Carter Historic Farm

05/28/2026

Congratulations to Chase Fleece, we look forward to your continued time here on the Carter Historic Farm!

The Wood County Park District is pleased to announce that Chase Fleece has been named Carter Historic Farm Coordinator. The Historic Farm Coordinator oversees all activities at Carter Historic Farm including farming operations, programming and events, animal care, and overall maintenance of the site. Park District Executive Director Chris Smalley stated, “Chase has been with the Park District in a few roles at Carter Historic Park.” “He has exceptional depth of knowledge and much practical, hands-on agriculture experience” he added. “We are looking forward to good, innovative activities under Chase’s leadership.”

Chase graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University in May 2025, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in history and a minor in political science, also from BGSU. Chase previously served Carter Historic Farm as the Historic Farm Intern and most recently as the Historic Agricultural Specialist. Over the past few months, Chase has been a presenter for The Great Depression Lecture Series as a part of Wood County’s America 250 celebration.

For addition information, please contact Chris Smalley, Executive Director

05/27/2026

Last week’s items were two hand-crank ice cream makers — one “Free-Zee-Zee” and one “White Mountain Freezer”!

The first ice cream maker was patented in 1843 by Nancy Johnson in New York. She called it an “Artificial Freezer”. In 1885, Londoner Agnes Marshall advertised the Marshall Patent Freezer in one of her cookbooks.

The ad boasted that her machine could freeze ice cream in just 3-5 minutes. Our Free-Zee-Zee was likely produced between the late 19th and early 20th century, while our White Mountain Freezer was likely produced between the start of the company in 1872 and the fire that destroyed their factory in 1930.

These machines work by putting your mixture into a cylinder that sits in the middle of the barrel and filling the surrounding area with ice and salt. The salt lowers the freezing point while the spinning makes the batch smooth by preventing large chunks of ice crystals forming in your ice cream. Yum! 🍦

05/20/2026

What is it Wednesday!

Comment down below if you know what this is!

Next week we will share what it is, and more fun information about these items.

05/13/2026

The answer to last week’s post is… an agitator! (also called a posser, washing bat, washing dolly, stomper, or laundry ponch or punch).

When doing laundry by hand, using a tool to press and stir the clothes in soap and water can be easier than using your hands alone. That’s where an agitator comes in. They can mix laundry without having to bend over, and without scrubbing on a washboard unless necessary.

They typically are made up of a pole (sometimes with a handlebar on top) and either wooden pegs, or a coney, plungerlike base on the bottom. While agitators were in peak use during the Victorian era, they were still used afterwards, especially by the elderly population who would have grown up with them. In the early to mid-20th century most laundry was done by wives and mothers who would have had a weekly wash day for this task that could take hours, especially if washing linens.

In larger cities there were early laundromats, called “wet washes” or “washaterias”, but these businesses suffered during the depression. The service price in the 1930s averaged 5¢ per pound of laundry washed compared to a 7¢ per pound average in 1916. Even with these lower prices, the convenience of someone else doing your laundry was not worth the pennies that could be saved to do things the old-fashioned way.

05/06/2026

America 250 Great Depression Lecture looks at 1930s labor movement. https://bgindependentmedia.org/america-250-great-depression-lecture-looks-at-1930s-labor-movement/

05/06/2026

Join us Saturday!

IN THE ROUND event to feature the ‘Three Sisters’: corn, squash, and beans - What’s happening in our community (updated May 6) https://bgindependentmedia.org/whats-happening-in-our-community-updated-may-06-2026/

05/06/2026

Join Chase Fleece, our Historic Agricultural Specialist tonight from 6-7pm at the Wood County Museum for our continued Great Depression Lecture Series as an America250 event!

05/06/2026

What is it Wednesday!

Comment down below if you know what this is!
Next week we will share what it is, and more fun information about these items.

04/29/2026

The items from last week’s post are the two rug be**ers (sometimes called carpet be**ers) we have at the farm!

These were useful household tools between the 1840s (when mass production made rugs affordable for the average family) and the 1950s (when carpet flooring became more accessible).

They are used by literally beating the dirt out of your rugs. Depending on the size of the rug, you could do this by hanging it on a clothes line or special carpet hanger, draping it over the side of your porch, or holding it up by hand.

Even when early carpet sweepers and vacuums went onto the market, rug be**ers still remained in favor for two reasons:

- Reason one is that sweepers and vacuums were simply more expensive.
- Reason two is that the amount of dirt, ash, and smoke from wood and coal-burning stoves made it necessary to clean rugs often.

Frequent lifting of heavy vacuums was still less strenuous than the workout of rug beating. The use of materials such as wire, cane, and rattan made the be**er sturdy enough to hit while being flexible enough to be able to whip it quickly in succession, though some people believed a wooden board, broom, or paddle did the job just as well.

Did you guess it right? Check out these items and more here on the farm!

04/22/2026

What is it Wednesday? Comment down below if you know what this is!

Next week we will share what it is, and more fun information about these items.