Tour the WCHS Museunm

The Doctors Office

1. The room at the end of the hall is the Doctor's Office. This room had one bunk and a bathroom and was used for "Solitary Confinement".

2. Some of the Furnishings in the sick room are a quite old wheel chair, a folding dental chair, a portable sink and an old white metal cabinet to hold instruments. We have many medical instruments because Marion did not have a Hospital until 1932. Doctors performed minor surgery in their office prior to this time.

3. There are some old Hypodermic Needles, a large metal one and two smaller glass versions.

4. We also have some medical textbooks.

5. The Double Pans in a table high holder was the type used by dentists.

6. Our items came from Doctors Harmon Summers, H. L. Green and Dr. Springs. Dr. Springs was a gentle giant of a man (said to be 7 feet tall), part Negro and part Indian, very well loved. His office in Johnston City and he lived in Hurst. He founded the first Boy Scouts of America in Southern Illinois.

7. The painting on the wall is a copy of the famous painting of a doctor sitting by a child's sick bed.

The Old Country Store Complex

Outside the door of the Country Store is a Butcher's Block and a Wooden Cask.

1. This was originally a section of jail cells which have been removed for displays. Note the Steel Ceilings.

2. There are three display areas in the store: Ice Cream Parlor, Lewis Drugstore, and Mosley's Grocery Store.

3. Ice Cream Parlor This is a replica of Snedden's Confectionery that stood on the corner of Bentley and West Main streets in Marion for many years. A favorite hangout for 5c cherry cokes with 2 straws.

The ice cream parlor has two round tables with Wrought Iron Chairs. There are sundae dishes, root beer mugs, coke glasses, a Dairy Queen thermometer, and a small square table and chair from Sneddon Ice Cream Parlor. Ice cream was first eaten in the U.S. A. in the 1700's, but was still a rare delicacy when Dolly Madison first served it in the White House in 1809. For many years the recipes were kept secret. The first ice cream Factory was built by in 1851 by Jacob Russell. Ice cream did not become popular until in the 1900's. In the early days, only men could frequent the parlors.

In 1904 at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition (The Saint Louis World's Fair), the ice cream parlor ran out of dishes. A man in the next booth, from Italy, was making cookies, and made a Waffle-like Cookie he rolled up into a cone and ice cream was placed in it. In the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's the Soda Fountain came into being along with the Soda Jerk. A large glass was filled with 2 squirts of flavoring and then carbonated water was added in a large stream. Then the nozzle was changed to a thin stream and jerked to make it frothy. A talent developed and recipes began, such as the Brown Cow, Peach Melba, Banana Split, Ice Cream Soda, a Parfait, Milk Shakes and many more.

4. Drug Store The basis for the drugstore collection came from the Oliver Lewis Drugstore in (Bolton) Stonefort,which was in operation intil 1952. . The drugstore also had a post office, a hardware section, sewing supplies, and just about anything else you might need.
The large marble counters are 36" x 90" and 27" x 126". Shelves behind the counters are filled with bottles and jars. Some of them were Factory Preparations and some were bottles of drugs that Mr. Lewis Made Himself. The two mortars and pestles were used by Mr. Lewis. Note the liquids and powders. There were very few pills and capsules at that time.
Mr. Lewis would mix lice powder for your chickens, or an insecticide.
David Lightfoot lived in Stonefort and said that Mr. Lewis was "old" in 1940. David would go there to get work books and tablets for school. In the fall there was a display of things students needed for school.
Candles were sold for a penny. During WWII you could get many things that you could not get elsewhere because he had so much upstairs, downstairs & all over. He sold Jews harps for 15c, American Flags, Harness for horses, Wallpaper, chamber pots, soup tureens, Scales for weighing, and many other things that were stacked to the ceiling. When Mr. Lewis was asked, "Do you have such & such?' He would reply, "I presume and anticipate" and off he would go to look for it.
Mr. Lewis also sold glasses. But his own Personal Spectacles were wired together in the middle, had tiny, round old-fashioned lenses, and a string held them on by going around his ears a few times.

5. Next we have our Post Office complete with Post Mistress. The Wooden Post Office Boxes came from Stonefort. The Metal Post Office Boxes are from the Marion Post Office prior to their remodeling.

6. No country store would be complete without a Pot Bellied Stove and a checker game. Note our prize Hornet's Nests which was in the Guiness Book of World Records.

The Hardware Section of the store has a display of old tools.

Next is the Women's Corner where you can obtain sewing goods as well as perfume. Here are Women's
Shoes, one pair is fastened with buttons, the others lace up to the calf of the leg. There are also belt buckles for women and bolts of fabric.

Then we have our Candy and Tobacco counter. There are cigars, a Wooden Cigar Maker on the bottom shelf, cigar boxes, and pouches of tobacco. We also have Home-grown Tobacco. Hanging from the ceiling are some Tobacco Leaves. At one time Williamson County was the largest producer of tobacco in Illinois. There
used to be Seven Tobacco Barns here in Marion. We have pictures of tobacco wagons lined up from S.College St. to the tobacco barn which used to be where the ice house is.

7. Mosley's Grocery Store

The Mosley Store was on the corner of Van Buren and Stockton Streets. It burned in 1940. Many of the items here came from Mosely's Grocery.

Here we can purchase just about all your needs. Most foods were bought in bulk and wrapped in paper, tied with string. Not many paper bags.

We have displayed large crocks, a Butcher Block and saw, scales, pots & pans & "things" hanging from the ceiling.

Here are display cases for beans, crackers, etc., a cash register, brown eggs, a charge-revolving case, shelves with salt & pepper shakers, old lamps, wicks & wick holders, fruit jar rings, spice boxes, sealing wax, biscuit tins,
and other tin boxes.

The Revolving Charge Ticket Holder was to keep track of those who bought groceries on credit. This was when you "put it on the bill" and paid for it later.

This is a Sugar Loaf. Our sugar cone was donated by Winifred Burress. Sugar was pressed into cones and wrapped in blue paper. It was very expensive and was usually bought by the lump, which was broken off the cone by special Nippers. When the complete cone was sold, then the blue paper wrapper was sold. It could be soaked in water and the blue was used to Dye material.

Under the bear skin is a Wooden Rake and harness. There is a wooden horse used to repair Horse Collars and Harness. These implements will be in the farm store eventually.

Our Bear Skin is real. Dr. Baker, Charles Winters and a group of Marion lawyers went to Canada bear hunting.
One of them killed the bear, had it tanned and mounted on felt. It went through each family and when it got full of dust, it was donated to us. The bear was not from this area, but there was a time when bears did live here.

By the door is a display case of Childrens' Trinkets and miniature furnishings often found in doll houses.

WCHS Tour - page 2