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- Inside Antiques,
by Robert Reed
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- Inside Antiques:
- 17th century homemade butter launched
collectibles
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- By Robert Reed
Butter making was a big deal in 19th century America, and so
was the ultimate serving of it. One result of its importance
are the related antiques and collectibles left in its wake.
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- And the practice was not entirely confined to that century.
Making butter at home begun as early as the 17th century in the
Colonies and was continued in many parts of the United States
as late as the 1940s.
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- During the 1800s many families even in non-rural areas kept
one or two cows simply to provide a steady supply of dairy products.
Extra butter could be readily marketed in neighboring towns.
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- Butter chums were of course essential in the production process.
Early barrel-shaped churns were wooded and often held together
with wood hoops. Makers would manually move the broom-like handle
of the dasher up and down stirring the milk inside and forming
butter on the paddles of the dasher. Later chums were made of
various materials including copper, glass, metal, and stoneware.
Most of these churns, although they stood in many homes, were
either homemade or not identified by maker.
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- However a few commercial makers did properly mark their churns.
Among them were Mosely and Pritchard Manufacturing in Iowa, Aspinwall
Manufacturing Co. in Michigan, Frank Jones in New York, Curtis
and Green Manufacturing in Wisconsin, A. H. Reid of Pennsylvania,
and Standard Churn Co. of Wapakonetta, Ohio.
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- During later years of the 19th century a majority of homemade
butter was being churned in glass jars with mechanical beaters.
However cylinder type wooden churns complete with iron cranks
on the side remained available through mail-order catalogs well
into the 1890s. The smaller and more compact glass jar churns
survived in the long term and remained a 99 cent item in the
Montgomery-Ward catalog in the 1920s. Stoneware butter churns
were also still sold in the 1920s but were much more expensive.
Still with hard maple dashers inside, the stoneware types ranged
from $2 to $4 each.
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- Clearly butter making in America involved far more items
than merely churns.
Molds, ladles, spades, paddles, butter prints and various wooden
bowls were essential as well.
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 Early butter molds
were hand constructed and hand carved and today represent some
of the most sought items of American folk art. Some were bell-shaped
and some were boxed with squared corners. By the second half
of the 19th century molds were being produced in factories on
lathes, however they were still attractive and still necessary
to the overall process.
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- In 1872 the American Agriculturist offered information on
a couple of fancy molds "by which butter may be put up into
pound or half-pound cakes for the market. The molds themselves
were described as "made of soft wood, as white-ash or soft
maple, and they are generally kept for sale at all country stores
where willow-ware is sold."
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- According to the Agriculturist, "when the butter is
ready for making up, it is weighed out into proper quantities,
and each piece is worked in the butter dish with the ladle into
flat round cakes. The cakes are either pressed with the mold
or made to go into the cup of another mold. When the handle is
pressed down it forces the mold onto the butter, which is squeezed
into a very near ornamental cake."
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- Generally basic molds held a plunger device which in turn
held the butter stamp or print. The carved print symbol could
be in the design of flowers, animals, birds, fruits, hearts,
or other simple motifs.
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 Ladles of solid
wood were major importance to the process too. In 1859 The Young
Housekeeper's Friend observed, "for working butter, keep
a wooden bowl and ladle. This last article is seldom found in
New England, but always found in the state of New York. More
than a half century later butter ladles, and butter paddles and
spades were still being offered by catalog "in the New York
style." Some experts maintain that butter originally made
in New York was more heavily salted and therefore required and
more specialized wooden tools to prepare it for making cakes
and pastry.
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- Once the butter was crafted and prepared the fun was only
beginning. Naturally such a treat had to be properly presented
on the fashionable Victorian dining table.
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- Butter pats were in style in many homes. These small, flat
dishes could be placed at each individual table setting. During
the late 1890s and early 1900s they appeared in various delicate
floral patterns, and were typically a matched set made of earthenware
or porcelain. "Ironically," wrote Jean Minar Paris
some years ago in A Field Guide to Antiques and Collectibles,
"these were some of the first things to be lost or thrown
out from the table service when things began to be passed down
in the family. They were no longer used, they were too formal
and cluttered up the now smaller dining tables, and their use
passed in memory."
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 Meanwhile some very
fine butter dishes made up part of an elaborate table service.
They varied from low but sleek containers to large and decorative
styles. Some of the larger ones usually sat on a raised stand,
and were ornately designed in silver or silver plate. The very
best had fancy swivel lids and came with special butter knives
which matched the detailed design of the dish. Overall they were
a striking object for the table and stood 12 to 15 inches in
height. Other butter dishes could also be used. They were produced
in virtually every pattern of fine china, and also could be found
in distinguished glass.
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- Besides the formal place on the dining table, butter was
also often kept in a clearly marked, large round crock in the
household pantry or cool storehouse. These crocks, usually made
of glazed stoneware, were very popular during the late 19th century
but were strictly for storage and not for appearances at the
table.
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- Thus from preparation to serving butter held a special place
in the Victorian
household and in doing so left behind a treasure chest of related
antiques and collectibles.
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- Photos:
- 1 - Wooden butter churn
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- 2 - Star butter mold, with dove-tailed joints
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- 3 - 19th century maple butter paddle/ladle
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- 4 - Blue and white Victorian covered butter dish
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- Robert Reed has written on antiques and collectibles for
more than two decades. He has also authored 15 books, including
his recently released Antiques and Collectible Dictionary, available
from www.collectorbooks.com
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