"What is it?" A fun night of guessing at the Logan County Genealogy and Historical Society

[January 23, 2015]  LINCOLN - In what has become an annual tradition, the Logan County Genealogical and Historical Society turned its first meeting of the New Year over to its membership on Monday evening for a fun evening of guessing "What is it?"

Guests and members were asked to bring in treasured family items, especially ones that were odd and old. The object was not only to share them with the members, but to try and stump those in attendance as to what the items actually were. When a particularly strange object was presented, the members shouted out their guesses as to what they were seeing. Sometimes the item was identified quickly, while other times it took longer.

In three cases, items brought by Bill Donath, Gary Freese and Barbara Stroud-Borth could not be identified, even by their owners. Their use had been lost in the mists of family history.

Joanne Marlin brought two Christmas tree candle holders, items that would make it onto a current list of dangerous items. The holders were clipped to a branch on the tree and a lighted candle placed in the holder. Can you imagine the candle burning down and igniting the pine needles on the tree?

In the buggy whip time-category of items that have faded from use, Roseann Coers brought a button hook for pulling buttons through button holes on shoes, a necessary item before laces were common.

In addition to his unidentified item, Bill Donath did provide one special object that no one else could identify. It turned out to be a two sided butter mold for making individual fancy butter pats with the imprint of a pig on them.

The LCGHS meets the third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at their research facility on Chicago Street in Lincoln. In February, the group will return to its regular format of inviting a speaker with a unique perspective on history to address the meeting.

[Curt Fox]