average 13 inches of snow equals one inch of rain. Last week we had  7  inches of rain.  Would we rather have had nearly 90 inches of snow? I think not.

Who Remembers the Blizzard of 1977? 

Snow features prominently in the tales of yesteryear in Champaign County. There were big snows in the 1970s, with blizzards which closed the University of Illinois in 1977 and 1978. 

In 1977-78 there were a record breaking 18 winter storms as opposed to the normal number of 4. In Illinois alone, there were 62 recorded deaths and more than 2000 injuries and in some areas over 120 days of snow cover of an inch or more. 

Wolves in the Snow

In fact that year was compared to the worst winter ever recorded in central Illinois. One famous family had a tough time when they settled here.  Abraham Lincoln, his father, stepmother, and step siblings came to Macon County in 1830 and were there to experience the winter of 1830-1831, the winter of the “Big Snow” or the “Deep Snow.”  In that year, freezing weather was unrelenting throughout the winter, three to four feet of snow and ice covered the ground, settlers and  small animals alike became trapped in the snow and fell prey to wolves.  

From Frozen Feet to Mother's Joy!

The Lincoln family, as did many others, ran out of food and had to ask neighbors for corn to live through the winter. Abraham Lincoln himself got seriously frozen feet and a neighbor treated them with a liniment of goose grease, skunk oil and rabbit fat.   Ewww? Goose grease was a popular treatment for all sorts of ailments and complaints in the 19th century so much so that it was later bottled and sold under several names: one of the most popular, Mother's Joy!

Weather events today are still measured by the severity of these winters. Please comment on your worst winter ever! Or best...winter tales are fun to hear.  



Thanks to comments on Facebook we invite you to enjoy this documentary about that winter in Central Illinois.  Called An Illinois Winter, it was created by students in the Department of Geology/Geography and the Department of Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois University in 2006. Enjoy!