Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
September 22, 2002
By Betty Stroup Wright
Vigo County Historical Society
Museum’s fine etched hinges works of art
Have you ever noticed the beautiful, shiny, silver hinges on the large front doors of the Vigo County Historical Museum?
These hinges were made out of Sheffield steel from Sheffield, England, between 1864 and 1867 (1864 being the year the metal plant was started and 1867 the year this formerly private home was constructed out of the finest materials available).
The hinges are large, bright and with finely etched filigree on each--truly works of art I have admired for years. F.J. Brindley, who started the company, made many products including large railroad spikes donated by the former Elsie Weir, who inherited them from an uncle.
When President Garfield was shot in 1881, extra railroad track was quickly laid to transport him. After the rail car had passed over, the track was taken back up and anyone having anything to do with the installation was given a spike nail as a memory of the event.
Writing about hinges and other artifacts in the Historical Museum made me remember some of my own experiences with metal products.
About 40 years ago, I wanted some new furniture and talked to my husband about purchasing some. He calmly stated that he thought that between the children and myself we would break cast iron furniture. I just laughed because who had ever heard of such a thing.
A few weeks later after trading my gas cook stove for a new electric stove, I started making pancake batter for breakfast. I put my cast iron griddle on my new stove, started to walk across the floor for the bowl of batter, when I heard this loud crack. The griddle had broken in half. It seems the griddle, which I had inherited, had only been used on a wood stove and gas stove. Sad but also funny. I kept quiet about new furniture for a long time.
My son likes to collect things, and when visiting the Alamo in Texas, he saw Jim Bowie’s knife (handmade) behind glass. He thought how nice it would be to have a similar one. A magazine in Kentucky advertised handmade knives for only $100. My son immediately ordered the catalog. When it arrived, he started filling out the order blank but, on closer reading, he noticed that the ad said “one hundred dollars an inch,” and what he had in mind was 12 to 14 inches. He didn’t sign his name.
What do you remember or think about as you enter the museum?
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Web site: http://web.indstate.edu/community/vchs.