Exploring Fort Custer's Historical Magazine Collection: Fort Custer Friday

The Fort Custer Historical Society (FCHS) holds hundreds of magazines spanning from World War II to the present. The collection spans decades and covers various military, historical, and cultural topics. As a volunteer librarian, archivist, and board member of the society, I undertook the task of organizing our extensive magazine inventory. Using an alphabetized list of all the magazines, I asked GPT-4o to categorize them. The prompt I used was: "Using the file upload, organize the magazines into categories." What would have taken me hours to accomplish was completed in less than a minute. Next, I reviewed each category and expanded on it to provide greater context and detail.

Here's a categorized overview of the collection:

1. Military History Magazines

• Army Publications: Including titles like Army Digest (1969), Army Engineer (2006-2009), and the Army Green Book (2019-2023).

• Civil War Focused: Titles include America’s Civil War, Civil War Times, Civil War Monitor, and multiple special editions covering specific battles and campaigns.

• World War II Collections: Publications like America in WWII, World at War, WWII History, and numerous special editions focusing on key battles and military strategies.

• Other Military Journals: Includes Military History Matters, Military Heritage, Artillery Journal, and Infantry Journal.

2. Historical Society and Regional History Publications

• Michigan History: Comprehensive collections from Michigan Historical Review and Michigan History spanning from the early 1980s to the present.

• Chronicle (Historical Society of Michigan): Consistent coverage from 2010 to 2023.

• Local Military History: Including Wolverine Guard, Michigan Military District Bulletin, and Michigan Reservist.

3. Special Editions and Commemorative Issues

• Civil War Editions: Covering topics like Founding Fathers, key battles, and the Civil War's societal impacts.

• World Wars: Special editions from Time, National Geographic, and History Net, including detailed issues on D-Day, V-J Day, and the Battle of Berlin.

• Founding Fathers and Early American History: Special issues discussing pivotal moments and leaders in early American history.

4. Periodicals on History and Culture

• National Geographic Publications: Includes special issues on WWII, American history, and ancient civilizations.

• Life and Look Magazines: Issues spanning significant historical events from the 1940s through the 1960s.

• Smithsonian and Other History Magazines: Providing in-depth analysis on various historical themes and events.

5. Archival Military Publications

• Field Artillery Journal: Early 20th-century editions preserved in the Rare Books Room.

• Yank Far East: Detailed issues from 1942-1945.

• Ordnance Sergeant: WWII-era magazines from 1943-1944.

6. Specialized Reports and Essays

• Land Warfare Papers and Landpower Essays: Collections from 2006-2023, covering military tactics and strategic insights.

• Army Reserve Fact Sheets: Essential backgrounder and employer initiatives.

This rich and organized collection shows FCHS's commitment to preserving military and historical periodicals. Whether you want to know more about a specific conflict or a broader historical them, the FCHS's magazine inventory offers the researcher a variety of items to choose from. 

Something remarkable is coming on July 15—a journey into the hidden corners of Fort Custer’s history. Secrets long buried, stories waiting to be told, and images that capture a forgotten era.

Are you ready to discover what history left behind? Stay tuned… the past is closer than you think.

Edited to delete Fort Custer Historical Society email address as there is a problem with it at this time. I'm sorry for any inconvenience at this time. More information on visiting Fort Custer Museum can be found at https://fortcustermuseum.org/

Historic Kitchen Tools

Those of us in the United States are celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov 25th. Are you the one hosting family and friends this year? I have hosted many Thanksgiving Dinners over the years with the largest one being for seventeen people. Today's cooks have it much easier than their ancestors with all the modern conveniences like an oven and stove top, electric roaster, electric beaters, refrigerators, indoor water supply, electric knives, and more. 

I thought it would be fun to look back at some kitchen utensils from long ago and be thankful I have the utensils I have in my kitchen. All images were in the public domain or found on Wikipedia Commons. (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Butter Mold

Today, I can go to Amazon or my local Target store and find colorful, silicone butter molds. Easier yet is to find molded butter in your grocery store. That wasn't the case many years ago. Butter makers had to carve their own molds and people could purchase butter from the farmer. Butter molds came in many designs and I imagine the design was specific to a farmer. 

Potato Masher

Imagine mashing five pounds of potatoes with this wooden masher. I bet your arm and hand muscles get a work out. I have my mother's 1950's red handled, potato masher, but I use it on my cookbook shelf as decor. I have personally mashed potatoes with a modern potato masher, but I prefer to use an electric mixer now, especially since I have so much hand arthritis. No matter what method you use to mash potatoes I am sure they are on many of your Thanksgiving menu's.

