Blog Cabin Village

Garden Tips for February

2012-02-03T12:55:00.000-06:00

--By historical interpreter and Master Gardener Pat Kriener

Note: these tips are specific to North Texas, so contact your local Master Gardeners for information on YOUR region...

Winter honeysuckle in bloom at Log Cabin Village

February is for Pruning! Sharpen those tools andgive your yard a massive haircut. I know we have had flooding rains lately, sowildfires are probably not on the top of your list of priorities. But withsummer coming, wildfires are always a threat. Since you are in the pruning mood,don’t forget to remove dead trees, limbs and plants near the house. For moreinformation about wildfires and how to prevent them contact the Texas Forest Service.

Annuals – prune back any damage and deadhead to encourage new growth and flowering. We still have a few months that cool weather plants will thrive but keep a look out for some of the hardier spring annuals to arrive. Dianthus, pansies, snapdragons and violas are some of the hardiest for winter. Plant by seed into the ground alyssum, annual phlox, calendula, and nasturtium and stock.

Bulbs – Plant gladiolus now and in mid to late Feb. Plant caladium bulbs. If you find spring bulbs on sale at this time remember they will not do well if planted so late but if you come across some amaryllis or paper-whites that look good and haven’t started to sprout snap those up and plant. Early Spring Bulbs are up & growing in the beds, watch for the early bloomers such as paper-whites and daffodils. Start planning for next month when it’s time to divide your summer bulbs.

Compost Bin – Throw all clipping, leaves, vegetable and garden waste in the compost. Top-dress all beds & trees with compost...it’s a wonderful slow release fertilizer.

Container Plants – Prune and reshape evergreens, deadhead and trim back winter flowers to encourage new growth & blooms.

Fruits & Nuts- Prune Fruit trees now, plant B&B, bare root and container grown trees. Start looking for bush fruit: blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Vine fruits: grapes & muscadines.

Greenhouse – Even in the green house make sure your plants are mulched. Check all over-wintering plants for winter damage, disease, fungus and pests. Watch temperatures and airflow. Start spring annual plants & vegetables by seed for planting in 6 to 8 weeks.

Herbs – Want an easy to grow landscape plant that mounds up to 2 feet tall and wide, drought tolerant, tolerates poor soil, full sun and blooms white for a great show in spring? Look no further than your common culinary oregano.

Lawn – Mow or cut back winter grass & weeds to keep them under control. Talk to your local garden center about additional ways to control them. Hopefully organic! Don’t bag those leaves...mulch them for fertilizer or place in compost

Mulch now to protect your plants from the summer heat without getting heatstroke.

Perennials – At the end of Feb. or after we have had at least 2 hard freezes prune back all dead material. This is still a great time to move them and to top dress with compost and mulch

Problems - To learn more about plant diseases and pests contact your local Extension Agent, Master Gardener or Garden Center.

Rainwater - Put out buckets & barrels to catch rainwater for garden beds and houseplants. For more information on using rainwater wisely go to. http://twri.tamu.edu/newsletters/TexasWaterSavers/tws-v3n2.pdf

Roses – Tea roses--prune on Valentines Day to about 15 inches tall. EarthKind Roses do not need pruning other than to remove dead or damaged limbs. Top dress and mulch existing roses.

Tools – this is the time to do tune-ups on mowers, tillers, shredders, chainsaws and any other garden equipment. All hand tools need to be oiled and cleaned especially your pruning equipment to get ready for February pruning.

Trees – Prune back dead limbs and low hanging branches. Do not prune oaks unless it is around 30 degrees to keep Oak Wilt from spreading. Plant trees, trees and more trees.

Vegetable Garden –Plan your Spring Garden NOW! Get your materials ready for seed propagation; seed mats, pots, soil and seeds. Start cool weather and spring seeds inside to be planted in 6 to 8 weeks. Plant transplants of beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, English & snow peas, Irish potatoes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, mustard, onion sets, shallot sets, spinach & turnips. Cleanup beds, add compost, and cover with mulch.

Watering – Water in a 7-day cycle if we do not get any rain.

Wildlife In the Garden - Bats & bluebirds will be looking for spring homes soon so get those houses up now. Make a Mason Bee Home using 3 inch thick by 6 inch long cedar plank. Drill holes 1 and a half round and 2 inches deep. Make sure to clean out debris from the holes; a bottle brush is good for this. Why go to all of this trouble? Bats eat mosquitoes, bluebirds eat grasshoppers and mason bees pollinate your vegetables and fruit trees.

Gardening Tips for January...

2012-01-11T12:52:00.001-06:00

--by LCV historical interpreter (and Master Gardener) Pat Kriener

Being a Texas gardener I always say January is for scheming and dreaming. I spend several hours with catalogs, magazines and books trying to organize my garden dreams and then I spend the rest of my time scheming to find the best ways to make my gardening dreams come true with little or no money. We are so lucky to live in North Texas where gardening only takes a few days or weeks off every year.

Annuals – Plant dianthus, pansies, snapdragons and violas--some of the hardiest for winter.

Plant by seed into the ground alyssum, annual phlox, calendula, and nasturtium and stock.

Bulbs – Plant tulips & hyacinths now. Forcing bulbs is always a favorite winter gardening project for paperwhites, amaryllis and calla lilies. If the stores still have the kits they should be on clearance sale but to create your own simply plant paperwhite bulbs in glass bowl or container filled with rocks to their shoulders. Just add water, keep in dim light until first green shows then place in bright light. Early Spring Bulbs are up & growing in the beds, watch for the early bloomers.
Compost Bin – Throw all clipping, leaves, vegetable and garden waste in compost. Top-dress all beds & trees with compost-- it’s a wonderful slow release fertilizer
Container Plants – Searching for different container ideas? Grab a friend and go to antique shops, garage sales or search your own kitchen cabinets for items such as old stock pots, coffeepots, teapots, Jell-O-molds, bread pans, strainers, flour sifter, recycled vegetable cans, sugar bowels and cream pitchers. Worried about drainage? Add holes, but if you can’t add holes layer the bottom with pebbles and organic charcoal.
Fruits & Nuts- plant B&B, bare root and container grown trees. Start looking for bush fruit: blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Vine fruits grapes & muscadines.
Greenhouse – Cut heating costs by using black barrels or buckets filled with water to create solar heating in the greenhouse. Put the buckets in the sun to absorb heat and the water inside will help hold the heat so the temperatures do not drop as rapidly. Keeping the lid closed will hold the heat in longer but open them if humidity is needed. Also they make it handy for quick watering. Time to seed propagate spring perennials, annuals and early spring vegetables. Check all over-wintering plants for winter damage, disease, fungus and pests. Watch temperatures and airflow.
Herbs - Being an herbalist and an avid gardener I want everyone to have herbs in their yard for the simple reason they are a multipurpose landscape plant. Next time you need a 5 ft. evergreen shrub think about using rosemary: many varieties bloom off & on all year, it smells great and has many culinary and medicinal uses.
Lawn – Mow or cut back winter grass & weeds to keep them under control. Talk to your local garden center about additional ways to control them--hopefully organic! Don’t bag those leaves...mulch them for fertilizer or place in compost.
Mulch - If you haven’t put new mulch down . Pull existing mulch back and cover beds with newspaper (at least 12 sheets thick), cover with at least 3 inches of mulch.
Perennials – Now is a good time to move them. Mulch 2 to 3 in. deep, Deadhead but do not cut back until we have had at least 2 hard frosts. If unsure when to cut back, just wait until February.
Problems - To learn more about plant diseases and pests contact your local Extension Agent, Master Gardener or Garden Center.
Roses - EarthKind Roses are still in the garden centers. Top dress and mulch existing roses. It’s also a good time to transplant roses if you need to move them.
Rainwater - Put out buckets & barrels to catch rainwater for garden beds and houseplants. For more information on using rainwater wisely go to. http://twri.tamu.edu/newsletters/TexasWaterSavers/tws-v3n2.pdf
Tools – this is the time to do tune-ups on mowers, tillers, shredders, chainsaws, and any other garden equipment.
Trees - Fall & winter is the best time to plant trees.
Vegetable Garden –Plan your Spring Garden NOW! Get your materials ready for seed propagation; seed mats, pots, soil and seeds. Start cool weather and spring seeds inside to be planted in 6 to 8 weeks. Plant transplants of beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, English & snow peas, Irish potatoes, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, mustard, onion sets, shallot sets, spinach & turnips. Cleanup beds, add compost, and cover with mulch.
Watering - Watering your plants before an oncoming freeze is the best way to protect them. Water your lawn & plants on a 7-day watering cycle unless it rains.
Wildlife in the garden – Hummingbirds over-winter in Texas so please keep at least one feeder up. Great time to select sites for bluebird, bat and mason bee homes.

It's Prairie Dog Time!

2012-01-09T08:04:00.000-06:00

Much as Groundhog Day is eagerly anticipated in February, here at the Village we look forward seeing the elusive Prairie Dogs each January. That said, our Prairie Dogs are not your typical scurrying mammals. Ours hail as a local Chapter of the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society...and they come bearing food!

Enough with the tomfoolery.

The Prairie Dogs will be here on Saturday, January 14, from 1-4 p.m. They will be demonstrating the preparation of everything from appetizers to desserts using charcoal briquettes and cast iron. Here is a schedule of specific demonstrations if you'd like to plan your schedule accordingly:

History of Dutch Oven - 1:30 - 1:45

Dutch Oven Care - 2:00 - 2:15

Dutch Oven Implements - 2:30 - 2:45

Temperature Control - 3:00 - 3:15

Enjoy photos from prior years' events here and here...

Unique, affordable holiday gifts...all to support a worthy cause!

2011-12-06T08:14:00.001-06:00

'Tis the season when holiday gift giving pushes to the forefront of many of our lives. As such, we'd like to remind you to consider your local museum stores when searching for that perfect gift for all your special someones. Fort Worth has no shortage of amazing museums with fun and inspiring shops offering unique items for sale.

In the case of Log Cabin Village, many items are made right here on site. The dollars you spend in our store go to support our overall site and educational programs. It's local shopping at its best! We can even pack your treasure in a special Log Cabin Village backpack (a steal at only $2.95). And yes...we still have TCU purple in stock.

We hope you'll consider our or another Fort Worth museum store when doing your holiday shopping.

Details:
Log Cabin Village Museum Store
2100 Log Cabin Village Lane
Fort Worth, TX 76109
817-392-5881
http://www.logcabinvillage.org/

Open Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.
The outside gate is shut 1/2 hour before closing, so you'll want to get here before then.

In addition, you do not have to pay admission if you only wish to shop in our store! We're open through December 23rd... Handmade items are one-of-a-kind, so hurry up and claim your goodies before someone else does!

Herb dolls for the culinarian in your life (herbs from our herb garden)

Log Cabin Playset--Build your own!

Sunbonnets made here on site!

Beautiful corn husk wreaths--holiday and harvest colors available. Made on site.

Coonskin caps for the adventurer in you...nature guides, games, and books to pass the time.

Got someone on your list who LOVES Fort Worth as much as we do? We've got you covered!

Pennywhistles at amazing prices for your budding musician.

Knitted baby blanket/hat and scarf--made on site.

Dolls for young and young at heart--rag, yarn, and clothespin. Rag and yarn dolls made on site, clothespin dolls made in Dallas.

Stuff their stockings with an old-fashioned treat! A STEAL at only 15 cents each. Buy 10!

Bead and leather bracelets fit nicely in stockings as well...

As do unique pencil sharpeners...

And wooden nickels or tops.

Maybe you'd prefer a Village kitty or Topsy-Turvy doll to snuggle with.

Perhaps your "do-it-yourselfer" aunt would like some more knowledge (aka "Country Wisdom")

Old-time toys, perhaps?

Historic currency just for fun?

Beautiful wrought-iron candle-holders, triangles, nails, and other items handmade on site by our blacksmiths

Beautiful framed original sketches of our buildings

Also available as notecard prints

Exquisite walking sticks made on site from local reclaimed wood (fallen limbs and the like)

Cornhusk dolls made with care on site

Log pencils, wooden animals (made on site), and Texas keychains...the options are almost endless!

A moment of blogspiration...

2011-11-29T09:00:00.006-06:00

Hello dear blog readers...it's been entirely too long!

Please know that, with regards to our absence, "it's not you...it's me." The good news? The reason there are so few blog entries lately is because we are BUSY! We are grateful for the work that makes it difficult to stop, breathe, and write.

That said, we miss you! We are much better at "micro-blogging" via Facebook and Twitter, so please check us out there for more frequent updates.

So what's new? We've just come through a very successful fall, full of music, candle dipping, and even an early visit from St. Nicholas (if you missed him, don't worry. He'll be back at our Dec. 17th holiday event). The weather provided reprieve from a brutally hot summer, and now the leaves are falling steadily, blanketing the museum grounds.

Winter is coming quickly. We're preparing firewood for the cast iron stoves and capes/shawls for the interpreters. And we're busily readying items for our upcoming Holidays at the Hearth event (details below).

But mostly we're coming off a time of being thankful to look ahead with hope at what the coming year may bring. And it looks pretty darned good.

Incidentally, are you wondering why there's a photo of a leaf and twig hut at the top of this post? Blogspiration, my friends...provided by one of our wee visitors who took the time to artfully craft this small "dwelling" behind the Howard Cabin during her visit out here this past weekend. Proof that stopping, breathing, and appreciating the little things can be not only blogspirational, but also cathartic. Thanks for the reminder, dear one.

Happy holidays to you and yours...

Holidays at the Hearth
December 17, 2011

1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! You can even have your photo taken with our historic St. Nick ($5 fee for photo and folder). No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

Great photos from Frontier Fall Fest!

2011-10-18T15:17:00.001-05:00

Check out our great photos from Frontier Fall Fest on Saturday!

How does your garden grow?

2011-10-11T14:38:00.004-05:00

Did you know that raised bed gardening was the method of choice for most kitchen gardeners in the mid-19th century? Neither did I until our newest historical interpreter, Pat, pointed it out. Like all of our interpreters, Pat brought with her a unique skill set dynamically suited to educating and inspiring our visitors. And as we do with all our interpreters, we set about figuring out how best to utilize (exploit) these skills to our advantage.

Pat is a Master Gardener and has devoted much of her life and time to educating children and adults about gardening. She researched 19th century gardens and developed the plan you currently see in progress. And so the Log Cabin Village raised bed garden is currently underway. Want to see our experiment unfold? Stay tuned...

Please click on the slideshow to start and to control the speed...

The legend of the corn husk doll...

2011-10-07T09:06:00.003-05:00

Very soon we'll be featuring our Frontier Fall Fest event here at Log Cabin Village. We're very excited because in addition to a number of activities included with regular Village admission, visitors will have the chance to make copper bracelets with a Silversmyth for $5 (while supplies last) and corn husk dolls for $3.

Corn husk dolls are an interesting craft because they have roots in many different cultures. This is more than likely due to the common nature of people using available materials to create useful and/or delightful things. Although most commonly associated with Native American culture, corn husk dolls appear in the history of many of our white, black, and Latino ancestors as well. They are truly a cross-cultural historical toy!

