Historic Treasure of the Week - June 27, 1982
By Dorothy W. Jerse
Curator, Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - June 27, 1982
By Dorothy W. Jerse
Curator, Vigo County Historical Society
One of the items of household equipment which intrigues visitors at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is this butter worker. A wooden labor-saving device used in dairy work, it is often confused with grinders and mixers.
Butter workers were popular in the late 1890s and the early 1900s. This particular model is an early example, patented in 1875. The instructions in the 1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue read: "You can work your butter with one of these machines quicker, better and with far less labor than by hand. Simply put the butter in the worker and turn the crank."
"Working butter" refers to the process of working the liquid out of the butter after the butter is churned. With the use of the butter worker, the liquid is drained into another container through an opening on one side of the tray.
Butter workers were made in round and rectangular shapes. Some, like the one on display, stood on legs; others were tabletop models. Each size was designed to handle a certain weight of butter. This model would work 20 pounds. The prices for the table-top models in the 1908 catalogue ranged from $3.75 (10 pounds capacity) to $5.85 (50 pounds capacity). Manufacturers included the Reid Company and the Lever Company.
This historical treasure was used by Elizabeth Lockard Stevens (1856-1919), grandmother of the donor, the late Charles Raymond Stevens.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is located at 1411 South Sixth Street, Terre Haute.