Artifact of the Month

On display at the Western Illinois Museum as the October Artifacts of the Month are two pre-electric irons.  One iron used charcoal and the other… Read More »Pre-electric Irons

The September Artifact of the Month is a late 19th, early 20th century hand-made foot-powered wooden jigsaw. The jigsaw originally belonged to Robert J. Hoy,… Read More »Foot-powered Jigsaw

The August Artifact of the Month is a 1954-55 Admiral black-and-white television set.  Glen and Nellie Birdsell, of Bushnell, recently donated the television to the… Read More »Admiral Black and white Television

On display at the Western Illinois Museum as the July Artifact of the Month is a bird egg collection.  The eggs on view were donated… Read More »Egg Collection

Blood Orange, Licorice, Vanilla Cream, Pineapple, Forbidden Fruit, Pepsin and Lemonade? Do those flavors sound good?  In the 1890s and 1900s, those were some of… Read More »Zeno Gum Machine

The May Artifact of the Month is a large illustrated poster entitled:Hardacre’s Temperance Map Illustrating the Effect of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics on The Human… Read More »Temperance Map

The Artifact of the Month is a large green, wooden basket that resemble an ordinary picnic basket. But it is not a picnic basket, and… Read More »A Very Special Baby Basket

On display at the Western Illinois Museum as the March Artifact of the Month is a wooden water pump.  Today we take for granted easy… Read More »Wooden Water Pump

On display at the Western Illinois Museum as the February Artifact of the Month is a vintage medical instrument called a metabulator.  Used to measure… Read More »The Metabulator: A Historical Medical Apparatus