Perhaps most famous is the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll cited frequently as deriving from Native American culture. While I haven't yet discovered a specific origin (or determined whether it is, indeed, a true Native American legend), it is a great story that reminds us all of the dangers of being vain and self-centered. Most sources indicate that the legend stems from the Iroquois Confederacy, of which Oneida and Seneca were parts. Here are a few different sources for the legend, with only slight variations in each. Enjoy!

The Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from Illinois)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Story of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from a Seneca woman)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from Sister Sky)

Legend of the No Face Doll (Iroquois Museum)

Vlog Cabin Village!

2011-10-03T11:33:00.003-05:00

Thanks to our friends over at Anchor Marketing and Design for this great vlog about the Village!

When something is right, but not right for us.

2011-09-14T14:08:00.005-05:00

Our Mission
The purpose of Log Cabin Village is to educate the public through the collection, preservation and interpretation of artifacts, representative structures, and other items of social and cultural significance to Texas’ pioneer era (1840-1890).

Our Vision
Log Cabin Village aspires to build connections to 19th century Texas by providing educational opportunities and sensory experiences that are engaging, accurate, and as authentic as possible.

A mission statement is a tricky thing. Museums, non-profit agencies, and even corporations hire consultants, sponsor retreats, and read tea leaves to try and figure out their mission. How can you condense your life's work and purpose into one brief, often catchy, statement?

Why is it even important to do so?

Quite simply, mission statements provide a focus for your organization. Many well-intentioned efforts have failed because there was no clear direction behind which to rally. Museum staff members in particular utilize their mission statements as a driving force behind every operation they are involved in. From educational programming, collections (and collections policy), and exhibits to museum store merchandise, mission should be kept in mind at all times. And if it's not mission-related, then it shouldn't be part of your museum.

But what if the item's really cool? And rare? And historically relevant to your local community? What if you know a program's going to make a LOT of sorely needed revenue for your museum, even though it's not mission-related? What if the exhibit will attract record numbers of visitors in a time of economic turmoil?

These are poignant questions that each museum struggles with on a regular basis. Here at the Village, we tend to take a fairly traditional stance: if it ain't related to our mission, it ain't happening here.

But it's so sad when we have something like this...

Or this...

And we want to share it with the world.

But we're not a 20th century museum. We don't deal exclusively with Fort Worth history. In fact, we only have one structure from Fort Worth (originally North Fort Worth): the Marine School house. So unfortunately, these items should not be part of our collection (and shouldn't have been accepted as donations in the first place).

So now what? We will work to find a place for them, preferably (and ethically) in another local museum whose mission they DO fit.

And they will be home.

UPDATE: We are very excited to announce that the awesome fan will be going to the Leonard's Department Store Museum right here in Fort Worth! Yay!

Frontier Fall Fest...

2011-08-25T09:30:00.001-05:00

Frontier Fall Fest will be here before you know it!

Frontier Fall Festival Flyer_LCV

Summer maintenance closure...

2011-08-17T08:33:00.002-05:00

Dreaming of autumn...

Greetings all!

Just a reminder that we will be closing for our annual summer maintenance August 22nd-September 5. We will reopen at 9 a.m. on September 6.

Thanks to all of our supporters who have continued to visit despite this bewildering heat. We are so grateful for you!

See you in September!

It's hot. Real hot.

2011-07-12T12:50:00.005-05:00

Dust devil near Childress, TX

As one of the hottest (thus far) summers in north Texas history continues to roll on, we continue to be amazed at the hardiness of both our staff and our visitors! The interpreters proudly demonstrate their craft and engage our guests without complaint. In turn, the visitors listen and participate eagerly despite the sometimes oppressive heat.

Y'all are the best!

Unfortunately Texas is also witnessing a severe drought. And even more unfortunate is the fact that drought is not new to Texas. Here's more from the Handbook of Texas online:

DROUGHTS. Droughts have been recorded as a problem in Texas since Spaniards explored the area. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca found a population of soil tillers near the site of present-day Presidio, where it had not rained for two years. Regarding the white man as a god, they begged him to tell the sky to rain. In 1720 a summer dry spell in Coahuila killed 3,500 of the 4,000 horses that the Marqués de Aguayo, governor of Texas, was prepared to bring to Texas. A drought in Central Texas dried up the San Gabriel River in 1756, forcing the abandonment of a settlement of missionaries and Indians. Stephen F. Austin's first colonists also were hurt by drought. In 1822 their initial food crop of corn died from lack of moisture.

Each decade since then has been marked by at least one period of severe drought. Associated with dry times are grasshopper plagues, brush and grass fires, sand and dust storms, crop failures and depression, livestock deaths, disease resulting from insufficient and impure drinking water, and migrations of citizens from parched territory. Information concerning pioneer-day droughts is sketchy because of the absence of official statistics; but data on some droughts, especially those during the nineteenth century, can be compiled from individual complaints recorded in newspapers, diaries, and memoirs. In 1883 Texas opened its western school lands, drawing thousands of immigrant farmers to the area. One of the worst droughts in Texas history occurred in 1884–86, causing most of the farmers to fail and to return to the East. In later years official detailed recordkeeping makes possible a better understanding of the geographical distribution of droughts. Drought occurs when an area receives, in a given year, less than 75 percent of its average rainfall. The number of drought years in each of ten geographical areas of Texas in the 100 years between 1892 and 1992 was as follows: Trans-Pecos, sixteen years; lower Rio Grande valley, seventeen; Edwards Plateau, seventeen; South Central, fifteen; Southern, fifteen; North Central, twelve; Upper Coast, thirteen; East Texas, ten; High Plains, ten; and Low Rolling Plains, eight.

There has been at least one serious drought in some part of the state every decade of the twentieth century. The most catastrophic one affected every part of the state in the first two thirds of the 1950s. It began in the late spring of 1949 in the lower valley, affected the western portions of the state by fall, and covered nearly all Texas by the summer of 1951. By the end of 1952 the water shortage was critical; Lake Dallas for instance held only 11 percent of its capacity. Spring rains in 1953 gave some brief respite to Northeast Texas. In the Trans-Pecos, however, only eight inches of rain fell the entire year of 1953, and the drought grew worse from 1954 to 1956. Streams only trickled or dried up completely. The drought ended abruptly in the spring of 1956 throughout Texas with slow soaking rains. There were several less severe and shorter droughts in the 1970s. Most were ended by rain from tropical storms. A massive heat wave in 1980 started a severe drought that blistered most of Texas during the early 1980s. This gradually worsened until it reached extreme proportions in the Pecos River valley during 1983. Even mesquite trees withered. It was ended in the western half of the state by the residue of a north Pacific cyclone, which moved across Mexico. The drought shifted eastward in 1984, inflicting hardship on central and southern Texas; some towns ran out of water and others enforced rationing. On occasion, attempts to make rain artificially have been instituted by both private individuals and public organizations, but these have met with little success. Constant improvement in moisture conservation and utilization, however, has aided Texans in their struggle with drought.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Roy Sylvan Dunn, "Drought in West Texas, 1890–1894," West Texas Historical Association Year Book 37 (1961). W. C. Holden, "West Texas Droughts," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 32 (October 1928). Vance Johnson, Heaven's Tableland: The Dust Bowl Story (New York: Farrar, Straus, 1947). Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. J. W. Williams, "A Statistical Study of the Drought of 1886," West Texas Historical Association Year Book 21 (1945).

Roy Sylvan Dunn

As we dream of the mercury falling and non-sweat-soaked clothes, we revisit this blog entry discussing historic means of keeping cool. Enjoy!

You've donated an artifact...so what happens then?

2011-06-30T10:46:00.010-05:00

A couple of years ago, we covered the artifact donation process...i.e. what to do if you have an item you would like considered for donation into our collection.

But if an item is accepted by our museum, what happens next?

So glad you asked!

Once we accept legal title to an item, we follow a detailed process of assessment, stabilization, record-keeping, and storage or exhibition. In layperson's terms, we check the item out, clean it up, assign it a number so we know where it came from, and decide where to put it.

The numbering process is as (if not more) important than the preservation aspect of museum work. If we don't have the artifact marked correctly, then we may not be able to associate it with its correct provenance (history and geography). This provenance is critical for passing long term information on to future visitors and museum professionals!

When an item is accepted into our collection, the first thing we do is make sure the donor fills out a deed of gift. This transfers legal title of the object to us, allowing us to care for it. We then assign the object an accession number, which allows us to track when the artifact entered our collection and what items came with it at the same time. For example, if Jane Doe donated 32 items at the same time, these items would all be considered one accession. If Jane donated two items in one year, and two items in the next year, they would be considered two separate accessions.

Confused? Just think of the word accession as meaning "batch."

From the accession or "batch," comes a more specific number called the catalog number. When an artifact is catalogued, it is more thoroughly assessed and each item within the accession is given a unique number to distinguish it from its "batch-mates."

Most museums follow a three or four part numbering system that tells you a lot about the item just by looking at the number. The first number is typically the year the item was accessioned, the second number is the number of the accession within that year, and the third number denotes the item number within that accession. For example, if Jane donates her 32 items in 2011, and her items were the third batch donated that year (Tom Jones and Sue Blue got there before her), one of her items' catalogue numbers might be 2011.3.12. This number serves as a unique identifier, much like a Social Security number.

Here at the Village we use a slightly different system replacing the second number in the series with a donor number. In this case, each donor is given a unique number relative to the overall number of donors we have. If Jane was the 546 donor we'd ever had, then one of her items donated in 2011 might have a number that looks like 2011.546.12. This only becomes an issue if Jane donates more than one accession/batch of items in 2011. In that case, careful record-keeping can help distinguish the timing of each donation.

Still with me?

Our brave curatorial/collections ancestors had to keep track of every museum item through a series of printed pages, card catalogues, and eventually primitive databases. Thankfully NOW we can rely on sophisticated museum management software that allows us to include artifact photos and detailed records that are available at the click of a mouse. We still have to keep backups of our records (CDs stored off-site and printed copies in a binder), but the ease with which we can locate our items is amazing.

The computer records are worthless, however, if we cannot match them with a specific artifact. Since we've already determined what the item's unique number will be when we catalogued it, we need to make sure this number is directly, visibly, and physically associated with each item. Museums adhere to the principle of reversibility when dealing with artifacts. This means that any action we take MUST BE REVERSIBLE. While early and well-intentioned folks may have marked their collections with Sharpie marker, this practice is NOT appropriate with current standards.

Depending on the item, its physical properties, and the quality/sensitivity of its material (wood, cotton, glass, metal), it can be marked a number of ways. Most items here at the Village are marked using a "painted" number. A barrier layer of B-72 is applied, the catalog number is applied with white or black fluid acrylic, and the number is "sealed" with a topcoat of medium gloss. This combo can be dissolved in acetone should the number need to be removed (reversibility). Catalogue number placement is also important. The number should be legible and positioned where it can be easily located by a collections staff member but can be somewhat concealed while on exhibit (i.e. inside the rim of a cast iron dutch oven). It does, however, need to be placed where it won't easily be rubbed off over time (i.e. not on the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven). Other methods for marking items include sewing a Tyvek label inside/on textiles and tags made from inert paper and material.

Once the item is marked, it is then fully entered into our collections database. We use PastPerfect, but there are a number of options from which a museum can choose. The database is where we enter all donor and provenance information. And even though we have carefully marked each item, we record other identifying information such as dimensions, materials, maker's marks, etc. This information aids in identifying objects should the numbers become illegible or separated from the artifact.

We also complete a "condition report" on each item. This allows us to note damage, irregularities, and, as the name implies, overall condition so that we can determine how an item is faring while on exhibit or in storage. This helps ensure that we are caring for each and every artifact in the best way possible! Condition reports are completed at the time of each donation and then periodically throughout the item's lifespan. At this point, we can also recommend what action can or should be taken to prolong the life of the artifact (i.e. remove dust, apply protective artifact wax, seek professional help from a conservator, remove item from exhibit).

This just a small taste of what goes into processing an artifact donation. Other steps include item research (to flesh out provenance), creating storage or exhibit mounts, and educating our historical interpreters about the new items they may be telling visitors about!

Correct accession and cataloguing procedures, while time-consuming and labor intensive, are truly rewarding and satisfying. They enable us to give an object "life" and meaning. They allow to us to locate a family treasure within minutes instead of months. They ensure that each artifact's story will be able to be told for generations to come. And that's a pretty great trade-off, if you ask me.

Upcoming events at Log Cabin Village...

2011-06-21T14:57:00.007-05:00

Wow! What a great fall line-up! Mark your calendars...it wouldn't be the same without you!

Please note: The Village will be closed for maintenance August 22-September 5, 2011.

September 18 & 24, October 2 & 15, 2011
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction, an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

September 24, 2011
DAY IN THE DISTRICT
Noon-4 p.m.
Celebrate Smithsonian Museum Day and Fort Worth’s “Day in the District” at the Village! Enjoy a day full of music and living history for the whole family. Admission is FREE for this day only!

October 15, 2011
FRONTIER FALL FEST
1-4 p.m.
Grab your pumpkins and shock your corn...it’s time for a good old-fashioned Frontier Fall Fest! You’ll be able to grind grain by hand, shell corn, thresh wheat, “bob” for apples, press tortillas and more. We’ll also have help celebrating the harvest with friends from the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, Silversmyth Julie Hiltbrunner, Wyatt Earp dealing the card game Faro, Cooper Dan “Five Buckets” Tatum, and Buttermilk Junction Old Time String Band, just to name a few! Bring your own carved or painted pumpkin to enter our “best design” contest (judging at 3 p.m.) For a small additional fee, you can even make your own festive corn husk doll and/or copper bracelet to take home! Cost is regular Village admission plus $3 craft fee for corn husk doll and $5 craft fee for copper bracelet.

November 12, 2011
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Time to start thinking about those holiday cards! Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

November 12, 13, 19, & 20, 2011
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

December 17, 2011
HOLIDAYS AT THE HEARTH
1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! You can even have your photo taken with our historic St. Nick ($5 fee for photo and folder). No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

Chicken and cornbread and beans...oh my!

2011-06-09T14:35:00.002-05:00

We had the best time at the "Whatcha Got Cooking?" daycamp this morning! Thanks so much to our "cast iron" chefs and the Village People for another great program!

Photos can be found on Facebook...

The Cottage on Crestline Gets a Makeover...

2011-06-07T14:23:00.003-05:00

Blog entry courtesy Kelli Pickard, Log Cabin Village and Van Zandt Cottage Director

The historic Van Zandt Cottage sits, unassuming, in a grove of trees on Crestline Road at the edge of Trinity Park. I like to think that the Cottage ponders its past as it gazes at its modern surroundings. It recalls the days in the 1850s that it was constructed of mortised timber framing with a raised wood framed floor. The days that the land on which it was constructed spread out roughly to what is now Montgomery Street to the west, 7th Street to the north, the river to the east, and I-30 to the south.

The land was owned by many people, but the A.G. Scoggin family bought it in 1866. The Cottage was part of the land purchase of Major K.M. Van Zandt in 1869. The Van Zandt family lived in the Cottage from around 1872 until 1879 when they moved to a larger residence on the corner of Penn Street and Johnson Avenue. Van Zandt retained ownership of the home until 1936.

