1 Dear Professor Rauscher, I found this particular assignment more difficult than the last one.

On the last paper, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. This writing piece was a different story. I had no idea what I wanted to write about. Originally I thought that I would write on an old snowmobile that my father had. After a rough draft, I was not happy with the paper I had written. I decided to switch objects. I remembered the old butter molds that were my great grandmas. I knew little about them and I thought that this would be the perfect time to do some research and learn what she used to do. The arrangement I chose for this paper was to introduce the different tools used and loosely tie it to my overall theme that would develop throughout the paper. I then proceeded to describe each tool in the same way. I tried to explain what the object looked like to the best of my abilities and then give the historical information that I researched. This way of arrangement led to writing the paper in an informative style. I tried making butter tools as interesting as I could, but honestly I had a hard time doing it. Therefore my delivery may be a bit dry, but I tried to add some historical facts to spice it up a little. After writing the paper for the first time, I was a lot happier with this topic than the previous one I tried. I still went back and made some changes to it though. The first draft was extremely factual. I basically only listed the facts and realized that I was probably going to bore my audience to death with all of the information and no explanation. The subject of this paper was how technology has changed over time. It was intended for American readers because I compared todays American society with a previous American society. The purpose of this paper was to show how technology has made things, like making butter, a whole lot easier. Sincerely, Brandon Williams

2 Brandon Williams Professor Delores Rauscher WRA 125, Sec. 005 24 February, 2014 Butter Technology Its crazy how things change. It seems that every single day, another invention comes out and takes place of something else. We live in an age dominated by technology, which has opened the door to infinite possibilities. Looking back, I cant even comprehend on how people managed without todays technology. For starters, there was a time of no cell phones, laptops or internet at all for that matter. If we go back a little further in time, cars and supermarkets were non-existent. We could keep looking back and noticing how technology has evolved over time. If we were to do this, we would notice one common thing; the people survived with the technology available to them at that particular time. What seems primitive and impossible to us, was modern in that day and age. In todays society if we need groceries, we go to the local Kroger and buy it. Back in my great grandmas time, however, this was not the case. If she needed butter, she had to make it herself. The tools that she used to do that very task are now in my fathers possession, and its a reminder on how technology has changed over time. My great grandparents lived in St. Johns, a small farming community, similar to what it is today. My great grandfather, Foster, was a farmer his whole life and my great grandmother, Hilda, was a school teacher and a stay-at-home wife. Besides doing house work and taking care of the kids, she was also in charge of food preparation for the family. This preparation included making homemade butter. The tools that she used, are antiques to todays generation. Many teenagers probably have never even heard of such tools. They are called butter paddles, butter molds and butter stamps. The paddles are similar in length but the two vary in width. The larger paddles blade has a diameter of about six inches while the smaller paddles blade is about three inches in diameter. The

handles are arched to fit a hand and have a notch on the back to press a pinky up against. Upon investigation, I can tell that my great grandma put them to good use. The paddles are made of wood and have been sanded down almost to the point that it is considered slippery. The middle of the paddle though, is a bit rougher from all of the friction that they received. Along with that wear, numerous small nicks cut into the bottom of the discolored wood.

Figure 1: The butter paddles used by my great grandma Hilda (Williams, 24 February 2014)

In traditional butter making, butter paddles were vital tools needed for the job. The first step in making butter was allowing the milk to sit so that the cream rises. After sitting, it was churned, and chunks of butter floated up to the top. This is where the paddles came into play. Once the chunks were fished out, the paddles were used to get all of the excess liquid out of them. Working the butter chunks with paddles also got rid of any air pockets that may be trapped inside. Without doing this, the butter could have gone bad from the liquid and air left inside of it. The final advantage of using the paddles is that it firmed the texture of the butter. (McMahon) With this firmer texture, the butter was easier to pack into the second tool my great grandma used, a butter mold.

4 My great grandma Hilda had one butter mold. At a side glance, a person would just think that it is a small wooden bowl. When looking down into it however, you see the beautiful hand carved work at the bottom of the bowl. In this particular butter mold, the design is a flower with four leaves coming off of it. The flower is surrounded
Figure2: The antique butter mold. (Williams, 24 February 2014)

with a circle consisting of short dashed lines. The detail

put into the wood is truly outstanding. The stem is carved the deepest with the petals of the flowers being the next deepest in depth. The alternating depths of the cuts allow for an elevated design on the top of the butter. Butter molds were first used in the mid-18th century in northern Europe. Their purpose was to create butter that was more presentable when having company over for dinner. To use a butter mold, first it was soaked in ice water for 30 minutes. By doing this, it helped the butter not stick to the mold. After the mold had been soaked, it was filled with the butter worked on by the paddles. Once the butter was in the mold, it was covered with plastic and chilled for two hours. When it was done chilling, a knife was used to cut the edge of the butter out of the mold and the rest would come out easily. (Wilson) The last item that my great grandma used to make butter was the butter stamp. Also made of wood, it has an appearance of a disk with an elevated spherical handle on the top. Like the mold, the stamp has a flower design carved into it. This flower has even more detail than the flower in the butter mold. The main part of the flower is made from diagonal cuts that vary in length and angle. The attached leaves are notched out into what looks like diamond shapes. The entire flower design is surrounded by three rings, with each ring being a different depth and angle allowing for a detailed end product on the butter itself.

Figure 3: The antique butter stamp. (Williams, 24 February 2014)

The butter stamp and mold were used in unison. The only difference in the mold would be that a plain butter mold would be used when using a butter stamp to execute the design. Using the steps explained earlier, a butter mold would be prepared. While doing this, the butter stamp would be put in ice water for 30 minutes, just like the mold was. Once again this prevents the butter from sticking to the stamp. After the butter was packed into the mold, the stamp would be applied to create a design. After being pressed onto the butter, the stamp would be removed and cleaned and the mold would continue on its same procedure. (Wilson) After all of this had been done, my great grandma would be done making butter and could continue on with her day. Researching this gave me a whole new perspective on the work that she had to go through to make something that people now, simply take for granted. Looking back on this, it seems like a lot of trouble to make butter and to make it look presentable, but thats how it was ba ck then. Obviously, weve come a long way. If we want butter now, we hop into a car, drive to a store and pay $3.95 for it, that simple. The thing I most take away from researching these ancient butter making tools, is how technology has changed. As time moves on, so does the technology. Not just here in the United States, but globally. Every day we make advances, what made butter 100 years ago, doesnt make butter today. Maybe 100 years from now, the tool used to write a paper such as this wont be a laptop, but something entirely different.

Works Cited McMahon, Mary. What is a Butter Paddle? Wisegeek. 20 February 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Wilson, Gene. Butter Stamps. Cookiemold. 20 November 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.