By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent FORT MEADE, Fla. — The village at the Florida Flywheelers Show has various shops and museums to visit and to view items on display. These wares are not for sale – the owners of the buildings only put their collectibles out for others to enjoy.
For Mayo, Fla., resident B.Z. Cashman, his items reflect a hardware store from about 60 to 80 years ago or more. Cashman has been with Florida Flywheelers since 1973, which is almost the beginning of the club that began with locals.
“In 1996, the club bought property and in 1997, I built my hardware museum. The grounds became open to the public in 1998. I remember when we thought it was a big deal to get to 100 members,” he recalled.
Today, the club has more than 1,000 members and many are “snowbirds” who come down especially from the East Coast to enjoy the balmy Florida weather and the camaraderie of the Flywheeler grounds.
The store he built reflects not only Cashman’s labor, but is created from the lumber he sawed from his tree trimming business. Now retired, he was also the Operation Manager for the town of Mayo for 25 years and taught English for 10 years. Cashman has been a collector since his early twenties.
“I collect tools, gas engines, porcelain advertising signs, food preparation equipment, et cetera,” he said.
Among the items in Cashman’s shop are a few favorites. “I like the unusual, ‘what is it?’ Those are my favorites because the public enjoys them as well,” he said.
The shop is a family interest. “My wife Pippy (Priscilla) and I pulled in the kitchen tools,” Cashman said, pointing to a huge collection in the left front portion of the store.
Among the kitchen items are the unique, such as one cooking pot which had a mechanism that slowed when a liquid boiled over, to be diverted into a hole and douse the cookstove fire. He also had a jelly-filler that had once been used at a bakery.
“This,” he said, showing a cast iron kitchen gadget, “is a pot lifter, meat tenderizer and stove eye lifter all in one. It was a multipurpose tool patented in the 1880s.”
One of the most eye-catching items in the shop was a ledger from a grocery store that was open in Florida from 1860-1960.
“I open the book to 100 years ago today,” Cashman explained. “That book gets a lot of attention.”
The book is a true look into the past, showing how some items have increased in price while others have diminished.
“Things seem(ed) cheaper, but not when you made $1 or $2 a day,” he pointed out. “Basic clothes today are very cheap, compared to back then. Salt was very expensive back then, and is an item that is cheaper now.”
This farm news was published in the April 9, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
