Now You See It, Now You Don't!

TellZall's object for July is The Butter Churn.

Today, most Americans go to the local grocery store to get butter or margarine, but that has not always been the case. We usually do not think about where butter comes from. Throughout much of the twentieth century, many Americans made their own butter at home. They used an object called a butter churn to make butter out of fresh cream. Most butter churns required human power to operate. In reality, the process used to make butter had not changed over hundreds of years, but today we usually eat butter that has been made in a factory.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Americans often lived on farms in rural areas. The goal of farmers was to be as self-sufficient as possible during this time period. As a result, farms grew a variety of crops and raised their own livestock. Farmers tried to make as much of their own food as possible so that they did not have to buy much at stores. As many farms had their own cows, they were able to produce their own butter as well. Farmers' wives were usually responsible for the butter making process, and farm children might also be involved in churning butter. Early butter churns usually were made out of wood. They had wooden cylinders that held the cream, as well as a dasher that a person would move up and down in a vigorous motion. Over time, this motion separated the particles of butter from the buttermilk. The farmer's wife then strained the buttermilk to remove all of the particles of butter. The butter would then be placed into a wooden mold to create a finished shape.

Butter churns have also taken on a variety of other shapes and styles over time. Some churns have been made from stone, pottery, metal, or glass.

Rockers, rather than dashers, have sometimes been used to create the churning action. Some churns in the United States during the nineteenth century were shaped like a barrel. The barrel sat in a wooden cradle, and the person using it would turn a crank to make the barrel move.

In the twentieth century, many people lived in cities and purchased their butter in stores. On farms, however, homemade butter was still the norm. Many Americans in rural areas still made their own butter in the years following World War II. One of the most common types of butter churns in this era was made of glass. It had metal paddles that were turned by using a hand crank.

As the use of technology became more widespread in the second half of the 1900s, the use of butter churns declined dramatically. Americans led busy lives, and making butter seemed to take too much time. It was much easier to purchase butter or margarine at the grocery store instead. Today, most people only see butter churns in museums or antique stores, or maybe in a family member's attic.