Food Chopper

Imagine chopping your onions and celery for dressing for Thanksgiving dinner with this handy tool. No, thank you! I will use my knives. Occasionally, I will use a food processor, but I don't like the unevenness of the pieces. I might use something like this for nuts though.

Crumb Scraper

How many of you use a crumb scraper, or bread crumber, at your Thanksgiving dinner table? The one pictured is pretty fancy. Crumb removal became popular during the Victorian era among the artistocratic diners. You can bet they weren't removing their own crumbs, but having servants do it. The purpose was to protect the tablecloth. It makes me wonder were there that many crumbs on the table back then they needed to scrape them up?

Ice cream scoop

Apple Pie a la mode, anyone? Today's ice cream is usually scooped from an ice cream container bought at the grocery store. In years gone by, ice cream was made at home in large wooden bucket like containers and a long handled scooper would be needed. A patent was obtained in 1897 for an ice cream scoop. Extra points if you know who is credited with inventing it. (Answer below)

I  think we can agree that we have it a lot easier than our ancestors did when it comes to kitchen utensils. If you want to know more about historical kitchen tools a good resource is the Feeding America Museum at Michigan State University.  Pictures of 104 items can be viewed. In addition, there is a Feeding America online collection of cookbooks at Michigan State University Feeding America site. 76 American cookbooks, from the late 1700's to the early 1900's have been digitized and placed online for your viewing. The oldest one I found was a 1798 edition of American cookery, or The art of dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables, and the best modes of making pastes, puffs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards, and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the imperial plum to plain cake: adapted to this country and all grades of life. By Amelia Simmons. Don't you just love the archaic word, viands? All it means is an item of food.

No matter what kitchen utensil you are using to celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a day filled with family, love, joy, and stretchy pants!

Answer: The ice cream scoop inventor was Alfred L. Cralle, an African American businessman and inventor.

Native American Museums in Michigan

Michigan is rich in Native American history and it has five museums to explore that history and culture. The May/June 2016 issue of Michigan History magazine provides information on these five Native American Museums:

1. Baaweting Anishinaabe Interpretive Center, 523 Ashmun Street, Sault Ste. Marie. The artifacts housed at the Center are donated by tribal members. Many of the artifacts on display have a story to go with it. The purpose of the center is to give visitors an understanding of their point of view and “Anishinaabe Bimaadiziwin” (native life ways).
2. Andrew J. Blackbird Museum, 368 E. Main Street, Harbor Springs. This museum is on both the Michigan State Historical Site and the National Register of Historic Places. Native American artifacts can be found in what was Blackbird's house from 1858-1908.
3. Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center, 2605 N. West Bay Shore Drive, Peshawbestown. The center was established to preserve the history of the Grand Traverse Band of Anishinabek.
4. Museum of Ojibwa Culture, 500 N. State Street, St. Ignace. Exhibits of Ojibwa culture and traditions can be found inside and outside at this museum. The museum site is registered as a Michigan State Historic Site (MSHDA), as a National Historic Landmark (NHL), is in the National Register of Historic Places (NPS) and is the 2011 winner of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network Community Award.
5. Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, 6650 E. Broadway Avenue, Mount Pleasant. Both a museum and cultural center, its mission is to share the history of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and other Great Lakes Anishinabek.

A Stitch in Time Quilt Trail

One of 43 Barn Quilt Squares Available on "A Stitch in Time" Quilt Trail

Ada, Michigan

A quilt is a treasured family heirloom, one that many people would love to possess. They are lovingly quilted by hand and hung in our home or laid over a bed.  They are beautiful works of art.

Another beautiful work of art is a barn quilt.  Barn quilts are made of wood, not fabric.  Many resemble fabric and those are some of the loveliest.  A barn quilt is a large piece of wood that is painted to look like a quilt block.

Saturday, April 30th and Sunday, May 1st as part of their "Spring Into the Past" museum tour, the Tri-River Historical Museum Network will be kicking off a new quilt trail: "A Stitch in Time" Quilt Trail.

43 barns, building and posts are adorned with barn quilt squares in a four county area of western Michigan.  Each barn quilt is a unique piece of public art.  They feature sunflowers, spinning spools, stars, flowers, leaves, geometric shapes, animals and more.

The weather in Michigan is improving and now is the time to take a road trip to see these unique quilt squares.  Just remember they are on private property and you need to be courteous to the owners and view them from the street or road.