The City of Fort Worth purchased the Cottage along with most of the current Cultural District from the K.M. Van Zandt Land Company on March 6, 1936 for $150,000 in connection with the construction of the Will Rogers Memorial Center and the Frontier Center for the Texas Centennial. The home was then restored by and placed under the guardianship of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (who withdrew their support shortly after the restoration to focus on the Alamo).

The Ethel N. Nichols – Van Zandt Cottage Foundation contracted with the City of Fort Worth from 1965 to 1996 to care for the home. On September 16, 1996, the maintenance, preservation and management of the Cottage reverted back to the Parks and Community Services Department under the care of the staff at Log Cabin Village since the Cottage is a 19th century structure.

On November 21, 2000, the Parks and Community Services Advisory Board endorsed the Master Plan for the Van Zandt Cottage, the oldest home in Fort Worth still on its original foundation and a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The adopted Master Plan included construction of an office with a separate climate/humidity-controlled storage area for artifacts and a handicapped accessible restroom; accessible flagstone walkways and parking area; removal of post-1936 restroom; and, total restoration of the 1850s era cottage.

Some of the early achievements of the Master Plan were: Phase I - the construction of an exterior restroom and storage facility on the grounds along with accessible walkway and parking area (May 2002); Phase II - the removal of the mid-1900s era restroom on the back of the Cottage (February 2003); Phase III - the removal of small artifacts (April 2003); Phase IV - exterior cleaned and painted; shutters and chimneys repaired; rear porch constructed (all in April 2004); and the completion of a restoration plan (March 2005).

With funding from the Van Zandt Cottage Trust Fund, established by donations from the dissolved Ethel N. Nichols - Van Zandt Cottage Foundation and continuing individual contributions, a Restoration Plan was commissioned with Arthur Weinman Architects in 2005. The results of this plan were a comprehensive internal and external examination of the condition and history of the 19th century home.

The Restoration Plan was shared with the Board of Directors of the Van Zandt Cottage Friends, a non-profit 501(c)(3) established in November 2004, at their March 5, 2005, Board meeting. The plan for the Cottage was then approved by the Parks and Community Services Advisory Board on July 19, 2005.

Once the Friends formed, the City of Fort Worth and the Cottage had a partner in preservation and fundraising. A key element of the Restoration Plan was finally achieved – the stabilization of the historic foundation. This started Phase V of the master plan. In the summer of 2007, the entire house was raised, and a perimeter beam foundation placed underneath the historic log beam foundation. The Cottage was now stable enough to start tackling the rest of its restoration needs.

The restoration process is progressing now from the outside-in. By working first on the protective exterior shell, we can then move to the inside and work on more cosmetic issues such as trim, wallpaper and painting. The Friends of the Cottage have recently funded the restoration of the Cottage windows (May-June 2011). This process is almost complete and will be followed immediately by repair work on the front door and restoration of the shutters. The Van Zandt Cottage serves as an excellent example of the importance of partnerships, preservation, and stewardship of our historic resources.

Upcoming events...

2011-05-03T10:01:00.003-05:00

May 13, 2011
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 13, 2011
TIMBER TALES SIGN LANGUAGE STORYTIME
11 a.m.-noon
Note: this storytime is especially for our deaf and hearing impaired visitors.
Featured story: Going West by Laura Ingalls Wilder. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-7 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 13-14, 2011
FRONTIER FORTS DAYS IN THE STOCKYARDS
It’s time for us to help show life on the homefront! During this free, two-day heritage event, the Stockyards National Historic District is transformed into an authentic representation of Texas frontier life, and we’ll have interpreters there to help tell the story. We’ll still be here at the Village, too, though...so come visit us either place!

May 15, 2011
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

June 9, 2011
WHATCHA GOT COOKING DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
How did people cook food before electric/gas stoves and microwaves? They mixed a pinch of skill, a dash of creativity, and a liberal serving of patience, and came up with delicious recipes to satisfy their whole family! Participants for this camp will learn a bit about 19th century food preparation and prepare a meal of their own with fellow campers! $15 admission includes materials, snack, and recipes to take home. Reservations required by June 2. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Download registration form here.

June 10, 15, or 22, 2011 (pick one only)
WAGONS WEST
9 a.m.-noon
Be a 19th century Texan for a day! Wagons West is a program of hands-on activities recreating elements of a typical school-age child's day. The children wash clothes using a washboard and lye soap, card wool, grind corn by hand and weave on a child's scale loom. This popular group program is open for individuals on these three days only! $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required one week prior. Program is for children going into 1st--6th grade.
Download registration form here.

June 16, 2011
TOOLIN’ AROUND DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
If you’re wondering what tools helped build the frontier, then this camp is for you! Join our skilled woodworker as he introduces basic 19th century woodworking techniques and helps campers complete a project of their own! $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required by June 9. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Download registration form here.

July and August 2011
NO SPECIAL EVENTS
While we will be open and providing daily demonstrations of frontier life, no special events will be offered in July and August. Stay tuned for our exciting fall line up!

August 23-September 5, 2011
CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE
Log Cabin Village will close for maintenance during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The importance of roots...

2011-04-28T08:41:00.004-05:00

Here at the Village, we're in the business of the past. We learn the past, we teach the past, we demonstrate the past, we live the past. Looking at the roots of our history and ancestors is something we do on a daily basis without even thinking about it. And the roots run deep.

Trees are something we also think about on a daily basis. We're surrounded by them. Our buildings are made from them. They shade us, protect us, and provide homes for the many animals we share our acreage with. Their roots run deep as well.

But occasionally, despite history and time, those roots fail. Particularly when large trees in dry soil are faced with wind gusts up to 60 mph, as happened this past April 15. It's been a windy spring, but by and large we've fared well in the weather with only a few downed limbs. Even our trees with their deep roots, however, are not immune to exceptional winds.

We're fortunate that the large tree that blew over only took out part of our fence line along University Drive and not a cabin or something more serious. And less than two weeks later, our fence is repaired (new!) and the Village continues in the business of historical rather than arboral roots.

Please find a photo slideshow of the exciting process embedded. Click on the slideshow to make it larger and/or to control the speed. The photos and captions tell the whole story.

Every day was Earth Day on the frontier!

2011-04-22T08:25:00.005-05:00

Happy Earth Day, y'all!!! In honor of this special day, I'm "recycling" a post I did a few years ago about our "green" ancestors...

Please also remember that you can always find out more information about ways to protect Mother Earth (and our fair city) at Keep Fort Worth beautiful...

Pioneers were "green" before "green" was cool...

Enjoy your day and weekend! And remember...we'll be at Prairie Fest tomorrow, April 23, (but still open here on site as well)...

Goodies in our museum store!

2011-04-19T09:54:00.008-05:00

Greetings, Village People!

This story will be primarily told with pictures. And if a picture's worth a thousand words, then get ready for a whole lotta photographic talking! We are very excited to be able to feature several new items in our museum store. Some of them are bought from other distributors, but much of our new merchandise is made by our talented historical interpreters right here on site! And so, without further ado, we present, "what's new in the Village store."

We love, love, love these little ladies. These clothespin dolls are handmade by Dallas Heritage Village volunteer Barbara. They generously allow us to purchase quantities of these beauties to sell to our Village "westside" visitors.

We mentioned these adorable sweeties recently. They are currently handmade on site by historical interpreters Kessy, Jeanie, Teresa, Marcela, and Linda. We hope to have a couple more in stock very soon! Stay tuned...

While we don't produce these on site, we just thought they were a darned good item to have on hand. The stickers are removable so you can decorate your cabin again and again. Uh...what I meant, of course, is that your CHILD can decorate his/her cabin again and again. Because I would never play with a kid's toy. Ever. If you'll excuse me, I need to go move Pa near the door in case coyotes are approaching.

Yarn dolls. We carry them. We love them. These are a longtime popular item here at the Village, and historical interpreter Marilyn handmakes each one with care.

Again...not produced on site...but aren't these patches COOL? Good for Scouts, Campfire kids, Y-Guides, or anyone else who wants to show their Village spirit. We saw Taffy the cat sporting one recently.

Rag dolls...so simple...so elegant...so "Little House." Handmade on site by historical interpreter Teresa.

The ever popular corn husk dolls! We have a variety of styles, each carefully handmade on site by historical interpreter Linda. We think this mother and child doll is beautiful.

These just knock our socks off. Who knew historical interpreter Fred was such a great artist! These are one-of-a-kind pencil sketches of Village structures, created here on site. What else can we say...the cabins like to pose!

We feature scarves handmade by historical interpreters Debi and Marilyn. We couldn't help but show you this precious child's scarf/hat combo that Debi finished recently, though. Warm...fashionable...made by a Village person...for YOU.

We also feature items made by Village blacksmiths Michael, Steven, and Jeanie...as well as fine woodworked items from Steven and David (items available vary according to materials and time to complete). And Terry, Fred, and Teresa keep us well-stocked with fresh-ground cornmeal!

New items are produced daily...so come check out all their hard work!

Heir + Loom = Heirloom?

2011-03-30T11:12:00.009-05:00

As educator and collections manager (and volunteer coordinator, marketer, cat wrangler, and harbinger of useless knowledge, amongst other things), many interesting questions come across my desk daily. Our visitors have fascinating insights and delightfully insatiable curiosity which we take it upon ourselves to feed on a regular basis. After all, isn't this what truly makes history come alive?

Unfortunately for me, there are more questions than I can ever possibly answer in one day. So as time allows, I research items and share the results with our historical interpreters so that they might share them with you. Sometimes scholarship changes in light of new evidence...and sometimes "rumors" comingle with the truth. After a while it can be tricky to separate legend from fact!

The Village People do their best, however, to provide you with most complete, accurate, and up-to-date historical info so that you can learn and share this info with family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who will listen.

Some of our most difficult questions stem from word and phrase etymology (i.e. what is the origin of this word/phrase). A number of factors make etymology difficult to determine. For one thing, we're typically working with a modern English equivalent which may be comprised of several different root languages, causing the word or phrase to literally evolve over time. Another complication comes from the human desire to "make things make sense" regardless of what actually happened (i.e. "well...this thing pops and it's called a weasel...so that must be where 'Pop Goes the Weasel' comes from"--which is an unsubstantiated story, by the way).

As a trusted source of information, we constantly work to separate fact from fiction and myth from reality. And sometimes we have to truly admit that we just don't know.

Recently a visitor asked about the origin of the word "heirloom." Did it literally start off as meaning a loom that was passed down through generations? Short answer? Maybe.

The results I found were somewhat conflicted...but all agreed that "loom" came from the Old English word "lome" which translates to "tool or implement." After that, there's some disagreement. You can read for yourself from the excerpts I've included (verbatim) below:

heirloom late 15c., ayre lome, from heir + loom in its original but now otherwise obsolete sense of "implement, tool." Technically, some piece of property that by will or custom passes down with the real estate. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=heirloom "The "heir" in "heirloom" is our familiar English word, meaning, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it, "The person who is entitled by law to succeed another in the enjoyment of property or rank, upon the death of the latter; one who so succeeds; in general use, one who receives or is entitled to receive property of any kind as the legal representative of a former owner." The word "heir" comes to us, via Old French, from the Latin "heres," which simply meant "heir." Today we also use "heir" in a looser sense of "inheritor" or "successor."

The "loom" part of "heirloom" does indeed come from the Middle English "lome," originally meaning any sort of tool or implement. The use of "loom" to mean specifically a weaving machine dates to the early 15th century. "Heirloom," which also appeared in the 1400s, harks back to the broader meaning of "loom" and originally simply meant any property (tools, etc.) that could be inherited the way real estate is. The modern sense of something that has been handed down for generations appeared only in the 17th century. http://www.word-detective.com/101404.html

"Heirloom" is a compound word, the kind of word that is frequently "coined" in our language, because we have a tendency to link two nouns, first using one as an adjective to describe the other, and then actually joining the two words to make one word. The usual pattern in the English language is to use the two words separately and then, over a period of years [which could be 10 or 100] we combine them. For instance, a court house was originally the combination of two nouns -- a court, where legal cases were heard, and a house, which is a building. Over a period of time, we joined the words together using a hyphen: court-house. Then, as we are accustomed to do, we got rid of the hyphen, so that our current word is "courthouse." That is a combined word: from an noun [used as an adjective] with another noun, to a hyphenated expression, to one single word. The same case applies to heir and loom.

"Heir" arrived in the English language via the Middle English, who got it from the Old French, who took it from the Latin word "heres," which is related to the Greek word "cheros." The Latin "heres" actually means "heir." We also get such words as "heredity" from the same Latin root. "Heir" became part of the English language sometime in the 13th century. No one knows the actual date.

"Loom" comes from the Middle English "lome," which was a tool used for weaving, as well as being a generic word for any other type of tool, such as a farming implement. It is related to the Middle Dutch word "allame," which also is a weaving tool. But, as the working of the loom for weaving was a gradual process and the cloth appeared slowly, the finished product was said "to loom." From the sense, we get "loom" as a verb, meaning "to take shape as an impending occurrence."

"Heirloom" is a combination of those two ideas -- it cannot be a "gift" from a father or mother or some other elder in the family, because that would negate the "impending occurrence" aspect. An heirloom is "passed on" to the next generation, but in its original meaning, it was part of an estate -- not an outright gift from one person to another. Thus, it is an "impending" item that is passed from one generation to another, because of "heres" or "heredity."

Various dictionaries [including "Webster's Third Unabridged International"] provide the "impending" part of the meaning, but "The American Heritage Dictionary of the Engish Language" does not mention it. They believe that the original "heirlooms" were not items like jewelry or fine china, but were actually looms [for weaving] and other TOOLS, which I suppose would be valuable.

From "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language" -- NOUN: 1. A valued possession passed down in a family through succeeding generations. 2. An article of personal property included in an inherited estate. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English heirlome : heir, heir; + lome, implement; see loom2 http://en.allexperts.com/q/Etymology-Meaning-Words-1474/heirloom.htm

heirloom 1472, ayre lome, from heir (q.v.) + loom in its original but now otherwise obsolete sense of "implement, tool." Technically, some piece of property that by will or custom passes down with the real estate. http://dictionary.reference.com/etymology/heirloom

So who's right? Are pieces of all of them right? I can't say for certain, but at least I can tell you with confidence that a loom is a tool or implement, and the modern connation means a tool or implement that weaves cloth.

What are your thoughts? Have you done research on the topic?

Event on Saturday!

2011-03-17T08:56:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder that we have a special event coming up on Saturday, March 19th from 1-4 p.m., and it's shaping up to be a great one! Featured activities include:

Coopering by Dan Tatum

Woodworking by John Tatum and our own on-site woodworkers

Leather crafting with members of the Lone Star Leather Crafters

Embroidery by members of the Embroiderer's Guild of America

Irish music by Buttermilk Junction

Faro demonstration by Wyatt Earp

Members of the Panther City Regulators

Blacksmithing

Plowing

Spinning

Much, much more!!!

Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee if you wish to make a mallet to take home. We hope to see you here!

Sundance Square

2011-03-10T08:59:00.001-06:00

Another TCC-Trinity River blog entry...this time on Sundance Square!

