Museum Talk:

A new donation to the Buffalo Island Museum caught my attention as I have never seen one before. It is a Dazey Glass Churn donated by Joe Ann Moyer. It had originally belonged to her grandmother, Annie (Ross) Thomas who had used this churn many times making butter in her home in Magazine Mountain, Ark.

This churn has "Dazey Churn Mfg. Co. No. 40, Feb. 14, 22" stamped on the glass. It was made between 1922 and 1928. The top is cast iron and the dasher blades are made of maple. The No. 40 means it holds four quarts. It has a small square "whey strainer" on top.

The Dazey Company is a well known manufacturer of glass churns. Around 1900, Nathan Dazey was producing can openers in Dallas. He met E.B. Jones who had designed a small glass churn. Nathan bought Jones' company and started the Dazey Churn Mfg. Co. His son Jack came into the business and they moved the company to St. Louis where there were foundries who could meet his needs for making parts.

During WWI, there was a shortage of butter and Dazey developed a churn where you could add one pound of butter and one pound of milk and end up with two pounds of butter. The company did very well and by 1923 there were two million satisfied customers with their Dazey churns.

Electricity didn't hit the rural areas until the early 1940s. Handmade butter was a daily staple, a churn was in about every country home. When the electric models came into being, the old hand churns were put on the shelf.

Joe Ann's family took excellent care of their old glass churn and I believe you could make butter in it today.

Visit the museum's kitchen area and see the other items housewives on Buffalo Island used in days gone by.

The Buffalo Island Museum is open from 12:30-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is free. We will be closing Dec. 14 and will remain closed during the winter months, but will continue with "Museum Talk" about the antiques found at the museum.