Village Squire, 1979-07, Page 15devices. There's an old switchboard from the days when the
telephone operator was one of the most essential (and
knowledgeable) persons in every community. Also on display are
old gramophones, early radios and even an ancient television
set.
Just next door is a barbershop with all the furniture and
utensils of the period. A price list from the Goderich Branch of
the Ontario Barber's Association is posted on the walls. It isn't
quite from the era of "A shave and a haircut, two bits" but it is
back in the days when a haircut or trim for a man ran to 40 cents
and a shave just 25 cents.
Nearby again is a general store with a complete stock of
goods from days when general stores were the heart of the
community. There's everything from cracker boxes to button
shoes in the store. To give you an idea of the prices of the old
days there's an account book laying open on the counter. Dated
1903 it shows that most things were charged and that prices
seem impossible by today's terms.
A display of old typewriters shows the evolution of one of the
most important tools of modern business. Just along the way a
little farther is a toy shop window with all the goodies children
dreamed of in times past.
The children probably spent a good deal of time daydreaming
about those treasures while they sat in the seats in the next
display, a one -room school house. The school house has all the
elements of the traditional form of education of the first 72 years
of Canada's history. The blackboards have lessons on them,
there is a slate on each desk, an apple on the teacher's desk and
children's lunch pails at the back, made from honey pails.
Glimpses of early home life are available through displays of a
typical parlour from 1910 (complete with Thomas organ made in
Woodstock), a bedroom from 1880 and a kitchen. There's also a
display of what people used to have to put up with when they
wanted to take a bath, from the commode sets to a tin bathtub.
Standard equipment from the pioneer household is also on
display including spinning wheels, looms, early washing
machines and ancient vacuum cleaners. Utensils and tools
from outside farm work are on display, from a potash kettle to
early attempts at farm drainage which range from hollowed out
logs to clay tiles.
The natural history of Lambton is reflected in a large collection
of stuffed birds and a display of fossils from Kettle Point.
There's also a small display of Indian artifacts.
The museum is more than just the main modern building,
however. Outside the back door a path leads through the
pleasant park land to other buildings. There's a slaughterhouse
that was once operated by the Springvale Beef Ring. Beef rings
were co-operative ventures taken by groups of farm families in
the days before refrigeration and frozen storage. Forty families
got together in an arrangement which saw each family provide a
cattle beast in turn. The animal would be butchered and the meat
distributed among all members of the ring so that each family
had a constant supply of fresh meat.
A large modern agricultural building stands nearby just down
the road. It houses a display of large agricultural impliments and
other equipment from a horse-drawn hearse to carriages and
plows to early lawn mowers. Nearby space has been cleared for
another similar building to house more displays.
That path winds around to the Mary -Ellen Memorial Chapel,
brought to the site from the old Eisenbach museum. It served the
Grand Bend community in 1874 and is fully furnished including
Bibles in both French and English since an early priest held
services in both languages.
Work is slowly proceeding on a new addition to the museum a
little farther along the circular path. The Tudhop house was built
121 years ago by the widow of James Tudhop who had emigrated
from Scotland but was killed in Scarboro while he was felling a
tree. Mrs. Tudhop and her son Daniel then moved on to settle at
what is today Thedford. The boards for the house which is of
board and batten construction were sawn by the first saw mill in
Thedford. It was a tiny 16 by 20 feet, the minimum size set by the
government for settlers' houses at the time. The house had
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July 1979, Village Squire 13