Tri-River Historical Museum's "Spring Into the Past" Tour

The five counties bordered in red make up the counties in the Tri-River Historical Museum Network.

Where can one visit twenty six museums or historical societies all in one weekend? In Barry, Eaton, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties, Michigan, that's where!

Every year, the Tri-River Historical Museum Network has a "Spring Into the Past" tour.  It is held the first weekend in May.  The 2016 dates are Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. This annual event showcases the wonderful museums and societies that are in their network.

The Tri-River Historical Museum Network museums and societies are located along the Flat, Grand, and Thornapple River areas of Western Michigan.  The architecture of the various building would be worth the trip alone, but coupled with historical information and displays and it is a Win! Win! The museums and societies are housed in churches, houses and barns, depots, dormitories, schools, town and township halls, parks, masonic temples, Victorian mansions, old stores and more.

The 2016 theme, "Quilts-A Stitch in Time", will have some museums displaying quilts.  In addition, the Tri-River Historical Museum Network will be kicking off a Tri-River Quilt Trail.  The trail will showcase 43 quilt squares that are mounted on barns, buildings, or posts in the area.  A brochure of the quilt locations will be available in the member museums tour weekend.

The participating museums and societies are:

1. Alton Historic Church Museum – in old church, north of Lowell
2. Ada’s Averill Historical Museum – house and barn
3. Barry County Historical Society-in the Middleville Depot
4. Belding Museum & “The Bel” – in Belrockton Silk Mill Dormitory
5. Boston/Saranac Historical Society – a depot museum in Saranac
6. Bowne Township – museum, carriage house, school – near Alto
7. Byron Center Historical Society and Musuem-in the former town hall
8. Cascade Historical Museum – in old township hall
9. Cedar Springs Museum – in Morley Park, local artifacts and research
10. Charlton Park Historical Village – a 300 acre complex with museum, reconstructed village and   recreation area near Hastings
11. Clarksville/Campbell Historical Society – has no museum as yet
12. Fallasburg Historical Village – near covered bridge, north of Lowell
13. Fighting Falcon Military Museum – Restored CG 4-A glider, and military exhibits honoring local veterans from Greenville
14. Flat River Historical Museum – with Danish charm - in Greenville
15. Freeport Historical Society – located in the old Masonic Temple
16. Grattan Township Historical Society – in a restored 1853 structure west of Belding
17. Ionia’s Blanchard House and Museum – in a stately Victorian Mansion
18. Lake Odessa Historical Society Depot Museum – displays, archives
19. Lowell Area Historical Museum – in old home with Victorian flair
20. Lyons/Muir Historical Museum in Lyons – newly redone in old store
21. Oakfield Museum in Podunk – west of Greenville
22. Pine Forest Historical Museum – variety in an 1881 Edmore church
23. Plainfield Charter Township—Hyser Rivers Museum – northside Grand Rapids
24. Portland Area Historical Society — no museum but memorabilia is housed at the Portland Area Library
25. Rockford Area Museum — exhibits early life in Rockford
26. Welch Historical Museum – in former hardware store in Sunfield

I plan on going, I hope to see you there. There is a lot of history in Pure Michigan and Tri-River Historical Museum network is helping to bring it to you.

Tri-River (MI) Historical Museum Network Offers Free Admission

Historic Charlton Park, Hastings Michigan

Michigan has a lot of historical museums in its state, but none are better than those of the Tri-River Historical Museum Network.  The best news is that the first weekend in May, every year, they are open and free.  "Spring Into The Past" featuring "America's Pasttimes" will be held Saturday, May 2nd and Sunday, May 3rd, 2015, from 11 AM to 5 PM.

26 museums, historical villages and historical societies located along the Flat, Grand and Thornapple Rivers in Southwest Michigan host this annual open house when the museums are all open on the same days and hours for free.  Many small town museums and societies, located in Barry, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties, are part of the Tri-River Historical Museum Network. They are: 

