October 31, 2009

Old World Wisconsin

Poppy at... ummm.... who old is she?! .... counting... almost 8 weeks... where does the time go? This past week we took a field trip to Old World Wisconsin with some friends of ours. We seem to be missing some of our group in the picture.

Eleanor and H.

A pay phone! Wow, that is from the old world.

Old World WI has this great tram you can ride around the place on and get off at the various stops.... we were the group that was notorious for missing the tram so we did alot of walking.

Our first stop was to St. Peter's Church. Interestingly, every building at this place is a real building brought in from some place around Wisconsin. There aren't any replicas at all.
St. Peter's Catholic Church, built in 1839 was Milwaukee's first Catholic Church.



The High Altar all set up for a Traditional Latin Mass.

The Stations of the Cross were beautiful!


Wow, these are rather ornate cruets!

The organ. When we arrived the lady doing the tour in this building was actually playing it.

This stove was rather unique with it's long... very long... pipe. I wouldn't envy the person who has to clean that.

The 1839 cornerstone.

Looking towards Crossroads Villiage


Straight ahead is the hotel. "Four Mile Inn" was built in 1953 and brought in from Rolling Prairie WI.
1862 Benson House from Fort Atkinson

Laundry washing. Much easier than these new fangled contraptions we have now that always seem to be broken. Kinda hard to break a 1/2 barrel and washboard!

1886 Blacksmith shop brought in from Waubeka. He gave us a great demonstration of how to make a straight piece of metal into an "S" hook.

He got the metal up to white hot (about 1000 degrees if I remember correctly) and then pounded it around the end of the anvil.
Frying the coffee beans??
1882 Shoe Shop brought in from Slovan This man showed us how to make shoes.

I'm more grateful for mail order shoes and Payless Shoes BOGO specials!

Inside the Sandford Farm house.
Fried Potatoes in butter and lard.

Wow, that's a big piano.

Outback this man showed us how to split wood with some kind of simple thingie. Here J has the mallet while the man held the whatever-it-was, basically a metal blade on the end of a stick of wood.

Frodo giving it a whirl.

The town hall from 1876 from the Town of Harmony.


Inside the General Store which was brought from Waterville and built in 1876. This was a most fascinating place.
On our way up to the African American villiage. I have a fascination for old cemetaries.


The trails through the woods are so beautiful.

The Brethern Church 1923 (now-a-days it would probably be called The Brothers and Sisters Church... haha)

We've entered German Town. Thi sis the Koepsell Farm brought in from the Town of Jackson and built in 1858.
I thought the structure was interesting being made with timber beams and wooden pegs and then filled in with bricks.

Out back was a little closet where the men (and probably grubby boys) would store their clothing to wear to the barn. I want one of these!

This family had a 3-seater! (how funny is that!)

Out in the barn the man showed the children how to drill holes ... without electricty of course.

Little H, trying to drill a hole.
I can't remember what this was called but he used it to make round pegs out of square wood, afterall you can't put a square peg in a round hole.
S. enjoyed the horses!
The oxen, notice the muzzle on the end of their noses/mouths. I recall my 7th grade teacher telling me she was going to make me one of these... I guess I talked alot in class... now I know what she meant precisely.
The oxen tamer.
One of the greatest things about this place was it let the children touch things and there weren't any lawyers around eager for a lawsuit!

The thatched roof barn built around the mid 1800's.
Now that's a weaving loom! The thing was huge.

Now, I want a fence like this around my garden! It's all long twigs "woven" closely together. Wow, now that is a big kettle. I wonder if it doubled as a bathtub.
In this home there were 11 children and they took turns using the butter churn. I don't think the lady believed me when I said Poppy was my 10th. Apparently people don't do that any more.
The oven-in-the-wall.
A picture of the Blessed Trinity!

I've lost my way on the map so I can't remember what village this was.


Sittin' on the fence.


This family had the indoor one-seater... in the family room. <>
Wow, check out these pipes! For the best pipe-weed in the shire I suppose! Well, at least we thought they were pipes you smoke.
"My yoke is easy and My burden light."
Sam trying out the water pump.

Little H tried the pump but ummm... let's just say he didn't make the cut for water boy!

A. also gave it a shot.
Off to school we go!
It isn't very often that homeschooled children get to sit in a classroom but here we are in an 1896 school. A funny story, the school teacher played her part beautifully as a stern 1900's school marm. She called on Sam and asked him a question so he gave the answer. She told him to say it in complete sentences. He kept giving her the single word answer. I asked him later if he knew what a complete sentence was to which he replied, "I thought she said incomplete sentences." haha
Learning a little about Wisconsin History.
Another interesting thing about Old World is that the people who work there actually, truly, work there. Here are 3 women tending to the garden.
Spinning at the wheel.
There were alot of sleepy heads on the ride home but it was a great trip! I look forward to going again some time!