Sundance Square

Topsy-turvy, photos, scarves...and more!

2011-03-08T13:50:00.005-06:00

It seems like winter just started, and yet it's already about time for spring! Don't get us wrong...we love the warm weather and the pitter-patter of children's (and adults') feet, but it's hard to believe the busy season is upon us again. But for that, as always, we are grateful.

Sometimes visitors ask, however, what we do when visitation is slower. On chilly winter days, while our interpreters wait to greet you, they are typically busy with "behind the scenes" tasks. For example, in January, they worked very diligently to help organize photographs from the Village's institutional archives and place them in albums.

They also decided to undertake new craft ventures to provide even more beautiful handmade (Village made) items for our museum store. Lately the women have been working their fingers to nubbins producing topsy-turvy dolls. Every time one is made, it immediately sells (so please call ahead if you're coming in to purchase one). Fortunately we took photos of a couple of the sweet darling dolls before they went into the shop.

Topsy-turvy dolls have a fascinating history. These dolls became popular in the southern U.S. before the Civil War. They could have been made for slave children by their mothers so they could have a “hidden” doll when the master was around. Or, the dolls could have been made for the children of the slave owner for role play. More than likely, both explanations hold some truth. You can read more about topsy-turvy dolls here. We are currently producing the aforementioned as well as "asleep/awake" dolls.

Interpreters have also begun making beautiful knit scarves. Since Texas is not well-known for its scarf weather, they are also planning to expand their "line" to include blankets, booties, and whatever else they imagine!

And we still carry many other Village-made treats like fresh ground cornmeal, lye soap, hand-forged dinner bell triangles, wooden walking sticks, yarn dolls, candles, and more! Stop into the store and see what's new!

Texas Nature Challenge...sign up today!

2011-03-01T14:46:00.002-06:00

We are very excited to be participating in a fun new family adventure this year, the Texas Nature Challenge! Participants sign up to visit as many of the partnered parks and nature areas in north Texas as they can. Our mission is not quite uploaded, but it will be available soon. We hope you'll choose to accept this mission!

Texas Nature Challenge--DFW

We've got yer Spring Break right here!

2011-03-01T10:21:00.003-06:00

Check out the fun activities we have for Spring Break!

Texas Takes Flight...

2011-02-22T13:45:00.002-06:00

Another blog entry from one of our TCC students. This time, Charles Ya tackles Jacob Brodbeck and early flight...

Texas Takes Flight

Glad to Gasp the Gas...

2011-02-16T15:39:00.003-06:00

We've written before about our ongoing partnership with Tarrant County College--Trinity River Campus. Over the upcoming months, we will be featuring blog entries and reflective essays written by some of the students who participated this past fall. These entries will be left exactly as the students wrote them.

Today's blog entry comes from Anya Conway. In it, she describes medical advances made in the 19th c., particularly in the area of anesthesia.

Glad to Gasp the Gas

Oleo...er...Margarine...um... Oleomargarine?

2011-01-28T09:49:00.004-06:00

Thinking Cook by F.Cecconi (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

One of the many reasons I enjoy blogging and social media in general is the opportunity it affords me to interact with those interested in Log Cabin Village. This morning I had an interesting e-mail in my inbox from a woman named Kate Anderson. In response to yesterday's broccoli cornbread recipe, she wrote:

"My mother referred to it as "oleo", too - still have recipes of her's that say that. Makes sense, since I think the whole name is oleomargarine. Wonder why we use the longer part?"

Hmmm...I never really thought about that. I just had always figured the nickname was a wartime relic from the 1940s when butter was being carefully rationed. It may very well be, but I never realized "oleomargarine" was oleo/margarine's full name. Through the course of my e-mail exchange with Kate, I discovered a well-vetted Wikipedia article that provides a fascinating history of the buttery spread. For example, did you realize that margarine's roots extend to the early 19th century?

Here, also, is a "margarine timeline." Interestingly enough, this same identical timeline appears on both pro and anti-margarine sites.

Enjoy the linked articles!

As promised...Iris' broccoli cornbread recipe

2011-01-27T09:03:00.002-06:00

Since the above graphic (in Iris' own handwriting) MAY be hard to read, here's a transcription for you...

What you need:
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
4 eggs
1 red onion, chopped
1 1/2 sticks oleo (3/4 c)--for you younger folk, oleo = margarine, if you didn't know
10 oz. frozen chopped broccoli
8 oz. cottage cheese

What you do:
Mix all ingredients except oleo. Melt oleo in a large baking dish (13x9). Mix all together and pour hot oleo into mixture. Pour into pan and bake at 350 degree oven until good and brown. (note: when I {Rena} made the cornbread, it took about 45 min. to an hour. You'll have to keep an eye on it)

This cornbread is amazing. Make it soon, and think of Iris.

Remembering Iris...

2011-01-26T12:07:00.005-06:00

What can you say about Iris, a woman who was more a force of nature than a mere human being? Words seem inadequate when we try to describe who she was to the Village. You can boil it down to the hard facts found in her obituary, but that doesn't begin to fully define Iris, a woman who dedicated herself to Log Cabin Village for more than forty years. But she deserves that we try, so here goes nothing.

Iris had a laugh that immediately engaged those around her, both visitors and coworkers. She was pushy...but that kind of grandmotherly pushy that made you know that every action she took was because she loved you. She might have only known you for a moment, but she loved you. Even the numerous Village guests who she gently forced to sign "her book" (our guest register) knew that.

Iris had a way of making everyone who passed through the front gates of the Village feel like they were her special guests, like she'd been waiting all day just for their arrival. She sometimes lacked physical grace (resulting in numerous unfortunate accidents/injuries), but she would take each incident in stride, pushing aside help and taking on life with a fierce determination. Her spiritual grace more than made up for her misteps. She never blamed anyone or grumbled when misfortune struck. And her smile...no matter what the circumstance, Iris had a smile on her face that would light up a room.

Did I mention that Iris' broccoli cornbread was legendary? (Recipe coming soon)

We could go on and on for pages, and still the words would be inadequate. She was our teacher. She was our gift shop attendant. She was a seamstress, an embroiderer, a chandler, a weaver, and a bookkeeper. She was a mother and grandmother, even if not by blood. She was the heart of the Village. She was a friend. She was Iris. And we loved her more than we can express.

We miss you, Iris.

The Pickard Cabin's new look!

2011-01-26T11:52:00.008-06:00

Pickard interior before

Greetings, friends!

So a while back I mentioned that we had exciting things happening during our winter closure. And then I just left you hanging. What kind of friend leaves Village People hanging?

Well...between the "good busy" of daily Village life and other crazy circumstances, this post just kept getting sidetracked.

But today's the day: the day we let you in on the Pickard changes. Naturally if you've already been out to the site, you've seen what we did. But if you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat!

First of all, as with all things Village, this change wouldn't have been possible without a little help from our friends. We received a beautiful maple federal style bed (c. early-mid 1800s) as a donation this fall. We've wanted to put it on exhibit, and we knew the Pickard would be the perfect location for it!

We've also wanted to find a better home for the large floor loom in the Pickard for a while now as well. The loom was beautiful, but it was too late for our time period (it was a 1930s piece) and would not have been a piece found in a one-room cabin (took up too much room). We were recently able to find a better home for it with the Lake Worth Historical Society. They plan to open their new museum soon, and the loom is exhibited there, appropriately in a 1935 rock house.

With the new (old) bed and the large loom out of the way, we were able to convert the Pickard into a more accurate representation of a cabin home, with a sleeping area downstairs, a small reproduction loom that we can demonstrate on, and a woven coverlet on the bed rather than the wall. We have cleaned, removed old, rotting warp, and placed the small artifact loom in storage for now, as it has been on exhibit a number of years. Don't worry...it will return again some day.

As you can see, we still have the beautiful 18th century Windsor Chairs and spinning articles on exhibit. We think this new look provides an even more authentic glimpse into 19th c. Texas while affording our historical interpreters more freedom of movement and a variety of crafts to demonstrate.

Pickard interior after

What do you think?

O Christmas Tree...

2010-12-23T09:32:00.003-06:00

Although Christmas trees are considered an American standard today, most families in the early 1800s thought the German tradition was just plain strange. As late as the early 1840s, the Christmas tree was viewed as a pagan symbol not befitting a Christian holiday. A mid-late 1840s sketch of England's Queen Victoria appearing in The Illustrated London News changed all that, however. Once she and Prince Albert were depicted with the table-top tree now associated with mid-late 19th c. tradition (and the image was reproduced in the wildly popular Godey's Lady's book), it became very fashionable to feature the same. In 1856, United States President Franklin Pierce featured a "German tree" at the White House. By 1860, many American families celebrated the holiday with trees.

Did you know? In 1880, Woolworths first sold manufactured Christmas tree ornaments, and they caught on very quickly. Martin Luther, in the 16th century, is credited as being the first person to put candles on a tree, and the first electrically lighted Christmas tree appeared in 1882.

Did you know? In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations—these “bell-ringers” have been with us in American cities ever since.

Holiday Servitude...

2010-12-21T10:01:00.004-06:00

What did Christmas mean to those whose greatest gift would be freedom? Were slaves even able to enjoy the holiday? Some realized a temporary break from the backbreaking work of everyday life. For others, it was just another day of servitude.

Here are three different accounts of Christmas in the 1800s as seen through the eyes of Texas slaves (as taken from the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-38):

—”Every Christmas ‘fore ole marster die he fix me up a tree out in de woods. Dey put popco’n on it to trim it and dey give me sometime a purty dress or shoes and plenty candy and maybe a big, red apple…” Mandy Hadnot, Cold Springs

—”’Come Christmas,’ Miss Ellen say, ‘Harriet, carry de Christmas tree in and de holly and evergreens.’ Den she puts de candles on de tree and hangs de stockin’s up for de white chillen and de black chillen.” Harriet Jones, Clarksville

—”De only frolics I ’member was candy pullin’s on Christmas. Dat all us...knowed ’bout Christmas.” Emma Watson, Ellis Co.

Did you know? Christmas was recognized as a legal holiday in Texas in 1879.

The Prairie Dogs are Coming...the Prairie Dogs are Coming!

2010-12-15T08:57:00.004-06:00

Greetings, Village People!

We are sooooooooooo excited to have our friends the Prairie Dogs (from the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society) out here to show us their skills again this January! As a bonus, they are hosting mini-demos throughout their visit to help enhance your dutch oven cooking skills. The demo schedule is below...

Mark your calendar...

January 8, 1-4ish p.m.

Temperature Control and Dutch ovens: 1:30 p.m.
How To Care For Cast Iron - 2 p.m.
Brief History of the Dutch Oven - 2:30 p.m.
Pie Crust Making Class - 3 p.m.
How To Care For Cast Iron - 3:45 p.m.
Temperature Control and Dutch ovens: 4:15 p.m.

Cost is regular Village admission. We hope to see you here!

Please note: we will be closed for winter maintenance December 24-January 7. We will reopen on January 8 at 1 p.m.

The one about the reed organ top going on exhibit...

2010-12-10T10:02:00.012-06:00

Hallelujah! The reed organ top is now on exhibit in the Tompkins Cabin!

So how did we get from a piece stored in the owner's shed to an artifact on exhibit at a museum? Come with us on this journey...

In September of 2010, the Village was contacted by Wanda Pyburn via her local property custodian Marlin Rogers. Mr. Rogers told us that Ms. Pyburn, now living in Indiana, was interested in donating a beautiful piece--a top from a 19th c. reed organ. The organ had been separated from the top some years ago, but the top remained in the family. Ms. Pyburn generously wanted to share her family heirloom with visitors to Log Cabin Village rather than continue to have it stored in her garage/shed. We took legal temporary custody of the organ top on September 17. More permanent custody would have to wait until Ms. Pyburn was able to mail her signed Deed of Gift forms from Indiana to the Village. Legal custody was officially transferred when Museum Director Kelli Pickard signed our copy of the Deed of Gift on October 12, 2010.

So now the piece was ours. Since it had been stored in a garage/shed, it needed a little TLC. First, we vacuumed it with a special artifact vacuum designed to have enough suction to be useful, but not so much that it would damage the organ top. Then, 2 TCC volunteers applied 3-4 coats of a special wax designed to clean, protect, and preserve the artifact. We completed the cataloguing process, carefully numbering, photographing, measuring, and noting the general condition of the reed organ top. These photos and notes will be useful in measuring and observing how the artifact ages over time, and whether or not subsequent conservation will need to take place to preserve the organ top.

The piece has a truly fascinating provenance (object location/use history) provided by Ms. Pyburn. The reed organ top was brought to Texas from Bloomington, IN, around the end of the American Civil War (c. mid-1860s) by J.C. (Jim) Blankenship (b. 1849), the donor's great grandfather. He married [Mary Evaline?] Blankenship after her first husband came back from the war and died driving cattle to pasture in New Mexico [?}. They gave birth to Mary Evaline, the donor's grandmother. When Mary Evaline (donor's grandmother) married Tom Carl in 1901, she brought the reed organ top to their home. James Thomas Carl was the second child born to Mary Evaline in 1903, and the donor was born to James Thomas Carl in 1926. Some of donor's (Ms. Pyburn) earliest memories of the reed organ top concern watching Tom "strop" his straight razor on the back porch of their Pettys Chapel (4 miles from Corsicana), TX, house, then shave, looking into the small mirror on the front of the piece. The leather strop he used hung from the shelf and his shaving mug and razor were stored on it.

In addition, while the piece was being catalogued, we made an exciting discovery--a maker's mark stamped on the back of the mirror glass:

J.C. Widman & Co.
Manufacturer of Hall Furniture & Fixtures
{obscured} Cor. 15th St.
{obscured} MICH

Per Coachbuilt.com, we were able to discover the following information from this maker's mark:

Christian Widman, a German cabinetmaker, emigrated to the United States during the mid 1800s and established a small furniture shop in Rochester, New York. Business prospered, and he married Rosalie (Seifried) Widman, producing a son, name John Charles Widman, born in 1848, who learned the craft and took over the business in 1872.

A cousin, C.D. Widman, had established a cabinetmaker’s shop in Detroit, Michigan in 1864 and invited John Charles to join him, which he did. John Charles returned to Rochester after a few short years, and began a new career in the grocery business. However, he returned to Detroit 10 years later to assume the presidency of his cousin’s furniture factory when C.D. became ill. During the ensuing years, C.D. Widman & Co. had grown to become one of Detroit’s largest parlor furniture manufacturers, and their mirrors, hall furniture, china closets, buffets and chevals could be found in the home of Detroit’s finest citizens.

The Widman plant was located at the corner of Trombly and Orleans St., a few blocks away from the Anderson Electric Car Co./Towson Body Co. in the neighborhood that adjoins the present-day Cadillac Hamtramck assembly plant.

Albert U. Widman, the son of C.D. Widman, joined his father’s business about 1890 as a salesman, and within ten years had become it superintendent, and manager. He was assisted by longtime employees Sylvester L. Rich and James W. Ailes.

