There is a saying that history is not always pretty. That sentiment is certainly true of material culture—everyday objects created and used by people in the past.
By Registrar/Collections Manager Lauren Fleming
Fall in the Shenandoah Valley means one thing: color. The leaves on the many oaks, maples, dogwoods, and other native trees begin to fade from deep green to brilliant hues of red, orange, and yellow.
By Curator of Collections Nick Powers
Happy National Walnut Day! While this holiday was created to celebrate the hard-shelled nut the walnut tree produces, we are instead “going nuts” about a few objects made with the beautifully-grained wood at the heart of the tree.
by Curator of Collections Nick Powers
May 7 marks National Teacher Appreciation Day, an opportunity to celebrate and honor educators of all types who make lasting contributions to our communities. Teachers change the lives of millions of children every day, inspiring a lifelong love of learning and molding young minds in a positive direction.
Have you met some of our favorite furry friends?
Potter Samuel Bell (1811-1891) of Winchester made this pair of molded whippet figurines in 1841. Whippets are an English sighthound breed descended from greyhounds. The Bell family of potters made numerous whippets as decorative pieces for Valley homes, some of which retain their original paint decoration.
Raise a glass to celebrate National Beer Day with this beer stein in the MSV Collection! National Beer Day began right here in the Old Dominion in 2009, but Virginians have enjoyed “cold ones” for centuries.
A one-of-a-kind piece of Valley folk art from the MSV Collection is an honoree in Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts Competition. Online voting for the competition is taking place through midnight on January 31. Learn the about artist Robert Cross and vote for the MSV!
It’s cold and flu season, which means people turn to their preferred doctor to alleviate coughing, sore throats, runny noses, and worse. In late 1800s and early 1900s Winchester, one of the men who filled that role was Dr. William Joseph Whitlock (1849-1921). An herbal physician and his own best salesman, Whitlock left behind several small medicine cabinets that advertised his “Whitlocks’ Renowned Remedies,” including one in the MSV Collection.
Carvings by folk artist John L. Heatwole (1948-2006).
For the past three years, the MSV has participated in the Virginia Association of Museums’ Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program. This year, the MSV is nominating a copper still pot, cap, and coils used in the late 1800s by the James C. Foltz Distillery in Edinburg, Virginia until state officials enacted Prohibition in 1916.
