Administrator’s Notes
by Bryanna Ryan, Museums Administrator
On Saturday, April 25th we celebrated Placer County’s official 175th anniversary with a fun day of walking tours around Old Town Auburn and free craft activities at the Placer County Museum inside the Historic Courthouse. Over 200 visitors came to enjoy the day, but the celebration continues! This fall we will be burying a time capsule at the courthouse that will be interred for 75 years and opened upon Placer County’s 250th anniversary. We welcome suggestions from local residents on what should go into the time capsule to commemorate Placer County today. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know at museums@placer.ca.gov as we consider what artifacts to place inside.
Meanwhile, we are getting ready to kickoff the 17th annual Heritage Trail! From June 6th to September 12th, 30 museums and historic sites throughout Placer County will host a fun and free Saturday on the Trail. Collect stamps on your Trail passport and be entered into a drawing to win gift baskets and prizes at the end of the summer.
By Kasia Woroniecka , Curator of Collections
Mendets were popular repair kits used to fix leaks in pots, pans, and rubber items. Manufactured by the Collette Manufacturing Company in Amsterdam, New York, they were produced from the early 1900s until the mid-1980s. Patented in 1907 by Clarence C. Collette, Mendets were the company’s first product.
These small metal patches required no heat or solder, allowing users to easily repair holes in enameled cookware, metal pots, and rubber goods such as hot water bottles. Each Mendet included a metal washer, a sealing washer, and a screw nut that worked together to create a tight, leak-proof seal.
Mendets became especially popular during the 1930s and 1940s when materials were scarce and repairing household items was essential. Promoted as a way to “mend all leaks instantly,” they reflected the era’s “waste nothing” mindset and remained a staple of home repair for decades, until the company closed in the mid-1980s.
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon
Thank you to all who joined us for the annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at the Loomis Veterans Memorial Hall where we came together to celebrate your dedication, generosity, and the passion you bring to supporting Placer County Museums.
We also welcomed Frank Udvarhely and Renee Perez from Supervisor Suzanne Jones’ office; Bridget Powers from Supervisor Cindy Gustafson’s office; and Landon Wolf from Supervisor Bonnie Gore’s office. We are grateful for their support and recognition of our volunteers’ invaluable contributions.
Ralph Burge and Brad Weisberg
Anne Holmes
Joyce Panciera
Bev Call and Sarah Fugate
Shelley Willsmore
Volunteer Spotlight
By Katy Bartosh, Curator of Education
For this issue’s Docent Spotlight, I want to introduce you to Jessica Munster. When I was thinking of volunteers to help for the 175th anniversary of Placer County, Jessica immediately came to mind. She is friendly, outgoing, and always willing to help for special events. When Jessica was completing her degree in Sociology, she needed 450 hours of volunteer time for a fellowship program. She was volunteering at the Roseville Utility Exploration Center, Benon Welty, and then saw our Burma Shave signs on Taylor Rd. by the Quarry. Her grandparents house is just down the road from the museum, and she was interested so she reached out. Jessica’s favorite part about working at the museums is being able to serve the community in a positive way. Her Sociology degree focused on equity, and she loves the fact that our museums are all free, reducing barriers for our guests to visit. Jessica, I’m so glad we have someone like you on our volunteer team!
New Exhibit at the Golden Drift Museum
By Jason Adair, Exhibit Technician
To fix the first problem, we were able to purchase reproductions from a certified local maker. As a bonus, since they were reproductions, we didn’t have to put them behind glass and could instead put them out where people could handle them.
The second problem was a little more involved. We started with a process we use called “rapid prototyping.” This forces us to work fast and only use materials that would never be good enough to keep around and actually put in the exhibit. We had a general idea of what we wanted to build, so we just started grabbing things from around the shop and putting together a totally unimpressive assemblage of the exhibit. During the process we did have a lot of ideas about integrating natural elements into the exhibit. We decided to cut some curves into the front of the case to give it a different feel than the right angles it had, and to push the sapling outside the case to give it more life.
We knew how to build a stump, since we had built one as a test for the tree we made for the Foresthill museum. Pro tip: its base is an upside-down bucket with cardboard and expanding foam. As for the sapling, that was a totally different problem. For starters, neither of us even knew what a Black Oak sapling looked like, or any other sapling for that matter. Fortunately, the American River Canyon had many to choose from so we found one and took lots of photos. We also had the good fortune of finding some soaproot plants nearby to take pictures of and recreate.
After several tests with different materials for making the smooth bark of a sapling, we settled on building a frame out of cardboard tubes and covered them in Bondo. With just a little additional sculpting to mimic the weird wrinkles trees have around where branches come out (ones I didn’t even know existed until we had to look closely) we painted it up, put it in place, and added leaves and acorns.
The last bit to take care of was the ground cover. Since natural fibers are mostly a no-no, we had to find an alternative to dirt. Turns out bugs hate dried coffee grounds so we went to a local coffee shop and grabbed a bag of used ones.
After all was said and done, I think we ended up with an exhibit that looks striking and tells and interesting story. The Golden Drift Museum will reopen on Memorial Day weekend, so be sure to drop by this summer and check it out.
Placer County Historical Society Dinner Meeting
When: Thursday, June 4
Meeting at 6:00, Dinner at 6:15, Speaker at 6:45
Joseph Shanahan, Interpreter I for the Auburn State Recreation Area.
He will be speaking on the Hawver Cave and the geology of our area.
Dinner cost: $30.00.
Speaker presentation: Free
Location: Veterans Memorial Hall
100 East Street, Auburn, CA
Please RSVP to rsvp.pchs@gmail.com
Please go to www.placercountyhistoricalsociety.org for more information
Placer County Historical Organizations
Calendar:
Foresthill Divide Historical Society Meeting: Monday, May 18th at 6:00 p.m.
Golden Drift Historical Society Meeting: Monday, June 1st at 7:00 p.m.
Historical Advisory Board Meeting: Wednesday, June 17th at 5:30 p.m.
Loomis Basin Historical Society Meeting: Wednesday, May 20th at 6:00 p.m.
Placer County Historical Society Meeting: Thursday, May 7th at 2:00 p.m.
Placer Sierra Railroad Heritage Society: Tuesday, May 26th at 7:00 p.m.
Rocklin Historical Society Meeting: Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30 p.m.
Roseville Historical Society Meeting: Tuesday, May 12th at 4:00 p.m.