Sylvester L. Rich joined C.D. Widman in 1870 as an assistant shipping clerk, was advanced successively as molding finisher, foreman, superintendent, general manager, secretary and treasurer, and finally vice president and treasurer. James W. Ailes joined C.D. Widman in 1877 as a salesman, and worked his way up the corporate ladder, and became the firm’s president in 1900 when John Charles Widman, left to form J.C. Widman & Co. after a disagreement with the firm’s board of directors.

The new J.C. Widman & Co was located at the intersection of 15th St., Kirby St. and the Grand Trunk Railroad line in Detroit, Michigan, a few blocks west of the Wayne State University campus. It was incorporated in April of 1905, with John Charles Widman as president – treasurer, and his son, C. David Widman, as secretary. The firm prospered and within a few short years warerooms had been established in New York City and Chicago.

Since the organ top, per the donor's provenance and other artifact clues, is early-mid-19th c., this tells us that the mirror was replaced at a later date (1905 or shortly after). Other mysteries remain (i.e. if the piece was in Texas at the time the mirror was replaced, did they get it on a family visit to Indiana/Michigan and bring it back? Did the piece travel again? Was the mirror mail-ordered or shipped by relatives?). These questions may never be answered, but it's fun to speculate.

We decided to exhibit the organ top in the Tompkins Cabin, and to honor Ms. Pyburn's fantastic memories by interpreting it as a piece used for shaving. In this photo (and when you see it in person), you will see the shaving mug, brush, a leather strop (from our existing collection), and a straight razor (also from our existing collection) just as she described them.

So what do you think?

Changing holiday traditions...

2010-12-01T16:19:00.003-06:00

Children 250 years ago were viewed differently than children today. They were expected to work hard, speak little, and perform tasks as if they were miniature adults. However, the family became a little less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas and Chanukah provided families with opportunities to lavish attention—and gifts—on their children without appearing to "spoil" them.

As settlers began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built traditions all their own that included pieces of many other customs. Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented the holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.
— http://www.historychannel.com/

Did you know? French settlers started the “romance season” with taffy pulling on November 25. Huge taffy pulls, or bees, allowed young men and women to meet each other before the start of the holiday season. The taffy pull ended with dinner and dancing.

November and December events...

2010-11-16T13:23:00.003-06:00

We have lots of exciting things planned...we hope to see you here!

November 20 & 21, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

November 27, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

November 28, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

December 3, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
9 a.m.-noon
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

December 12 & 18, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

December 18, 2010
HOLIDAYS AT THE HEARTH
1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

The story of Jack...

2010-10-21T15:49:00.003-05:00

Photo courtesy soozums on Flickr

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

The legend of the jack o'lantern originated around a man nicknamed Stingy Jack. According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him. When the time came to pay for the drinks, Stingy Jack decided he didn’t want to, so he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin. The devil obliged, but instead of paying for the drinks Stingy Jack put the coin in his pocket next to a crucifix preventing the devil from returning to his original form. Jack eventually freed the devil under two conditions; he would not bother Jack for one year and that in the event of Jack’s death he would not claim his soul. The next year Jack again tricked the devil into climbing a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While the devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the truck of the tree, trapping the devil until he promised not to bother him for ten years. Soon after, Jack died. God was unwilling to grant such a mischievous character access to Heaven. Keeping to his word the devil refused to claim Jack’s soul. So, the devil sent Jack wandering in the darkness with only a burning coal to light his way, which Jack placed inside a hollowed out turnip. The Irish referred to him as Jack of the lantern, then simply Jack o’lantern.

Sugar, sugar...

2010-10-21T15:41:00.002-05:00

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

An extensive amount of capital was needed to grow and harvest sugarcane. In 1850, the average acreage of the 35 sugar plantations in Texas was 12,198 ac. A plantation owner needed more workers to grow and harvest sugarcane than any other Texas crop. Despite this, low cotton prices and wet weather caused some farmers to turn to sugarcane in 1849. In 1852 Texas produced in largest pre-civil war crop of 11,000 hogsheads (63 gallons of cane juice).

Plantation workers began the harvesting season by cutting down the sugarcane plant with cane knives. They were cut off at the ground because the lower portions of the plant contained the richest sugar. Once the sugarcane was cut, it was sent to a sugar house. The sugar house would press the sugarcane to remove the juice, which can be refined to make sugar or the byproduct molasses.

Did you know? The Imperial Sugar Company is the oldest extant business in Texas. Since 1843 it has continuously operated on the same site and produced the same products, refined sugar and blackstrap molasses.

Separating the wheat from the chaff...

2010-10-21T15:34:00.003-05:00

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

Wheat was introduced in north Texas by settlers in 1833. However, before the 1850s, the remoteness of farmers from large markets limited the wheat produced in Texas. Texas is said to have only produced 42,000 bushels of wheat in 1850. In 1858 Texas produce 2 million bushels of wheat due to a rapid increase of immigrants. Due to the low maintenance of growing, high crop yields, and the ease of cultivation, wheat quickly became a popular crop in north Texas.

The first step in harvest was to reap the wheat using a scythe. After the wheat had been cut, the grain must be removed from the stem of the plant. This was done by beating the grain heads on the ground and or beating them with a flail. This was called threshing. The wheat was then separated from the remaining chaff (straw-like stems and debris) through a process called winnowing. Winnowing entailed tossing the wheat and chaff into the air, and catching the wheat seeds while letting the chaff blow away and drop to the ground.

Did you know? On average, one bushel of wheat contains approximately one million kernels and weighs 60 pounds.

Pumpkins

2010-10-21T15:24:00.003-05:00

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

The pumpkin is a fruit belonging to the gourd and squash family. The word pumpkin comes from the Greek word pepon, meaning large melon. The French adapted the word to pompon, which was then adapted to the English word pumpion. American colonists eventually changed the word to pumpkin. Although the origin of the “pumpkin” is not definitively known, it is believed to have originated in Central America between 7000-5500 BCE and brought to North America by indigenous tribes. Known as isqoutm squash to the Native Americas, strips of pumpkin were dried and used as sleeping mats or a source of food.

Did you know? In the 19th century, pumpkins were thought to cure snake bites, facial wrinkles and freckles.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

2010-10-21T10:14:00.011-05:00

When visitors tell me they haven't been to Log Cabin Village in ten or twenty years, my first response typically sounds something like, "well everything's the same but different." Sure, they'll recognize the iconic log structures and perhaps some of the crafts demonstrated, but the Village itself is a living, breathing, dynamic museum.

Exhibits change based on a number of factors. Sometimes we acquire "new" artifacts. Other times we learn new information that can change our interpretation of a structure. Sometimes we just get bored with how the furniture is arranged. We've made changes because of visitor interest (i.e. converting the Seela to a hands-on cabin) and because of massive rehabilitation (i.e. the Howard Cabin). We've also made changes to protect artifacts (i.e. moving the trunk away from a light source in the Parker bedroom).

Recently we changed a couple more areas within the museum.

The first example falls into the "new information" category. The Tompkins Cabin, as you may remember if you've visited, used to have a large ladder leading up to the loft. When we recently uncovered (through new research) that family members actually accessed the loft by jumping up from the foot of the bed to the nightstand and up. This made the loft truly hidden!

Old configuration of the Tompkins Cabin--ladder on left, bed turned

New configuration of Tompkins. Note hole for loft up above...

Farther away...view of full foot of the bed.

Not only does this new configuration conform to the new historical evidence we uncovered, it also, handily, gives our historical interpreters greater freedom of movement and better access to help keep the cabin safe and clean. Win-win! Plus, it helps freshen both the interpretation and the visitor experience.

Our second recent project was borne of necessity. Our hall light over our guest register in the Foster House burnt out for the 102nd time, this time destroying its electrical cord. Amidst discussions about what to do about replacing it, we decided that perhaps it was time to change things up a bit.

We switched the location of the pie safe and the guest register table. Voila! A new configuration that provided great lighting for our guest register and low light (for preservation) for the pie safe emerged. We love it! We even moved the donation box over to the guest area to facilitate free movement through this main hall/Village access point.

Pie safe in new location

New guest register location right outside museum store

Donation box with "visitor information center"

So as you can see, rather than being afraid of change, we openly embrace it. This capacity for change is what will enable us to connect visitors with the past for generations to come.

Corn is A-Maizing!

2010-10-20T12:54:00.003-05:00

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

Corn, sometimes referred to as maize, was second in importance only to cotton in Texas. The ear of corn is the flower or bloom portion of the corn stalk. The process of harvesting corn begins by picking the ears by hand. Once the ears have been removed from the stalk, the outer covering or husk must be removed. After the corn has been shucked, the kernels are removed by a process known as shelling. Unlike cotton, the majority of corn produced in Texas was consumed locally as food and fodder (animal feed). In 1849 Texas produced 5,978,000 bushels of corn, 25 times more than other grain crops; by 1859 the number had risen to 16 million bushels (48 ears per bushel). We’ll let you do the math.

Did you know? 19th century Texans used corn cobs for bottle stoppers, pipes, tool handles, torches, fishing floats, firewood, and meat smoking fuel.

Using a corn sheller at Log Cabin Village--Fort Worth, TX from logcabinvillage on Vimeo.

King Cotton...

2010-10-20T12:46:00.003-05:00

Cotton press

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

Anglo-American farmers first began cultivating cotton in the Texas region in 1821. Cotton quickly became the leading crop in Texas farming. From 1849 to 1859 cotton production in Texas rose from 58,073 bales to 431,645 bales. With a long growing season, and the constant need for weeding the crop, maintenance and upkeep of cotton was a year round ordeal, hence the reason many cotton growers resorted to slave labor. Once the cotton was harvested by hand, it was sent to the ginning house to have the lint separated from the seeds. Cotton lint was then pressed into bales weighing 500 lbs. by a screw press. By 1880, Texas became the top cotton producing state in the union. Most cotton produced in Texas was exported to other states like California, where in 1850 Levi Strauss created cotton Levi jeans selling for $13.50 a dozen.
--Handbook of Texas & Texas roots

Did you know? Originally cotton was grown in several different colors, including rust and light purple. Eventually white was adopted as the primary color to streamline the manufacturing process.

Harvest

2010-10-20T12:40:00.003-05:00

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

Harvesting is the gathering of crops, which takes place when crops reach the height of their quality and maturity. In the mid-19th century Texas, this typically occurred in September and October. A successful harvest was essential in ensuring farmers had enough food to last through the winter. Although advancements had been made in farming equipment, rural 19th century Texas farmers were unable to acquire them due to the lack of railroads. Texas farmers had no other choice but to harvest crops by hand, meaning longer hours in the fields.

The completion of a successful harvest often meant an abundance of food and a temporary break from field work. Harvest festivals were celebrated by family, friends, and communities to give thanks for bountiful crops. Harvest festivals are celebrated throughout the world and in the United States. The most famous Harvest festival celebrated in the United States is Thanksgiving.

Did you know? The first official Thanksgiving Day holiday was proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863. In 1941, FDR signed a bill which fixed Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November.

Jeepers...Early Reapers...

2010-10-20T11:10:00.008-05:00

Early clay sickle from Mesopotamia

Information compiled and written by Miles Martin

After establishing permanent year round settlements, early Homo Sapiens developed agriculture as a means to sustain their new societies. From the Neolithic time period (8000-2000 BCE) until the present, agriculture has been one of the most important aspects in civilization. Some of the earliest known farming tools, called sickles, have been found in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) and date back to 5000 BCE. These rudimentary tools were used through the 19th century, only to be replaced by the scythe and eventually, steam powered farming equipment.

Scythe

Although the form of the sickle has changed throughout time, the function has not. Sickles were hand held farming tools used to cut hay and harvest grains such as wheat. In 19th century Texas, sickles and scythes consisted of a wooden handle connected to a sharpened crescent shaped piece of metal. The farmer would secure a bundle of grain in one hand, while swinging the blade toward the base of the crop with the other.

"Modern" sickle

Did you know? Sickles made from animal horns, shoulder blades, and jaw bones have all been discovered in America...

Flurry of posts...

2010-10-20T10:34:00.005-05:00

We would like to apologize in advance for the flurry of blog posts about to take place. Even though we are a historical institution focusing on the past, we still have our eye on the future. As such, we are consistently working to implement new ideas to enhance visitor experience without taking away from our charming 19th c. aesthetic.

Our latest foray into 21st c. technology involves the use of QR codes to disseminate information. By employing the use of these codes, we will be able to provide additional information about various topics to visitors without the use of large, distracting signs on site. Instead, participants will be able to scan the codes with a reader-enabled smartphone or other device and have the information right at his/her fingertips.

So how does this relate to the flurry of blog posts? QR codes need a "place" to be directed to. Each blog post will serve as that "place." When a visitor on-site scans the QR code on our signs, they will be directed to one of these blog posts on their mobile device. As a reader at home, you will receive these via e-mail or RSS feed.

This first series was researched and put together by one of our talented TCC volunteers, Miles Martin. He put this information together to tie in with Saturday's upcoming event, "Jeepers Reapers!" Thanks for your hard work, Miles!

Now that explanations are out of the way...ENJOY!

October and November events...

2010-10-14T11:01:00.003-05:00

Mark your calendars!

October 17, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

October 22, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Anansi Does the Impossible: An Ashanti Tale retold by Verna Aardema. The adventures of Anansi the spider continue with this delightful tale from our West African ancestors about securing folktales for the people. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

October 23, 2010
JEEPERS REAPERS!
1-4 p.m.
We just celebrated Harvest Homecoming, but now it’s time to reap what we’ve sown! Experience grinding grain by hand, thresh wheat, mix masa, press tortillas and more. Then we’ll use corn husks to make dolls! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 craft fee to make a corn husk doll.

November 14 & 28, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

November 13 & 14, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

November 19, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story by Roberta Karim. Frontier days are brought to life through a series of riddles in this charming story about a 19th century family. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

November 20 & 21, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

November 27, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

So much to say!

2010-10-07T12:45:00.007-05:00

Wow! We truly have a TON of exciting things happening around here! Where to begin...

We were honored to recently receive a Preservation Award from Historic Fort Worth, Inc., for the Howard Cabin restoration. This award recognizes "excellence in the restoration, rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of historic buildings or sites."

We are once again nominated as "Best Historical Attraction" in Metroplex Baby's "Best of the Metroplex" awards. Would you please vote for us in this next and final round?

We've got some exciting "new" artifacts, including a beautiful kerosene lamp and a piece from a reed organ. Be watching for the reed organ piece to go on exhibit soon!

In November, you have FOUR OPPORTUNITIES to come dip your own candles to take home with you! That's right...FOUR!

For the first time, we'll be offering photos with a historic St. Nicholas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first Friday in December!

Buttermilk Junction continues to delight visitors with their amazing music. Come check them out!

In addition to all this excitement, we're planning a phenomenal January-June lineup that will include The Lone Star Dutch Oven Society, Woodworking, a Homeschool Day, the Lone Star Leather Crafters, The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, Boy and Girl Scout activities, summer camps, Cooking, Coopering, Blacksmithing...the list goes on and on!

We're shaking things up around here...so STAY TUNED!

We get by with a little help from our friends...

2010-10-01T15:29:00.004-05:00

Do you ever have something really cool going on? Something you keep meaning to tell people about, but then the phone rings, or an e-mail comes in, or you have to take a cat to the vet (not kidding)? Well...I'm finally sitting down to tell you about that cool something we have going on!

