Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], May 15, 1956, Page 37, Image 37

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Wontana Kurat J4,
Amy Martin
Household Editor
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''Copper, copper on the wall, which kettle gleams fairest of all?"
Chopper in the Chopper amp
By JUANITA STEVENS
HAVE YOU BEEN bitten by the col
lecting bug yet? My friend, Esther
Lilley, collects copper kettles. They
come to her from all parts of the
United States and a few foreign coun
tries, including Finland, China, Eng
land, Sweden, Russia and others. If
they can't come, then she is like Mo
hammed and the Mountain; she goes to
them.
In her collection are 107 kettles, one
dates back 114 This
of years.
treasured one was brought to our coun
try 72 years ago by a friend's grand
mother. It was used to brew coffee on
the sailing vessel en route to America.
Finnish people used copper kettles al
most exclusively in the early days to
brew their coffee. Larger kettles such
as the 9-quart one were used to brew
coffee for weddings and funerals. There
were few Finnish sailing vessels which
did not have one of the bigger copper
kettles in their galleys. Esther has one
which is the largest in her collection.
THIMBLE SIZE
Her smallest kettle is hand ham
mered, stands 1 inch high and will hold
about a thimbleful of water. It is com
plete in every detail, including the re
movable lid and a tiny spout.
She has been collecting these since
1941. One of the reasons for turning to
a hobby at this time was ill health. It
helped to keep her "out of the dumps."
There is a saying that goes like this:
"When blue—do."
After collecting the kettles she spends
considerable elbow grease polishing
them. Some of them come to her so
black one would hardly think they
were copper but applying the elbow
grease lavishly makes them glow like
the newest ones in the store. Her first
kettle was given to her by her mother.
It is a small, crude, handmade kettle
hammered out in Finland by her grand
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Mrs. Esther Lilley and her collection of 107 copper kettles, ranging in
size from 1 thimble to 9 quarts capacity. One is 114 years old.
father. Her last—well, she will never
get that as long as that kettle gleam
does not fade from her eyes.
VARIETIES OF COPPER
Copper from the famous Red Jacket
shaft of the Calumet and Hecla mine
in northern Michigan, unique because
its copper is in metallic form; copper
from the famous Butte mines, the
Bingham district of Utah and the Bis
bee district of Arizona all reside, side
by side, row on row, up to the very
ceiling on the shelves her husband made
for this original hobby. The display
takes in the entire wall in her big din
ing room.
They come in all sizes, shapes, ages
and conditions. Some were used years
ago in mining camps in Michigan or
on open hearth fires in Finland. They
are so highly polished one can use each
for a shining mirror.
HAND WORKMANSHIP
There is also a proud and arrogant
Do you have a hobby? Here is one
means by which you can really be
yourself —as an individual or a family.
Hobbies are as varied as individuals.
People collect everything from elephant
hairs to "strange profiles" to match
book covers.
Your hobby need not make sense to
anyone else, so long as it gives you a
good feeling of individuality and re
laxation. Any bobby that brings satis
faction is better than none; but if it
develops creativeness, learning,
knowledge, it becomes very stimulating
and interesting.
One mother told me that her son's
stamp hobby directed him to the geog
raphy of the world, from there to the
people and then to politics and that
this one hobby opened doors to friends
in every country. His hobby brought
study, travel, friends and knowledge.
Juanita Stevens' story of the copper
kettles shows that this hobby created
and stimulated an interest in history
and people.—AMY MARTIN
kettle which boasts a long slim spout,
silver handle and brass knob atop the
lid. It was found in a deserted summer
camp on Lake Michigan and is out
standing in the beauty of its hand work
manship. Then there's the 80-year-old
English kettle with its own stand and
which tips for pouring without remov
ing it from the stand.
Some of the kettles come from the
Lake Superior district where it is
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The country school bus has made it possible for farm and ranch youth to
attend high school while living at home. In short, it made attending high
school possible.
Bless the School Bus
By VERA LUND PRAAST
THIS SPRING, hundreds of Montana
ranch boys and girls will receive their
high school diplomas. Of these, a great
many have been transported to and
from school by bus throughout their
entire school careers. Thus, they were
able to remain at home on the ranch
with their families, yet go through high
school.
In homestead days, such a thing
would have seemed like a fairy tale.
In those days, chances for a ranch
youngster to get to high school seemed
more remote than the chances for him
to go to college today. Of course, many
went, but it called for work and schem
ing, the same as going to college does
today.
High schools were being built in
homestead days. Often they started
with just the freshman year. Next year
they would add the sophomore year
and then the junior and finally the
senior year, 'til they had a four-year
high school. Taxes would go up like
mad, and so would complaints from
non-parents. But the schools remained.
Those were the days of the little white
one-room country schools, from which
you were graduated by means of the
state eighth grade examinations.
But most country students were not
so lucky.
In rare cases, the family moved to
town for the school year. Someone had
known that the primitive inhabitants of
this area used copper. Their mining
implements were discovered there. Ear
ly explorerers found Indians wearing
copper beads and using knives of cop
per and who told of the metal that
came from the northeast near a great
lake.
There are two copper stills sitting
self consciously amid the kettles. I'm
sure their history is even more excit
ing. An ad run in the local papers
brought results as well as jokes from
her friends. It read, "Single 6 frontier
hand gun. Old copper tea kettle. Cop
per still." Her husband collects fron
tier guns, but friends insisted they
wanted the gun to keep the "Reve
noors" away from the copper stills. I
assure you the stills are retired.
to be hired to look after the ranch.
Part of the year, Father had to remain
on the ranch to put in the crop. This
was unsatisfactory—almost as unsatis
factory was the plan of Mother living
in town with the kids during the school
year, while Father remained on the
farm.
Sometimes the family rented a room
in town for their high school student to
live in. They brought in baked goods,
eggs, milk, butter and other foods for
him to eat, and he often went home
for weekends. Such students usually
did fairly well, although, on account of
the unaccustomed freedom, a few ran
wild.
Most common solution for country
girls who wanted to go to high school
was to work for her board and room.
A girl worked no harder than she would
at home and occasionally spent a week
end at home. She was supervised as in
her own home. Often it was the first
time in her life that she went to school
for a full nine-months' term.
So let's give thanks for those wonder
ful school buses which make it possible
for country boys and girls to live with
their family while attending high
school, and thus prolong their life with
the family at home. Youngsters leave
home plenty soon as it is. And during
high school years they surely need
home influence.
1956—37