1. Alton Historic Church Museum – in old church, north of Lowell 
2. Ada’s Averill Historical Museum – house and barn 
3. Belding Museum & “The Bel” – in Belrockton Silk Mill Dormitory 
4. Boston/Saranac Historical Society – a depot museum in Saranac 
5. Bowne Township – museum, carriage house, school – near Alto 
6. Cascade Historical Museum – in old township hall 
7. Cedar Springs Museum – in Morley Park, local artifacts and research 
8. Charlton Park Historical Village – a 300 acre complex with museum, reconstructed village and recreation area near Hastings 
9. Clarksville/Campbell Historical Society – has no museum as yet 
10. Bolthouse Agriculture Building, Farmall Acres Farm Museum - Clarksville 
11. Fallasburg Historical Village – near covered bridge, north of Lowell 
12. Fighting Falcon Military Museum – Restored CG 4-A glider, and military exhibits honoring local veterans from Greenville 
13. Flat River Historical Museum – with Danish charm - in Greenville
14. Freeport Historical Society – located in the old Masonic Temple 
15. Grattan Township Historical Society – in a restored 1853 structure west of Belding 
16. Ionia’s Blanchard House and Museum – in a stately Victorian Mansion  
17. Lake Odessa Historical Society Depot Museum – displays, archives 
18. Lowell Area Historical Museum – in old home with Victorian flair 
19. Lyons/Muir Historical Museum in Lyons – newly redone in old store 
20. Oakfield Pioneer Heritage Museum in Podunk – west of Greenville 
21. Old Fence Rider Historical Center in Edmore – barbed wire and more! 
22. Pine Forest Historical Museum – variety in an 1881 Edmore church 
23. Plainfield Charter Township—Hyser Rivers Museum – northside Grand Rapids 
24. Portland Area Historical Society — no museum but memorabilia is housed at the Portland Area Library 
25. Rockford Area Museum — exhibits early life in Rockford 
26. Welch Historical Museum – in former hardware store in Sunfield 

Visitors will find old churches, historical homes and barns, one room schoolhouses, railroad depots, restored rural villages, and more during their travels.  All of these unique museums are maintained and preserved by local historical societies.

A full .pdf booklet with information on each site and a map can be found here.  This would be a great activity for the whole family.  Gas up your car, grab grandma and grandpa or the grandchildren, and discover the rich history that Pure Michigan offers.

Museum of History at Brethren, Michigan

Brethren Michigan is the hometown of my mother and her parents, Otto August and Daisy Ellen (Graf) Fredricks.  It is a very small village located in the northwest area of lower Michigan.  Our family visited this area at least once a year for as long as I can remember, usually going in the summer for the Fredricks Family Reunion.

The Brethren Heritage Association is responsible for a delightful museum at the corner of Cart Avenue and Park Service Road, near Lake Eleanor.  The museum is a restored log cabin once owned by Christy Brown,who owned a general store.  Local artifacts, historical items, newspaper clippings and more can be found at the museum.  A second building, Ostrander's Cabin, in being restored, too. 

The museum is open by appointment only.  One year it was open during the family reunion and I was able to walk through it.  Some of the items in the museum include a bed, pioneer kitchen area, old tools and dishes, and news clippings of area residents.

Bricks are laid in front of the museum as memorials to loved ones.  Family members can purchase bricks and the proceeds go toward supporting the museum.  The Fredricks family has purchased numerous bricks.  Every year at the reunion a white elephant auction is held.  The money raised from this goes towards purchasing supplies for the reunion.  In addition, memorial bricks were purchased.

Fredricks Family Memorial Bricks

August-Lousie Fredricks

Valentine and Nancy Graf

Harold C Fredricks

Otto & Daisy Fredricks

Margaret E. Fredricks 1912-2006

Daisy M. Kurth 1921-2004

Bob Fredricks 1923-1997

Leona Wagoner 1925-1995

Ray Fredricks 1932-2001

Norman E. Fredricks 1934-1995

Carl Tritten

Mark Kaskinen 1958

Michael Fredricks 1948-1963

Richard Fredricks 1953-1969

Leonard-Pearl Fredrick

Coughing and Sneezing

Have you ever looked through yellow and brittle newspapers? Genealogists never know what kind of conditions they will be subjected to when researching old records. One trip my husband and I took, in June 2009, was to the Manistee County Historical Museum in Manistee, Michigan. I had recently found out that both my mother and father’s families had ties to Manistee County. The Manistee museum has a huge index card catalog sorted by surname. Surname references may be from newspaper articles, which they site on the card. I could hardly wait to look for my surnames (Fredrick, Graf, and Glover) in the card catalog. In addition to the card catalog, they have stacks of newspapers in the county going back to the 1870’s. What a find! I found birth announcements, marriage announcements, obituaries, and even an article on a Fredrick family reunion in 1922. Although it was a dirty and dusty task to find the articles (they actually let you look through the original newspaper) it was a marvelous resource that added to my family history records.

The Manistee County Historical Museum can be found at 425 River Street, Manistee, Michigan. (231 723-5531)
or online at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mimanist/Page63.html