- Related Articles
- Dairy Treats:
- Letters To The Editor
With the other models, the milk was poured into a metal bowl. When the machine was cranked, the milk was forced through a series of discs by centrifugal force. The cream came out one spout, while the skim milk came out the other.
"It took 60 RPMs to get it separated. That's a lot of cranking," Shirley says. "Each one of those little disks has different holes. My grandmother said when you washed it, it had to be put back together in a specific order."
The Womers have about a dozen separators. Their passion for dairy memorabilia grew when they heard about a museum in Union County, Pa., which was being liquidated in an eight-day auction.
It was at the auction that the couple learned about the National Dairy and Cream Separator Club, which numbers about 300 members nationwide. The Womers are the only Dairy and Cream Separator Club members in their area, but they took on the job of hosting the national convention this year anyway. Such events feed their interest in collecting.
Their collection now includes a piece of paper with DeLaval advertising and an abrasive section inscribed "match scraper." It is also, as far as the Womers know, the only one in existence. It is kept in a safe.
But they have plenty of memorabilia out to enjoy: tin cows that were DeLaval advertising premiums for children, circa 1910; a separator-parts cabinet, a host of signs, antique farm toys and newer collectible series, hay forks and items such as a large map case in which they store antique "paper," and part of a stitching bench once used to work on saddles.
Their restored "summer kitchen" contains a variety of items, including a cookstove that Shirley has used to prepare Christmas dinner for six or seven years now - and a cream separator.
Terry, Shirley, and their 18 year-old son, Scott, all collect John Deere two-cylinder tractors, and Scott has his own special collection.
"His big thing is corn shellers," Shirley said. "Not the little hand-crank ones; he has 15 to 20 of the big ones."