Andre applies Renaissance Wax to a pump organ top

Y'all may remember that last spring we started a service-learning partnership with Tarrant County College--Trinity River Campus. We have been fortunate to continue the partnership this semester, and we're enjoying volunteer service from some truly incredible students!

Miles assembles our spinning wheel

Thus far we've had TCCers raking leaves and removing debris from around cabins, greeting visitors at Harvest Homecoming, inventorying and cleaning artifacts, "waxing" one of our new acquisitions (more on that in the future), census research, and even assembling our new traveling spinning wheel (also more on that in the future)! What's even more fun is that we've got a couple students who are considering museum careers. We LOVE spreading the museum geekdom!

We also will be hosting a TCC blog post series. Students are researching various topics and writing blog entries that will be featured here later. Stay tuned!

Frog Fridays...

2010-09-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

Are you a fan of TCU? We're giving 50% off Village admission on Fridays to anyone wearing purple. Go Frogs!

Spread the word!

Harvest Homecoming/Day in the District!

2010-09-22T08:17:00.003-05:00

Helloooooooooo blog friends! It's almost here...our BIGGEST event of the YEAR! And it will happen RAIN or SHINE!

When: Saturday, September 25, 2010, noon-4 p.m.

Where: Log Cabin Village (and Fort Worth's Cultural District)

Saturday, September 25, we'll open one hour early so that you have more time for the fun. And it's all FREE! We'll have Buttermilk Junction, the Lone Star Leather Crafters, Silversmyths, woodworkers, the Panther City Regulators, the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, and our own merry Village People here to educate, celebrate, and have a great time!

Won't you join us?

Be sure to check out other Day in the District venues as well!

We do it for you...

2010-08-19T08:24:00.007-05:00

"Interesting!"

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

"Amazing!"

"Wanted my kids to see and learn local history."

"Great info!"

"Very fun...I'd like to stay here!!"

"Awesome!"

"Very authentic. Liked it very much!"

"Very good, thank you. :)"

"Very nice."

"Enjoyed!"

"Just loved it!"

"Wonderful exhibit!"

"A good little adventure!"

--August 10-18, 2010, guest register comments. Visitors hailed from Fort Worth, Mansfield, Arlington, Burleson, Denton, Frisco, Keller, Plano, Wichita Falls, Friona, Lubbock, Dublin, Haltom City, Colleyville, Weatherford, & Springtown, Texas, and Oklahoma, Florida, Japan, Delaware, Australia, California, Alabama, and Minnesota in this 8 day period

Why do we do it? Why do our historical interpreters get up every morning, dress in 19th century-style clothing, leave their air-conditioned homes with television and cushy recliners and drive to the Village to spend their days in 100+ degree heat? Why do our professional staff members develop programs, preserve artifacts, wrestle with budgets, and manage daily operations?

You. We do it because of you.

We do it for the kid who walks in the front door and gasps, saying, "WOW!" We do it for the mom, who is looking for a place to let her toddlers burn off a little energy while learning about life long ago. We do it for the historian, who has read about cabin-building in books but has never put his/her hand into the broadax marks that scar the cabin walls...until now.

We do it for the souls seeking respite in the shady, wooded, peaceful grounds. We do it for the teachers wanting to make history come alive for their students. We do it for the visitors from Texas, the United States, North America, and the world. We do it for the harried parents who couldn't get into the zoo and stumbled across the street to discover us. We do it for the families who take time out from their busy days to just be with each other, no modern distractions, no cars, no rush. We do it for all these and more.

We do it for you.

We're a little selfish, though. We also do it because we feel a deep connection to history and our own personal stories. We love seeing children's faces light up when they understand a new concept. We enjoy hearing the whoosh of the waterwheel, the flowing of the stream, the ping of the anvil, and the ringing of the school bell. We love helping families reconnect: with nature, with history, with each other.

We draw relaxation from demonstrating lost arts--weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing... We love hearing the laughter of children and adults as they try out a new skill. Shivers run down our backs when we rescue a treasured artifact from decay. We feel duty-bound to keep our ancestors memories alive, lest we forget. We want these structures, these artifacts, these stories, to live forever.

So paying bills, cleaning signs, designing exhibits and programs, putting on the dresses, bonnets, vests, and suspenders isn't an option: it's an obligation.

And we do it for you.

Upcoming closure...

2010-08-17T10:36:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder, we will be closed from August 23-September 6 for annual summer maintenance. We use this time to help keep the site looking great for y'all!

Projects on tap for this closure include: mowing, weedeating, cleaning, laundry, deadlimbing, new post and cable down Log Cabin Village Lane, and MORE!

I, personally, will be using a lot of the time to work on our hands-on cabin. Look for new "food" items, activities, pump gaskets, and more! After three years in operation, the hands-on cabin needs freshening up a bit...

I also plan to finalize some of our fall/winter programming plans. We hope that you'll be excited about the events we plan to offer!

So we may be closed to visitors during this time, but we will certainly be abuzz with activity! Stay tuned...

3 Questions--Steven

2010-08-10T11:27:00.002-05:00

This video is the second in a series introducing visitors to our "Village People" here at Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth, TX. This clip features "craftsman extraordinaire" Steven (with a cameo by Taffy the cat). By the way, I apologize for my (the educator's) choppy video editing. I'm learning as I go. :)

3 Questions--Kelli Pickard

2010-08-02T08:35:00.004-05:00

You know...we have really cool 19th century buildings, fascinating artifacts, and an amazingly beautiful wooded setting. But you know what we also consider one of our greatest assets? Our PEOPLE! We thought you might enjoy getting to know them better!

This video is the first in a series introducing visitors to our "Village People" here at Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth, TX. This clip features Museum Director Kelli Pickard.

Our fall line-up...

2010-07-20T12:58:00.003-05:00

Just to keep you in the loop, we have a TON of exciting activities going on around here this fall--including FOUR opportunities to dip candles! We can't wait to see you here!

Looking for daily updates/interaction? Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

August 23-September 6, 2010
CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE

September 17, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured stories: Tortillas and Lullabies by Lynn Reiser and The Copper Tin Cup by Carole Lexa Schaefer. How can the objects we treasure bring back powerful memories? Learn with two wonderful stories about the continuity of family and our heirlooms. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

September 25, 2010
HARVEST HOMECOMING
Noon-4 p.m.
No admission charge for this day only!!! Celebrate Fort Worth’s “Day in the District” at the Village! Enjoy a day full of music, crafts, living history and activities for the whole family. This is the Village's biggest event of the year! No reservations required.

October 22, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Anansi Does the Impossible: An Ashanti Tale retold by Verna Aardema. The adventures of Anansi the spider continue with this delightful tale from our West African ancestors about securing folktales for the people. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

October 23, 2010
JEEPERS REAPERS!
1-4 p.m.
We just celebrated Harvest Homecoming, but now it’s time to reap what we’ve sown! Experience grinding grain by hand, thresh wheat, mix masa, press tortillas and more. Then we’ll use corn husks to make dolls! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 craft fee to make a corn husk doll.

November 13 & 14, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

November 19. 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story by Roberta Karim. Frontier days are brought to life through a series of riddles in this charming story about a 19th century family. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

November 20 & 21, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

December 18, 2010
HOLIDAYS AT THE HEARTH
1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

Had it not been for Cotton-Eyed Joe...

2010-07-13T08:32:00.004-05:00

You can blame cotton for a lot of things. An all-cotton garment will shrink in hot water. In raw form, cotton bolls can scratch your hands. And cotton provides the perfect nesting ground for a nasty little critter called the boll weevil.

The boll weevil is so despised and feared, that southern states have formed "boll weevil eradication zones." Here's what the Handbook of Texas Online has to say about this snarly little pest:

"The boll weevil is a snout beetle (Anthonomus grandis) first named by Carl H. Boheman, a Swedish systematist. He assumed that the specimens came from Cuba, but modern research indicates that they were collected near Veracruz in 1840. Ancient specimens have been found from the earliest times in the valley of Mexico. The ravages of the insect have been known in Mexico for at least two millenia. American entomologists became aware of the boll weevil as a cotton pest as early as 1880, but its first introduction to Texas seems to have been announced by Charles W. DeRyee, a druggist of Corpus Christi, in a letter dated October 3, 1894. The insect, which proved to be one of the most devastating pests ever introduced to American agriculture, was definitely identified by Dr. Eugene A. Schwarz. The boll weevil is about one-fourth inch in length and changes from white to black as it matures. The beetles are susceptible to winter freezes, and those that survive hibernation emerge in the spring to feed for five or six weeks on the tender growth of young cotton plants. As the season progresses, they eat and lay eggs in the cotton buds and new bolls. Each punctured bud or boll falls to the ground and becomes food for the eggs that hatch in two or three days. The boll weevil migrated across the Rio Grande and had spread from the Valley to the Sabine and Red rivers by the beginning of the twentieth century. By 1903 it covered all of eastern Texas to the Edwards Plateau and by the 1920s had reached north and west to the High Plains, then encompassing all the geographic areas of Texas cotton production. Boll weevil infestation caused a steady drop in cotton yields over a thirty-year period. The greatest destruction was in the South Texas fields. In 1904 an estimated 700,000 bales were lost to the boll weevil, at a cost of $42 million. Damage that resulted in about a 6 percent yield reduction in 1910 leaped to a 34 percent reduction in 1921. Fifty-three years later the per-acre yield reduction due to boll weevils still hovered at 7 percent and cost an estimated $260 million.

Unlike many other insects, the boll weevil was resistant to conventional insecticides, poisons, and then-known antipest practices. Its spread from Mexico depended on a combination of appropriate weather conditions and cultivation practices, coupled with a shortage of cotton gins. Cotton bolls with seed were often transported from the lower Rio Grande valley to gins as far north as Alice, and this practice may have contributed to the spread of the weevil. Basic information on the relationship of the boll weevil to the cotton plant and other cultivated plants was explored by C. H. Tyler Townsend, one of the many colorful personalities involved in the early fight against the boll weevil. Townsend was an official of the United States Department of Agriculture who traveled through southern Texas in 1894 and reported as much as 90 percent crop damage in that area. In 1899 the state appointed Frederick W. Mally, an entomologist, to direct state efforts to combat the insect. Mally launched a cultivation plan intended to produce crops early, before the weevils multiplied. But record freezes that delayed early planting, heavy rainfall, and the great Galveston hurricane of 1900 all combined to help spread the boll weevil in spite of Mally's brilliant but seriously underfunded labors.

In 1901 E. Dwight Sanderson succeeded Mally as state entomologist. He continued many of Mally's programs, but in addition the Texas legislature chose to offer a $50,000 prize for discovery of a way to rid Texas of the boll weevil."

Why my sudden interest in boll weevils, you ask?

Because, after posting our growing crops the other day, I received this e-mail from a colleague at Dallas Heritage Village:

"So I was catching up on my RSS feeds and noticed that you guys are growing cotton. Yeah cotton!

Question: did you have to do anything special to get permission to grow cotton? I know there are rules with the whole boll weevil eradication stuff..."

My reply? OOPS!

So it turns out that Tarrant County actually IS in a boll weevil eradication zone...which means, among other things, that we cannot grow cotton on site without a permit. This is yet another example of how complicated it can be presenting "the past" within modern constraints.

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Fortunately our cotton has not produced, and more than likely wasn't going to produce, because today our cotton will be liberated (pulled) so that we are in compliance.

But we had a good run! And I learned a LOT about cotton-growing in Texas.

And we're not ashamed to admit when we're wrong...

Summertime...

2010-07-08T14:20:00.004-05:00

Cotton is risin'...

Cucumber's are bloomin'...

Squash is blossomin'

The corn's all ears...

It's summertime...

Cooking Camp on Community Cable

2010-06-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

Interested in seeing footage from our recent cooking camp? Fort Worth's Community Cable Channel 31 will be featuring a dedicated show! Show times can be found here... (expand date selection and search for "cooking.")

Some sample dishes and delicacies of Spanish Colonial Texas

2010-06-25T10:32:00.004-05:00

Article 3 in a series about historic foodways of the Camino Real de Los Tejas by Richard G. Santos, an international research historian, linguist and educator based in San Antonio, Texas. If you have family recipes to share, please send these recipes and memories of home cooked meals to richardgsantos@yahoo.com.

The other two articles can be found here...

Enjoy!

3 Some Sample Dishes and Delicacies of Spanish Colonial Texas

4th of July weekend schedule...

2010-06-24T11:01:00.002-05:00

Greetings, Village People!

Just wanted to let you know that we'll be closed for furlough on Friday, July 2nd, due to City of Fort Worth budget cuts. We will, however, be open on Saturday, July 3rd, from 1-5 p.m., and Sunday, July 4th, from 1-5 p.m. As always, we are closed on Mondays.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Woodworkers working wood...

2010-06-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

Great photos from yesterday's Woodworking summer camp! Enjoy...

Reminder...event this Saturday!

2010-06-17T07:39:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder...we have our historic Toys and Games event on Saturday! Here are more details:

June 19, 2010

IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES

1-4 p.m.

Come and play games the way Texans did in the 1800s. We'll have rolling hoops, Jacob’s Ladders, buzz saws, graces, mancala, jacks, and more! You can even make your own toy to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee.

Cooking Camp 2010!

2010-06-16T11:13:00.002-05:00

Last week we enjoyed the company of seven lovely young ladies as we hosted our annual "Whatcha Got Cooking?" summer camp? In three hours time, these ladies prepared a full meal of roast chicken with herbs, pinto beans, fried potatoes, cornbread, and apple crisp from scratch over a fire pit. They, of course, had a "little" help from our head fire pit chef Fred and historical interpreters Linda and Marcela.

Enjoy these photos!

Uncovering the Past...

2010-06-15T11:54:00.007-05:00

One of the greatest benefits of social media is the ability to truly reach out and connect with individuals you might not otherwise have had meaningful contact with. We've enjoyed making "friends" with people from Indiana to Ireland. We've gained new museum colleagues, exchanged ideas with artists and artisans, given and gotten advice, and shared exciting victories and deep sorrows.

Sometimes you encounter a story that really touches you because you've touched someone else. The other day, when we posted a link to a story about the discovery of a rare photograph of slave children on Facebook, Kelly Hunt reached out sharing compelling stories of her own ancestors--a past concealed in prior generations because of prejudice, hatred, lack of opportunity, and fear. Kelly, by all indications a white woman, is partially descended from black slaves.

And so, in her own words, here's Kelly's story about discovering her roots:

I also have a disk with pictures of my Slave Families graves in West Virginia, and some homes they lived in...the land they were deeded.

How this came about- I'll try to be brief and direct and you may quote me or paraphrase; I had my geneology done about 15 years ago by a friend. She mailed me her work, and put a message to call her before I reviewed it. You see, I grew up thinking my family was Caucasian. I made the call and she asked; "Are you sitting down?"... As we reviewed Death Certificates and Census records, she asked me to tell her what I was seeing. The answer was; "Negro, Black, Slaves... over and over". It was a big surprise! To be honest, I was elated- I KNEW deep down that my dark hair, eyes and olive skin had to be from something other than the English/Irish ancestory that I had been told about by my parents and grandparents.

