State Fair visitors surrounded by the modern wizardry of the midway, tempted by the glorious cuisine of the food stands and dazzled by the wealth of entertainment and excitement from every corner may easily forget that it all started with agriculture.
Just a few steps from barns housing New York’s finest livestock, the Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum animates a living history of the Empire State’s largest industry.
The centerpiece of the museum is a lifesized replica of an 1876 log cabin; the walls open to allow a clear view of the cozy living quarters. A quilt-draped trundle bed stands opposite a brick fireplace, complete with flaming logs. Re-enactor Deb Lum, authentically dressed in a gray, long-sleeved dress with a bib apron, her hair tied back, uses a wooden spoon to stir a cast-iron Dutch oven hung over the fire.
“We cook a different recipe every day and tell people what life was like in the cabin and how they would have used things that people may not know what they are or how they’re used,” explains Lum, a teacher at Bryant and Stratton College during the year. “Some of them are just amazing and the detail of them is just gorgeous. People then only had a few things so they wanted to have something nice.”
While the exhibits are fascinating, the Ag Museum is brought to life by its staff of demonstrators, which includes an insurance agent, a science teacher and a farmer or two. “It’s definitely a good group,” Lum says. “This {2010} is my fourth year, but Linda, the basketmaker, has been here 20 years. Karen Ann, the woman out front that does the crochets, has been here 18. It gets to be like a family atmosphere.”
Returning this year as interim superintendent is Millie Bankert, who retired in 2003 after serving as superintendent for 12 years. “This year they needed someone to help out after the superintendent left,” Bankert reports. “So they went into the archives and got me.”
Bankert is happy to be reunited with the crafters in the building. “They’re great,” she says. “There’s nothing like the people-topeople contact.” The museum family’s patriarch and matriarch are broommaker Walt Thomas and weaver Clara Rose Thomas, who do demonstrations daily in a corner of the building. The retired dairy farmers from Baldwinsville have been a part of the State Fair for about 30 years. “Clara Rose jokes that the museum was built in ’28 and that’s the year she was born,” Lum relates.
Husband Walt wears a straw skimmer, suspenders and an apron as he fashions what are known as corn brooms, although they are actually made from sorghum. “It looks like corn when it’s growing, so they call them corn brooms,” Thomas explains. “People have no idea. They buy a broom and have no idea how it’s made. Same with the weaving, soap-making, candle-making or the folks with the wood turner.”
Those clueless customers get a close-up lesson from Thomas if they stop at his work bench. He patiently explains the process and answers questions even though it adds to the time it takes to produce a broom. “It takes about a half-hour at home,” he estimates. “Here, if I’m here for 10 hours, if I get five done during the day, I’m doing pretty good. It’s mostly talking and demonstrating.” Thomas’ brooms are among the many handmade items available for purchase in the building. Visitors who wanted one for sweeping or to give their home décor a retro touch could buy one last year from Thomas for $18 to $20, or a whisk broom for $10.
Changes made last year to the building’s foyer are paradoxically modern, with a touch-screen computer challenging visitors with a 10-question, multiple-choice, agrihistory quiz. What is New York’s top agricultural product? Slap your forehead if you didn’t come up with milk. Another monitor runs videos about New York’s agricultural history. It’s not all high-tech, though, as visitors can test their ability to identify the uses of such obsolete tools as a hetchel, used to remove the outer covering of flax fibers, an apple peeler and a stone bed-warmer.
Throughout the building, the walls are covered with old-time tools and gadgets, all offering a great lesson in how hard life was before power tools and sophisticated machinery, when things were made of metal or wood, not plastic. Many of the implements on display were likely made by the craftsmen or farmers, or maybe by a local tradesman. Ingenuity, ornately decorative touches and beautiful design features distinguish these vintage items from today’s made-in-China junk.
Separate rooms focus on such craftwork as sewing and candle-making, while the grape-growing and winemaking alcove displays presses and bottles. Nearby, a tribute to the dairy industry includes a milk tester with tubes, milk cans, a separator, metal utensils and various other vessels.
Across the room, a scale model of an 1850s woodworking shop shows a mill wheel turning under a waterfall. Full-sized wood-based vocations—coopering, logging and carpentry—are demonstrated nearby. One wall exhibit holds such larger farming equipment as plows, combines, scythes and froes. Sepia-toned photos mounted above depict farmers tilling soil or harvesting crops using the early implements.
Just outside the front entrance to the museum, handyman and educator Nick Nichols demonstrates antique tools under a canopy on the lawn, his lively patter narrating every moment. Nichols’ bearded face wears a constant smile as he quizzes spectators on their knowledge of his gadgets and relates colorful stories to illustrate his work. In a separate tent, Nichols’ wife, who goes by the moniker “Granny Nichols,” crochets and makes lace by hand.
From the lawn, the architectural majesty of the building impresses, with lanterns mounted on the gorgeous brick façade. Four large columns stand sentry over the entrance, decorated with hanging pots of flowers.
The museum complements the Jered Van Wagenen Carriage Museum next door, with a stunning wealth of more than 50 carriages, sleighs and other vehicles, as well as a working blacksmith shop. Standing between the museums, the old west wagon and cattle drive camp is a great experience for fans of western movies and television shows.
There’s no admission charge to visit the Agricultural Museum or the Carriage Museum, which are open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
—Kevin Corbett
