Day 110 - Wallaceburg - Two Far 2022 - Reunion Bound (the long way around)

August 27, 2022

Day 110 - Wallaceburg

We took a day off from riding today and visited the Wallaceburg Museum downtown. It was a perfect day for a visit as they were having their annual Baldoon Days, celebrating the settlement of the area in 1804 by Scottish immigrants.

We have been to probably dozens of small town museums. This one was very well done. The primary focus of the museum was the glass industry in Wallaceburg which operated, under various names and owners, from 1895 to 1999.

The ingredients from which glass is made.

In the early 20th century, the Dominion Glass Co. produced pressed glass,

and beautiful tableware.

The company became a major produce of drink bottles.

When ACL was developed, glasses could be made more decorative.

Does everyone remember having a set of decorated glasses in a carrying caddy?

And glasses soon morphed from table necessities to an advertising medium.

This brought back such good memories for me - my grandfather in his easy chair with the smoking stand next to him. My mother hated the smell of his cigars, but they just smelled like him to me and I loved it. I hadn't thought about this in years until seeing this today. I'm enjoying the memory.

I hope these glass canes are decorative and not intended for us - could be seriously dangerous!

Other Wallaceburg industries were represented in the museum as well.

The Wallaceburg Brass Company manufactured bathroom fixtures and made the World's Largest Faucet as a unique advertising item.

Did anyone NOT have a Presto appliance at some time?

My mother handed her electric pressure cooker, very much like this one, down to me in the late 70's. I was afraid of it and never used it.

In the section of the museum about life in Wallaceburg in the past, there was a display of old toys. I took this picture because I loved Tinker Toys. As with my grandfather's cigars, I have a memory of their smell that makes me feel good.

This appears to be a vintage single-speed fixed-gear Velodrome racing bike, but we're not sure. The handlebar can be adjusted fore & aft, has wooden rims and no brakes. Unfortunately, the museum had no information about this bike.

The Baldoon Days celebration was being held outside the museum.

We bought lunch from Lisa and Mae and ended up having our picture taken for the museum's website. If I get a copy, I'll post it.

About the big waterwheel:

At the tent next to this one was an old manual corn sheller. We both shelled one ear of corn, then Kerry carried some over to feed this goat.

Kerry tried to get the goat to eat the corn out of his hand.

The goat wasn't interested in Kerry or his corn.

After our busy visit to the museum, we walked back to the motel to rest up for tomorrow. We have the longest planned route of this summer at 65 miles. We'll need to get going earlier than our recent 10:30AM departure time!

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0