Sticky Wicket
August 17, 2025
August 17, 2025
Curiosities in the Collection
An oversize full head mask worn during initiation rituals of the Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.). It was the Odd Fellows who, in 1926, built the building, now owned by the VFW, in which the museum is housed.
“Curiosities in the Collection” is the new exhibit at Discover Warrensburg - the Museum of Local History. It will be on display from July 1 through September.
Drawing on its storehouse of artifacts accumulated over the past 44 years, many never-before viewed by the public, this exhibit will reveal several century-old domestic labor-saving devices as well some bizarre relics of a fraternal organization’s rituals. A hand-operated wooden clothes washer advertised in turn-of-the-20th century Sears Roebuck catalogs actually offers a spin cycle (although museum staff has not tested its effectiveness). There is also a 1930s vintage wringer washer that gently tumbles the clothes in a wooden barrel (also not tested).
The original basketball scoreboard from the 1943 Warrensburg Central School gymnasium (now the elementary school) has also not been tested (for loudness). Several lengths of metal maple sap tubing and fittings awaiting permanent installation in the syruping exhibit will finally see the light, along with a set of Braille dominos. There’s also an assortment of wooden dollhouse furniture handmade by former Warrensburg resident, Junius Cornell, husband of the museum’s founder. Several unique articles of clothing, including an embroidered silk Japanese kimono, will also be exhibited, along with dozens of other items, large and small.
Drawing on its storehouse of artifacts accumulated over the past 44 years, many never-before viewed by the public, this exhibit will reveal several century-old domestic labor-saving devices as well some bizarre relics of a fraternal organization’s rituals. A hand-operated wooden clothes washer advertised in turn-of-the-20th century Sears Roebuck catalogs actually offers a spin cycle (although museum staff has not tested its effectiveness). There is also a 1930s vintage wringer washer that gently tumbles the clothes in a wooden barrel (also not tested).
The original basketball scoreboard from the 1943 Warrensburg Central School gymnasium (now the elementary school) has also not been tested (for loudness). Several lengths of metal maple sap tubing and fittings awaiting permanent installation in the syruping exhibit will finally see the light, along with a set of Braille dominos. There’s also an assortment of wooden dollhouse furniture handmade by former Warrensburg resident, Junius Cornell, husband of the museum’s founder. Several unique articles of clothing, including an embroidered silk Japanese kimono, will also be exhibited, along with dozens of other items, large and small.
