FEATURED ARTIFACTS
Folk Dolls
 Made by Vic and LaFerne Hurst, this jointed female doll is a recent donation to the museum. Vic and LaFerne are the parents of Donald
Hurst and Josephine Schils. The Hursts made several dolls together. He whittled the bodies and she sewed, painted and finished the dolls. They made a series of dolls focusing on the stages of their children’s lives, such as Josephine as a Girl Scout and a bride and Donald as a skier, and as a cheerleader
(when he attended U of M). LaFerne collected over 300 dolls.
LaFerne became a local doll expert and began a doll hospital in Marquette in 1938. At that time, she worked with the Girl Scouts to rescue about 160 dolls every year, which they cleaned and she repaired. The dolls were then donated to the Christmas Bureau for families at Christmastime.
As the economy and dolls changed, her doll hospital, which she operated out of her home did too. In the 1960s, her work with the Girl Scouts ended. Then LaFerne began focusing more on antique dolls which people contacted her to repair. She would research, order necessary parts, recast, paint, and sew the clothing.
After Vic retired as coach and physical education instructor at Northern Michigan University and John D. Pierce High School, the couple began making their own wooden dolls. The dolls were displayed and sold in area gift shops.
Lettermen’s Sweater
 Recently we acquired two lettermen sweaters from Northern Michigan University. These were worn by Quarterback Dave Freeman. He played for Northern his four years, 1948-1951, and was captain of the team in 1951.
The first sports letters began as early as 1865 at Harvard,
first on baseball and, in 1875, on football jerseys. After vital football games, certain players were allowed to keep their
“H” jerseys as an award. Otherwise, players returned their jerseys. Thus the sports letter as an award was begun. In 1891, the Harvard baseball team used a lettermen’s sweater. One of the first high school lettermen’s sweaters was in 1911 in Phoenix Union High School, Arizona Territory (as seen in a yearbook photograph).
A recent donation to the museum was this framed leaflet from Kenosha, Wisconsin (at Washington High School) protesting the Vietnam War. Not only was did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the featured speaker, sign it, he also inscribed it with the following:
True Peace is not merely the absence of tension.
But it is the presence of justice and brotherhood.
Dr. Bill Mudge recently donated this leaflet. He was a part of the Kenosha Moratorium Committee.
Dr. King was pivotal in the civil rights movement. He lead the civil disobedience which brought an end to the segregation of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system in the mid 1950s. In 1963 he lead a march on Washington which culminated in his now famous, “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1967, about one year before his assassination, he began speaking out against U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Target Kite
 This Japanese Zero target kite was designed for use in target practice and used in Big Bay. During the 1950s, the Army was stationed in Big Bay with an anti-aircraft training battalion near Big Bay Point Lighthouse (one of its lieutenants became infamous for murdering the Lumber Jack Tavern’s bartender and which inspired Anatomy of a Murder.)
This target kite (without bullet holes) is missing its large control box, but is still equipped with its rudder. The blue background, which has faded to white, was designed to fade out against the sky.
In 1942, Lieutenant Commander Paul Garber on the USS Block Island made a kite and challenged the gun crew to shoot it down. The crew fired many rounds before hitting it, impressing the captain of the ship who asked Garber to make more. Garber modified the kite to loop, dive and do figure-eights. The kite was controlled by a flier with a twin-spooled reel, a control bar and brake. A silhouette of a Japanese Zero or German Focke-Wulf 190 was silkscreened on to the kite.
Some 300,000 of the kites were produced by A. G. Spalding and Brothers and used by U.S. and British armies. Most of them were shot down, making one a rare collector’s item today.
Kites have had many uses besides recreation. Garber also used box kites to pass important documents from ship to aircraft by attaching a cable with a package between two kites. (See Kites by Wayne Hosking for more information.)
Pounce Pot
 When writing was done by hand with a quill dipped in ink, the paper did not absorb the ink well. The solution was to shake a pounce pot like this with powder (made of cuttlefish bone or other materials and later sand) over the wet ink to absorb the excess. Finally, the pounce was poured back into its pot. Errors would be scratched off the paper with a penknife, and pounce rubbed in with a dog or goat’s tooth to smooth the rough surface for rewriting.
Blotting paper, although dating back to the 16th century, did not come into use until the 19th to do the same job. This wooden pot likely dates to the 1800s or even 1700s. Other pounce pots were made of silver, cast metal, and porcelain.
Dresden Christmas Ornaments
 In the 1880s silver or gold embossed cardboard ornaments were first made in Dresden, Germany. These are often simply called dresdens. They were largely made from 1880 to 1910.
Usually two sides were assembled for a three dimensional effect. After embossing, workers took the finely detailed ornaments home for finishing. All sorts of animals were produced, including the European carp (a German Christmas delicacy) as were vehicles, bicycles and musical instruments. These were often made with a great deal of detail. One four-inch ocean liner is reported to have several hundred portholes, lifeboats and tiny cotton puffs of smoke.
Today, relatively few dresdens seem to exist. Also made in Germany at the same time were the less expensive glass ornaments. Although they were more fragile, they were much more popular in the U.S. The museum has several delightful dresden ornaments including a deer, owl and three dimensional elephant.
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