What I didn't realize was- My Maternal Grandfather- Vernon Mayfield, was half black. In the 1920s that was still considered BLACK, as it is today. The *one drop rule* was still in effect, and even though I only carry remnants of my African heritage, I would not have been accepted in White society then, if anyone knew of my family. My Grandfather had VERY dark skin. I often used to ask him about it and he would make jokes. But despite his dark skin, he had very Caucasian features that allowed him to pass himself off as white. He married my White Grandmother, (not legal at that time), and because he taught himself to fly Bi-Planes in the late 20s and early 30s, he landed a job at American Airlines as a pilot. Again, they thought he was white. He would have not been considered for employment by American or any other Airlines as a Pilot had they known. He retired after 35 years from American as a Captain.

I was rather enthusiastic about this discovery and quickly began calling all my Oliver-Mayfield family to tell them about it. We had a holiday gathering shortly thereafter, and I found some of my family as excited about this as I was, and wanted to know all the details. Others...not so much. They really couldn't believe I was talking about this out loud, and a few were in complete denial. Over time I have learned more about racism and its ugly grip on humanity than I ever wanted to know. Until then- racism was something I had vowed as a young girl to never participate in. I grew up in the 60s and 70s when racial tension was again at a peak. I had friends of every color! But to imagine that one day I would be standing in a group of Caucasian peers, only to hear a racist comment or joke was unthinkable, but it happens all the time. They have no idea who they are insulting. Not just me, but generations of my family who had to endure being someone else's property, had no rights, were thought of as second class, and couldn't even vote. They insult my Grandparents who had a tough decision to make- Stay *Black* and endure, or *Pass* and give your children opportunities because society will see them as second-class? The fear they must have faced worrying about someone finding out their secret must have been a constant burden.

But by finding out about Sarah & Bartimus Oliver, and all the details of how and where they lived- I feel like I've liberated them, and all the needless shame that has followed their legacy. I feel like I know them personally.

I'll include pictures and details on finding slave ancestory in an e-mail later this evening.
I've included a picture of my Mother as a girl. (She's with her pet crow) If you look at her arms, you will see the vitiligo that she and I both had as young girls. It is common in people of mixed heritage.

Here is one of the Census Records. I hope it comes through clear enough. It's from 1900 Wetzel County West Virginia. It shows hand written names of my family members. These are Sarah Oliver's son and his family. This is the actual copy of the hand written Census. If you look in the 3rd column, you will see a *B* beside everyones name. This stands for Black.

Census records were often recorded incorrectly. Some people easily passed as white, while others who were perhaps Native American or Jew were put down as Black simply because they didn't have enough catagories. That is why the Emancipation Document was so important. It clarified our history.

I apologize that it's not any better detailed, my scanner is small and won't take a document that large. I took these pics with my camera.

Thank you SO much for your interest!

Here is a great picture of my Grandfather: Vernon H. Mayfield. It was for 25 years of service with American Airlines. You can clearly see his coloring, and that is not a tan:-)

My Grandfather (whom I called affectionatley; "Daddy Slim") was also known as "Slim Mayfield", as he was rather tall, at about 6'2".

Daddy Slim was buried in his American Airlines Captain's uniform. It only seemed fitting.

Noone knew (including his children) of his heritage. He took it to the grave. It was only through rigorous digging into the past, that this was discovered. We had always speculated on his heritage, and he often made jokes that he was perhaps *Mexican* (his own words), or he'd say "I'm just an old Cajun", suggesting some mixed, or french ancestory?

My father (his son-in-law) told me that he once told him a story of seeing an Uncle *Lynched* (again, his wording) as a child and what a horrible thing that was for a child to witness. Now, with all our modern technology, we can piece together the patches of our past like a quilt that tells a story of who our family was, and how we came to be.

I want to encourage people to dig into their own treasure trove of personal history... I want those who are descendants of slaves to live in such a way that validates their families sacrifices, and I also want to do my part to stamp out racism.

I have to say that knowing my history has helped me help others view *color* as something that just makes us unique, not separate. We are all equal.

Like I said- You may condense this as you see fit. I thank you for indulging my story.

You have my permission to use my documents, name and story. I want to help others find their own heritage.

--Kelly Hunt

Thanks to Kelly for sharing her riveting story! In light of Juneteenth this coming weekend, it is especially timely!

If you have a story you'd like to share, let us know!

Extend your Little House experience!

2010-06-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

Did you go see Little House at Bass Hall? Extend your log cabiney good time by coming out to the Village! From now through June 30, 2010, you can bring your Little House on the Prairie: the Musical ticket stub in to Log Cabin Village for 50% off up to two admissions.

Hurry...this offer won't last long!

Great photos from the Star-Telegram!

2010-06-12T12:29:00.002-05:00

Please enjoy these great photos of the Howard Cabin and our Cooking Camp courtesy the Star-Telegram!

(and no, the Village itself was never closed. Just the Howard Cabin. But the photos are still great.)

Can you balance the City of Fort Worth's budget?

2010-06-09T09:20:00.003-05:00

Stay up to date with the City's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget process, and give your feedback by using the Budget Balancing Exercise or suggestion form. A public input meeting also is set for 6:30 p.m. June 22 at City Hall, with an informational open house beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Since we are proudly owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth, we thought that y'all might be interested in all of this information!

Here's your chance to try and balance the budget:

Budget Balancing Exercise

Little House in the Village...

2010-06-08T13:36:00.004-05:00

Every day is special here at Log Cabin Village. Today, however, was made just a bit MORE special because of the presence of some very special guests. As we've mentioned before, we've been partnering with Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (PAFW) to help promote Little House on the Prairie: The Musical playing from June 8-13 at Bass Performance Hall. We were beyond thrilled when PAFW asked if they could host their cast media day here at the Village.

In fine City of Fort Worth form, we even had Mayor Moncrief on hand to present a certificate and key to the City to Melissa Gilbert (playing "Ma") and other principal cast members, including Steve Blanchard (Pa), Kara Lindsey (Laura), Jessica Herschberg (Mary), and Anastasia Korbal (Carrie).

We were also pleased to host representatives from Trinity Habitat for Humanity, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and touring students from Faith Child Development Center.

And, of course, our very own pioneer Village People were present.

Thanks to everyone who made this a truly wonderful morning! Here are a few photos:

Students signing a stud to go into a Habitat home

Mayor Moncrief signs a stud

More student signing

Melissa Gilbert signing

Children from Faith Child Development Center

Trinity Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Gage Yager

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Director of Exhibits and Education Diane Vela

Melissa Gilbert

Mayor Moncrief hands out Molly pins to cast members

Mayor Moncrief presents the key to the City

Who wants to save money? hand shoots into the air

2010-06-03T12:34:00.002-05:00

Psssst...we've got a great deal for you. Our friends at Bass Hall and Trinity Habitat for Humanity asked us to share it with YOU...the friends and fans of Log Cabin Village.

Interested in seeing Little House on the Prairie, the Musical? Wanna save $20 per ticket?

Here you go.

The offer will be good for the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening performances of Little House. The discount will be for Orchestra level tickets - $20 off ($75 dollar ticket goes down to $55). This offer will be available online only.

Also, you can go to basshall.com and click on Little House on the Prairie, The Musical. Right below the show title, you will see “Please click here to enter a promotion code.” If you click there and enter HABITAT, and you will be directed to the discount page.

You're welcome. Now pass it on. It's the right thing to do.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

2010-06-03T08:34:00.006-05:00

Okay...so there's no chicken dinner. But we DO have FOUR tickets to opening night of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical at Bass Hall!

Drumroll, please...

Our winner is....

CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE...Loree Ellis!

Thanks to our wonderful entrants. Keep that Little House light burning bright!

This contest was made possible by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall).

One week left to win!

2010-05-25T14:37:00.003-05:00

Our entries for "show us your inner Little House" have been so great thus far!

Precious girls...Laura would be so proud

Darling! Love the color on this one...

Great pic! LOVE the bare feet!

Gorgeous dress...Ma would have been jealous...

And a fine silversmyth of our time period would definitely have been from Spain...AND male...

Have YOU entered our contest to win four tickets to Little House on the Prairie, the Musical at Bass Hall yet? You only have one more week!

To enter, send us a photo or video showing your frontier spirit. You can e-mail it, Tweet it, or post it on our Facebook wall. Time's running out!

Contest runs through June 2nd. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on June 3. Entrants must be 18 or older (although gratuitous use of adorable minor family members in your entry is encouraged). Log Cabin Village and Bass Hall staff and volunteers and their families may not enter the contest. Other restrictions may apply. All submissions will be posted on our social media sites. This contest is made possible by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall).

Fore! And furlough...

2010-05-24T08:33:00.003-05:00

Image from allthingsgolf.com

As a reminder, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial professional golf tournament is taking place across the street from Log Cabin Village. This means that traffic in the area will be more congested than normal and Log Cabin Village Lane will be closed to thru traffic until Sunday evening (May 30). We're still here and ready to see you, though! Just be sure to access our parking lot from the University Drive entrance.

Due to City of Fort Worth budget cuts, Log Cabin Village and most City facilities will be closed for furlough on Friday, May 28. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 29!

Contest--Show us your inner "Little House!"

2010-05-13T15:39:00.004-05:00

Do you secretly wish that you could wear braids like Laura? Did you cry when Jack died? Do you have dreams that involve Pa, a fiddle, and Ma making johnnycakes on the stove? Then THIS contest, sponsored by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall) is for YOU!

Your prize? Four tickets to Little House on the Prairie, The Musical, featuring Melissa Gilbert as "Ma" on June 8th--opening night at Fort Worth's Bass Hall!

Grab your bonnets, aprons, knitting, and needlework! We want to see your "Little House" side: frontier spirit, Ma's home cookin', and hands that are never idle.

To enter, please send us your photo or video of you showing us your pioneer spirit just the way Laura and the rest of the Ingalls family did. You can e-mail us, share it on our Facebook page, or tweet it to us.

Contest starts NOW and runs through June 2nd. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on June 3. Entrants must be 18 or older (although gratuitous use of adorable minor family members in your entry is encouraged). Log Cabin Village and Bass Hall staff and volunteers and their families may not enter the contest. Other restrictions may apply. All submissions will be posted on our social media sites. This contest is made possible by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall).

The history of the past...

2010-05-12T13:55:00.005-05:00

Like most museums, Log Cabin Village maintains archival collections consisting of documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera related to our mission (19th century Texas). We also keep archives related to the Village itself, such as records of special events, cabins being moved in, and particularly noteworthy news stories. While we actively collect the information as we see it, we are also fortunate often to inherit the personal "Village archives" held by dedicated staff and volunteer members when they pass.

Recently we received a wonderful file folder filled with 1960s-1970s newspaper clippings related to the Village. These clippings document everything from a school visit to the work of a resident wood carver. What a treasure!

Here are a couple of my favorites:

This clipping, dated February 15, 1974, shows the Shaw Cabin right after it was converted to a working grist mill. We've been grinding corn in it ever since!

Caption: SPINNING WHEEL--A water-powered grist mill will open tomorrow in Log Cabin Village in Forest Park. Opening is set for 1 p.m. Visitors to the city park will be able to watch corn being ground in the mill, after which it will be offered for sale. Old spinning wheels also will be in operation during the day. Admission to the park is 25 cents for adults, 10 cents for children. Sitting by the water wheel is park curator Mrs. Betty Erie.

I don't have a date for the following clipping, but given its reference to the bicentennial "next year" and the jaunty Colonial (rather than frontier pioneer) costuming, it must be sometime during 1975. Who knew that you could gather vegetables, churn butter, and admire a stereoscope all at the same time? Must be the power of the mob caps...

Caption: BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION--Three members of the Texas Girls Choir, from left, Karen Jerigan, Lisa Beckner, and Daphne Eley, will be seen in the choir's upcoming spring concert at 8 p.m. Saturday in Convention Center Theater. The girls are in the Pickard Cabin at Log Cabin Village in Forest Park. The theme of the concert will be the nation's 200th birthday next year.

Both clippings are from the Star-Telegram...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2010-05-04T15:30:00.003-05:00

Hey! Remember all the fun we had planting last month at our special event? Well look at those little seeds NOW!

Good thing we had y'all to help us!

Celebrate May at Log Cabin Village

2010-04-27T15:25:00.004-05:00

May is almost upon us, and we've got some exciting events to keep you entertained!!

P.S. Little House on the Prairie: The Musical is coming to Fort Worth in June. Stay tuned for details about our exciting collaboration!

May 8, 2010
DUTCH OVEN COOKING
1-4 p.m.
Join us for an encore dutch oven cooking demonstration by our friends, the Prairie Dogs (Lone Star Dutch Oven Society)! Cost is regular Village admission. No reservations required.

May 14, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: My Little House 1-2-3 and Going West by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Enjoy some legendary Little House stories rewritten for little pioneers. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 15, 2010
STRIKE WHILE THE IRON’S HOT!
1-4 p.m.
Experience life before hardware and lumber stores! See the blacksmith hand-forge unique creations, take a turn working wood at the shave horse, and watch trained cooper (barrel/cask/bucket maker) Dan Tatum and members of the Woodturners of North Texas at work. This day is for do-it-yourselfers! Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee to make a wooden mallet to take home.

Staff and visitors get All Sown Up!

2010-04-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a beautiful day here at Log Cabin Village! Our staff, volunteers, and visitors plowed, planted, washed clothes, played with toys, cooked over an open fire, and made paper flowers to celebrate spring planting! A VERY SPECIAL thank you goes out to the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society for providing such wonderful care and information about our herb garden today.

Here are some photos. Please click on any photo to enlarge and/or control the speed of the slideshow.

Thank you, Mr. Goodnight...

2010-04-05T14:38:00.005-05:00

If you've been involved with the Village for any length of time, you'll know what a talented woodworker our own Steven Suarez is. And so when we commissioned a chuck box to augment our firepit cooking demonstration, Steven was more than happy to draw up plans, prepare the lumber, and create a masterpiece that is as beautiful as it is functional.

So what's a chuck box, you ask? The chuck box was originally crafted by Charles Goodnight as part of a chuckwagon in 1866. Mr. Goodnight was looking for a handy way to feed cowboys on the months-long cattle drives from Texas to trail heads in northern and western markets. He fashioned a box that would fit into the back of a covered wagon. This box would contain spices, seasonings, utensils, and dry goods that "cookie" might need to prepare meals for starving cowhands. When the front cover dropped down, it would also provide a handy surface for chopping, mixing, and whatever else cooking prep entailed.

Although we do not have a wagon, we do have a wonderful free-standing chuck box that helps us tell the story of a bygone era. And our firepit chefs approve!

Here are photos of the process. Enjoy!

Fun activities for April 10th!

2010-04-01T14:20:00.004-05:00

Greetings, Village People! You already know about the fun to be had here at Log Cabin Village on Saturday, April 10. But did you know that you can continue your outing well into the night? After you plow and plant here, head on over to Greenbriar Park for lots of exciting activities! More info can be found on the attached flyer...

