After the disappointing museum at Duncan, OK I was somewhat concerned that the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita would be a waste of time. The same kind of slick brochure advertised the Cowtown and I was suspicious. Still, Wichita was on the way home, the museum wasn't supposed to be expensive and if it had any of the stuff advertised it might be worth a look see.
It was! It really was. If you like semi-real, semi recreated historical places to learn about living history, The Old Cowtown is your place.
One of the parts I was most interested in was the stores that were available on the frontier. What did they look like? What kinds of goods were offered? It is easier to understand when you actually walk through places made to look typical of the day and time.
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It was! It really was. If you like semi-real, semi recreated historical places to learn about living history, The Old Cowtown is your place.
One of the parts I was most interested in was the stores that were available on the frontier. What did they look like? What kinds of goods were offered? It is easier to understand when you actually walk through places made to look typical of the day and time.
This was a dress shop. For the citified ladies of Wichita who might not sew their own clothing, they could come to the dressmaker.
The dressmaker had styles pinned to the walls.
The mercantile or general store was of great interest to me. My great uncle ran one of these in Tuttle, OK and my grandpa Harry worked for him there for a while.
I wanted pictures of the details of the items for sale because something may be in our story about these things. (Or not, we haven't got it all planned out yet.)
I would have liked these kinds of stores.
This was the ice box--store winter ice taken from ponds, lakes and rivers in winter and stored in straw in cellars, then chunks were put in the icebox to keep things cold. This worked fine until the ice ran out. That's why you could buy ice to make homemade ice cream for the 4th of July, but not too much after that.
This would have been my side of the store, the calicos. Of course the quilts would have been made with the material on feed sacks. But, maybe for a fancy piece one might buy some calico. And for the homemade clothing that most people wore.
A big glass window to let in the light was important for the mercantile.
This is the millinery shop--hats and undergarments. I would have liked this place too.
I could see myself as a hat maker. The mad hatter, some would say....
The milliner had a nice selection of fabrics as well.
(Continuing onward in the future.)