Hi All,
A baker bought his fresh butter from a local woman in the mid-
1800's in northern Wisconsin. Like most professional "dairymaids",
she ran the family dairying part of the farm with hard work and skill,
churning the fresh milk down in the semi-underground "spring
house" where cold well water was used to keep the milk products
fresh.
She made not only sweet butter, but salted butter, which lasted
longer and put it into the fired clay crocks of various sizes used as
molds. The family customers would use the butter (each crock
having a certain price) then return the crock for reuse. The final
step was using the wooden "hand press" to push the butter down
into the crocks so there were no air holes to irritate the buyers.
This wooden press also left a molded design on the top of the
butter; the distinctive first letter of the family surname, surrounded
by daisies. She was known for miles for honesty and the top
quality of not only the butter, but the "pot" cheese, goats milk and
cheese, and other soft cheeses.
The baker was concerned that the one pound bricks of butter
she sent him were "light", and weighing them proved his suspicions
right. The woman was shocked when she received the notice that
she was to appear in court for not sending the full pound bricks of
butter.
During the session, the judge asked the woman about her
mode of weighing the butter which she sent to the baker. She
explained that she did not use weights on the scale when she cut
his butter bricks. For years she had bought one pound loaves of
bread from the baker and used those as the weights for measuring
the bricks of butter she sent him. The case was dismissed.
Hope you enjoyed this one, Rita