Retainer from a patented
butter worker. Possibly altered as an improvement over the original design.
butter worker that once belonged to the William Kirk family (Kirkland's namesake); an International Harvester germination tray; and a hand-cranked postmark machine from a local post office.
In the September 2013 issue of Farm Collector, the story on an early butter worker caught my eye.
Co., and was called the Waters Butter Worker. I have no exact date but assume it was made between 1810 and 1890.
Further visiting revealed that this was a
butter worker. For those not familiar with churns, this tool made it easier to push the buttermilk from butter.
There are sieves, separators, coolers, and
butter workers - even a model milking cow.
Influenced first by growing up on a farm and later by a career in food processing, Gene put together a collection that included cream separators, crocks, a goat/dog treadmill used to power a butter churn, cutters to make individual butter patties, a special table where 1-pound blocks of butter were cut and wrapped, beeswax and tallow butter substitute, oil cans, separator literature,
butter workers, a cheese cabinet, glass, stoneware, wood churns and more.
Among them were a seemingly endless array of butter boxes, carriers, crocks, cutters, molds, stamps, paddles, prints and tabletop
butter workers. Butter molds made the final product both attractive and easy to store and use.