Blast from the Past
Assert Fair visitors surrounded by the modern wizardry of the midway, tempted by the glorious cuisine of the victuals stands and dazzled by the wealth of entertainment and excitement from every corner may easily forget that it all started with agriculture.
Merely a few steps from barns housing New York’s finest livestock, the Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum animates a living telling of the Empire State’s largest industry.
The centerpiece of the museum is a lifesized replica of an 1876 log stateroom; the walls open to allow a clear view of the cozy living quarters. A quilt-draped trundle bed stands facing a brick fireplace, complete with flaming logs. Re-enactor Deb Lum, authentically dressed in a gray, extended-sleeved dress with a bib apron, her hair tied back, uses a wooden spoon to stir a thrust-iron Dutch oven hung over the fire.
Broom making may be a dwindling art, but it's not extinct yet. In low-down, it seems to be growing in some corners of the mountains and around the age, where craftspeople are still creating excellent, going sweepers using fool materials like broom corn, sassafras, sorghum, and bamboo. Here are a few crafty brooms and broom makers that have captured our r.