Greenbriar Great Outdoors Flyer

Reminder: many City offices and facilities closed on Friday

2010-03-30T11:26:00.002-05:00

As a reminder, Log Cabin Village will be closed on Friday, April 2, due to City of Fort Worth budget cuts/furlough. You can find out more information about the furlough closures here...

Upcoming events...

2010-03-30T07:53:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder...we have some great events coming up next week!

April 9, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Covered Wagon, Bumpy Trails by Verla Kay. Follow a family on their covered wagon trip west in this lyrical tale of bumpy trails! $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

April 10, 2010
ALL SOWN UP
1-4 p.m.
Join us as we undertake spring planting! Plow the field, pump and haul water, scatter some seed, and watch the garden grow. Be sure to visit with The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society while you’re here! Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee to make a craft.

Legal and Illegal Food Ingredients on Los Caminos Real

2010-03-29T11:51:00.001-05:00

Article 2 in a series about historic foodways of the Camino Real de Los Tejas by Richard G. Santos, an international research historian, linguist and educator based in San Antonio, Texas. If you have family recipes to share, please send these recipes and memories of home cooked meals to richardgsantos@yahoo.com.

2 Legal and Illegal Food Ingredients on Los Caminos Real

Cuisine and recipes of the Camino Real de Los Tejas...

2010-03-26T13:02:00.005-05:00

Article 1 in a series about historic foodways of the Camino Real de Los Tejas by Richard G. Santos, an international research historian, linguist and educator based in San Antonio, Texas. If you have family recipes to share, please send these recipes and memories of home cooked meals to richardgsantos@yahoo.com.

As a Board Member of the State Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail, Santos decided to do this series in a chronological perspective. He is about half way through, still wanting to deal with the Post Civil War, Great Depression and Mexican migration of the 20th Century.

Santos has graciously shared these articles with Log Cabin Village and other educational outlets. We will continue to bring the installments to you.

1 Cuisine and Recipes of the Camino Real de Los Tejas Wanted

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza...

2010-03-23T13:38:00.003-05:00

...and we know just the man to fix it! Check out this great video of the talented Dan "Five Buckets" Tatum and his coopering skills! Dan just so happens to also be a great volunteer here at the Village. Nice work, Dan!

You can see Dan in action at our upcoming May event! Here's more info:

Summer camp information--sign up today!

2010-03-23T13:13:00.005-05:00

Hello esteemed Village People!

As the days turn warmer, we turn our thoughts to the coming months and what exciting adventures lie ahead. And we can't help but think that our June day camps are right around the corner!

All camps are back by popular demand! For our 4th-8th graders, we will again offer our cooking and woodworking single-day camps. Both provide great hands-on opportunities to hone specific "pioneer" skills. For our wee pioneers (K-6th grade) we will feature our Wagons West: Hands-on history programs. Not as intensive as cooking/woodworking, Wagons West still gives our participants a "taste" of pioneer life.

Here's more information on all three programs, plus downloadable registration forms. Classes fill fast, so don't delay!

Registration Form--Cooking and/or Woodworking

Registration Form WW

The educator takes on Aggieland...

2010-03-22T11:11:00.006-05:00

While the other fearless Village People were holding down "the fort" here at Log Cabin Village last week, I (Rena--the educator) was afforded the privilege of traveling to Bryan-College Station for the Texas Association of Museums Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting is a special occasion for many reasons. It is a wonderful time in which to network and reconnect with colleagues. It provides countless opportunities to learn about advancements in the museum field through thought-provoking sessions, speeches, and off-site trips. And it allows museum professionals like myself the chance to "recharge" creative batteries for a few days while gaining valuable knowledge that will be applied to improve the Village and visitor experience. This meeting was extra special because my wonderful coworkers and colleagues bestowed a very special award upon me: the Texas Association of Museum Educator's Committee Educator of the Year award. I am truly humbled and honored.

Since the Texas Association of Museums and its annual meeting is so important to Log Cabin Village, we thought y'all might like to see just a glimpse of what I experienced last week. Enjoy!

Please click on any photo within the slide show to control speed and/or make photos larger. I have provided hyperlinks with more information in some of the photo captions.

Reminder: Toolin' Around special event

2010-03-12T11:38:00.003-06:00

Just a reminder, the Lone Star Leather Crafters will be here tomorrow (Saturday, March 13th) from 1-4 p.m. demonstrating the art of working with leather. We hope to see you here!

March 13, 2010
TOOLING AROUND...
1-4 p.m.
Grab your punches and your awls...it’s time to craft leather! Fort Worth’s own Lone Star Leather Crafters Guild will be here demonstrating their fine work and giving Village visitors the chance to stamp a little leather on their own! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission. Crafts for this event are generously provided by Tandy Leather Factory and Hide Crafters.

As a bonus, we'll also have some of our Tarrant County College--Trinity River Campus service learning students here showing off some of our toys and games! Won't you come out and play?

More great publicity for Log Cabin Village!

2010-03-12T11:31:00.002-06:00

Wow! They like us...they really like us! We have been very fortunate to receive some great publicity lately. First, we were featured in the Cozy Cabins 2010 magazine produced by Country's Best Log Homes. Then yesterday, Mike Kinney, a photojournalist with CBS 11, filmed a wonderful story about our popular Pioneer School program!

And because we want to share EVERYTHING with y'all in a convenient fashion, here are both features.

Mike Kinney's Pioneer School video

Cozy Cabins Magazine Feature

Check out this great student project!

2010-03-11T14:42:00.002-06:00

Log Cabin Village is pleased to be service learning partners with some fantastic students from Tarrant County College--Trinity River Campus. In the upcoming weeks, we'll be highlighting various projects completed by these talented individuals.

Check out this incredible video made for us by Kristina Howard as part of her TCC-Trinity River Campus service learning project! Thanks Kristina!!!

Log Cabin Village from Kristina Howard on Vimeo.

The one where we apologize for not posting more...

2010-03-04T10:22:00.004-06:00

Hello Blog Cabin Village friends!

So sorry for the lapse between blog posts! We could come up with any number of flimsy excuses for you to explain our absence (i.e. the cabins have been restless, the cats locked us out of our computers, a terrible wave of pioneer flu). The truth is that we've just been busy! It's a good busy, however.

Here are a few of the things percolating right now at Log Cabin Village:

School tours and walk-in visitation are back in full swing! The Village may be beautiful when it's quiet, but we eagerly anticipate the days when the pitter-pattering of feet fill our halls...

We've been making new friends! We love partnering with other like-minded entities, both local AND far away. We currently have students from the Tarrant County College-Trinity River campus doing some service learning projects for us. These projects range from site and cabin maintenance to shooting video and taking photographs. We also recently hosted Kiddin Around USA, and look forward to a potential upcoming partnership with Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. We participated in a great survey administered by Reach Advisors.

We've been enjoying our existing partnerships! The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society has started "waking" the garden up for spring. The Lone Star Leather Crafters will be here next Saturday. The Prairie Dogs (Lone Star Dutch Oven Society), Woodturners of North Texas, and cooper Dan "Five Buckets" Tatum have all signed on for May.

We've been getting great press! We were recently featured in a great article in MomsOutLoud. Some of our winter photos were featured on NBC Channel 5. And we have another project "in the works." We'll fill you in on that one later. :)

We've been making improvements! A new sign is about to be installed for the Howard cabin. The Parker cabin has been re-stabilized. Our tool shed has been rebuilt. And we have new items in our gift shop, including the recently released Fort Worth Parks book and the much sought-after limberjacks!

We've been planning special events! We've got Timber Tales Storytime and Tooling Around next week. More information on those and other upcoming events can be found on our calendar!

We've been using social media! We've been learning about making videos. We've made friends from Dallas to Ireland using Twitter. And we've been continuing great conversations with our fans on Facebook.

There's a lot more, but you probably get the idea by now.

Most importantly, we are ALWAYS striving to provide exciting and meaningful opportunities for our visitors, friends, fans, and Tweeps to "escape the present, and experience the past." We hope you'll continue to support and help us on this journey. We appreciate you!

Sophie the snow pioneer: a tribute

2010-02-17T12:41:00.002-06:00

We'd like to pause and take a moment to remember a very special historical interpreter who was with us for only a short time period. Her life and spirit were as unique as the record-breaking snowfall that brought her to us.

And, without further adieu, we present Sophie the snow pioneer: a life well lived

Sophie the snow pioneer: a life well lived from logcabinvillage on Vimeo.

Stopping by the Village on a snowy morning...

2010-02-11T08:37:00.002-06:00

(with apologies to Robert Frost)

Please check out photos and video from today's beautiful snowfall!

Something's going on over at the Parkers...

2010-02-09T10:44:00.005-06:00

Gather round, Village people, and listen to a story from the winter closure of 2010. It's a story of love, strength, admiration, and finding a firm foundation. It's an allegory for life's turmoil, and the exhiliration found when cries for help can finally be answered.

It's a story about a cabin...the cabin called "the Parker."

Now folks around these parts had been noticing for quite some time that something just didn't seem right about the Parker. She looked a little "low" on some days. Sad, you could say--down in the corners. She didn't have friends to prop her up and give her the firm foundation that would make things square for her again. Oh she was stable enough, all right.

But as much as she tried to hide her dismay, the poor little Parker cabin was coming apart at the seams. She was afraid that people would see right through the cracks in her facade. And more than anything, she just wanted a little support.

One bright sunny day, this little dogtrot cabin's dreams came true.

Some fine friends from the City of Fort Worth's Transportation and Public Works Department heard her cries. They lovingly lifted her from the depths of despair (and dirt) and placed a firm foundation beneath her.

The Parker cabin was able to "pull it together" at last!

She felt solid as a rock! People weren't looking right through her anymore!

And her new friends Ron and Louis sealed the friendship with some chinking.

Now this story is about rectifying outward appearances. But we can all agree, that it is what's inside that ultimately counts.

And the Parker cabin decided to make some changes there as well.

Nothing was wrong with her insides, mind you. But sometimes it's a good idea to make some changes to keep oneself from getting "stale."

And there you have it, folks: the story of a cabin looking for a little "pick-me-up," and the gallant gentlemen who rushed to her aid. We hope you'll come visit the Parker cabin and see the changes for yourself!

Coming soon: the little tool shed who had no backbone...

Help us help you!

2010-01-26T08:41:00.002-06:00

Log Cabin Village, in partnership with other museums across the country, is launching a study to find out what you expect and want from museums so that we can serve you even better.

Would you be willing to share about 8 minutes of your time to help us with this important survey? Our museum will greatly benefit from this study by having access to the overall results as well as the results from our visitors. We’ll be using the results to make our museum more interesting, relevant, and even fun for you and your family.

In exchange, Reach Advisors, the audience research firm administering the survey, will be selecting some of the participants to win gifts ranging from museum memberships to gift certificates to Amazon.com. Log Cabin Village will offer a one-time 10% discount in our museum store to survey participants.

Your individual information will absolutely be kept confidential and will not be shared or used for any solicitations.

To take the survey, click here or go to(or copy URL and insert into browser): http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22A54YLX256

If you have any problems with the survey, please feel free to e-mail Susie Wilkening, of Reach Advisors. She is happy to help you out. Thank you!

Upcoming Maintenance Closure...

2010-01-21T11:42:00.004-06:00

Log Cabin Village will be closed for maintenance Monday, January 25, through Monday, February 8. We reopen at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, February 9.

We apologize for any inconvenience!

Be sure to keep up with our exciting maintenance projects right here on the blog! Photos will be posted as progress is made. Stay tuned!

Fort Worth Parks book now available!

2010-01-20T12:58:00.004-06:00

They're here! They're here!

We are pleased to announce that we have the new Fort Worth Parks book available for sale in our Museum Store. Completed to celebrate and commemorate Fort Worth's Parks and Community Service's 2009 Centennial, the book details the history of Fort Worth's award-winning park system (of which Log Cabin Village is a part), complete with dozens of historic photographs.

Publisher's Description:
Book Description
Fort Worth sits on a blend of timber and prairie land that is transected by the Trinity River and its tributaries. These physical attributes invited the creation of parks to preserve scenic landscapes and to provide Fort Worth residents with access to nature. Generous land donations as well as the foresight of city leaders allowed for the acquisition of park land, particularly after the formation of the park department in 1909. Local architects and such well-known names as George E. Kessler, Hare and Hare, Philip Johnson, and Lawrence Halprin have left a rich legacy of nationally recognized parks and recreational amenities. These include the Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Water Gardens, Heritage Plaza, Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, and Fort Woof, the city’s first dog park.

Author Bio
In celebration of the Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department centennial, local historian Susan Allen Kline and Parks and Community Services Department staff have selected historic photographs and other images from public and private collections to illustrate the development of the city’s parks and recreation facilities. The volume also features an introduction by Richard Zavala Jr., the department’s director.

Stop by the Village and purchase your copy today!

Blog Cabin Village

Garden Tips for February

Gardening Tips for January...

It's Prairie Dog Time!

Unique, affordable holiday gifts...all to support a worthy cause!

A moment of blogspiration...

Great photos from Frontier Fall Fest!

How does your garden grow?

The legend of the corn husk doll...

Vlog Cabin Village!

When something is right, but not right for us.

Frontier Fall Fest...

Summer maintenance closure...

It's hot. Real hot.

You've donated an artifact...so what happens then?

Upcoming events at Log Cabin Village...

Chicken and cornbread and beans...oh my!

The Cottage on Crestline Gets a Makeover...

Upcoming events...

The importance of roots...

Every day was Earth Day on the frontier!

Goodies in our museum store!

Heir + Loom = Heirloom?

Event on Saturday!

Sundance Square

Topsy-turvy, photos, scarves...and more!

Texas Nature Challenge...sign up today!

We've got yer Spring Break right here!

Texas Takes Flight...

Glad to Gasp the Gas...

Oleo...er...Margarine...um... Oleomargarine?

As promised...Iris' broccoli cornbread recipe

Remembering Iris...

The Pickard Cabin's new look!

O Christmas Tree...

Holiday Servitude...

The Prairie Dogs are Coming...the Prairie Dogs are Coming!

The one about the reed organ top going on exhibit...

Changing holiday traditions...

November and December events...

The story of Jack...

Sugar, sugar...

Separating the wheat from the chaff...

Pumpkins

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Corn is A-Maizing!

King Cotton...

Harvest

Jeepers...Early Reapers...

Flurry of posts...

October and November events...

So much to say!

We get by with a little help from our friends...

Frog Fridays...

Harvest Homecoming/Day in the District!

We do it for you...

Upcoming closure...

3 Questions--Steven

3 Questions--Kelli Pickard

Our fall line-up...

Had it not been for Cotton-Eyed Joe...

Summertime...

Cooking Camp on Community Cable

Some sample dishes and delicacies of Spanish Colonial Texas

4th of July weekend schedule...

Woodworkers working wood...

Reminder...event this Saturday!

Cooking Camp 2010!

Uncovering the Past...

Extend your Little House experience!

Great photos from the Star-Telegram!

Can you balance the City of Fort Worth's budget?

Little House in the Village...

Who wants to save money? *hand shoots into the air*

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

One week left to win!

Fore! And furlough...

Contest--Show us your inner "Little House!"

The history of the past...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Who wants to save money? hand shoots into the air