Issue #123 – April 2024

$6.00

• The Hinders Farm Wheel: A Tale of Rescue and Restoration in Estonia- Part 1 Exile
• Documenting Canada’s Great Wheels and Spindle Patent Makers
• A New Brunswick Patented Wheel Unearthed
• A Counterbalanced Moving-Spindle Wheel

Description

Highlights From This Issue

In this issue we travel to Estonia and Canada. A spinning wheel provides the sad story of how World War II had an impact on a small community in Estonia. A Canadian researcher explains how he began his research project and how he was able later to connect a wheel in a museum with a patent. An unusual moving-spindle wheel is described and studied.

The Hinders Farm Wheel: A Tale of Rescue and Restoration in Estonia- Part 1 Exile

Matilde Lind discovered the Hinders Farm spinning wheel while researching textile traditions at the Estonian National Museum. The wheel was collected by ethnographers and museum staff in an attempt to save artifacts from a small community that was evacuated at the beginning of World War II. She traces its travels and the important work done by the museum staff to restore it.

Documenting Canada’s Great Wheels and Spindle Patent Makers

When he is interested in a topic, Todd Farrell likes to study it in depth. He describes what sparked his research on great wheels and patented wheels in Canada. He outlines his methods and what he has found thus far.

A New Brunswick Patented Wheel Unearthed

I was introduced to Dorothy Budge Kirk more than 30 years ago when I began my research into moving-spindle wheels. She generously gave me the Canadian patents that she and her husband, Harry Kirk, had found. Now seemed like a good time to pass them along to Todd Farrell and Gordon Moat. From his study of online museum collections Todd found a spinning wheel that is a match to an 1868 patent from New Brunswick. He reports on what he found when he saw it in person.

A Counterbalanced Moving-Spindle Wheel

Some years ago, Tom Blodgett found a moving-spindle wheel that was described as “a counter-balanced inverted pendulum wheel.” He was told it was from Ontario. He describes it and explains how it works. He asks if other “sleuths” can provide information. Todd Farrell and I provide some possible answers.