Adventures of the Molinological Museologist

In this new section of the blog page I would like to take some time to look further into the industry of early wind power. Over the last few hundred years there have been countless designs, styles, and manufacturers of windmills, wind-pumps, or any iteration thereof. Excuse the mouthful of a title to this section but I felt like being over grandiose just for the sake of it, if only for my own ego. Molinology is the study of windmills. Technically it is the study of mills or other mechanical devices that utilize the power of the wind or water to accomplish their specific task. Mostly this is used to describe the study of European style mills such as those found in Holland, Germany, and Poland. Likewise, museology is the study of museums and museum curation. Sure looks a lot better on a business card than most other titles, doesn't it? Anyway, on with the good stuff!

 Romeo & Juliet pictured from Hillside II on the original stone footing.

In this first "Adventures of..." post I would like to highlight one of my favorite windmills designed by one of my favorite designers. Although this was not a mass-produced factory windmill it is still one of the coolest looking I have ever come across. The windmill I'm talking about is none other than Romeo & Juliet which was designed by the one and only Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed and built this windmill at his Taliesin Fellowship in 1896. The windmill gets its name from the two towers combined together that make up the main structure. The shorter diamond-shaped tower is "Juliet" and the larger octagon-shaped section with the windmill head on top of it is "Romeo". The original commission for this windmill was made by Wright's aunts who had started the Hillside Home School in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The windmill was initially used to provide water to the school and was covered in shingles to match the rest of the buildings at the school. The original structure was demolished in 1990 but a replica was erected shortly thereafter. 

Photo of the windmill with the original wooden wheel ca. 1900

Standing 60 feet in the air Wright's design was not the most practical or cheap for the location but his aunts that asked him for it were adamant about having something on the hill that would look pretty. The structure originally cost $975 in 1896, which was over $600 more than if they had just assembled a standard steel tower windmill in its place. 

Romeo & Juliet can be seen in its original location in Spring Green, WI along with buildings from the first Hillside Home School and Taliesin. For more information on this interesting piece of wind power history check out the Taliesin Preservation  Society website. Keep watching this blog for more updates in the future and may your blades always catch the wind!

Cashing-In on History

It has been an exciting week here at the museum as we have been fortunate to receive a new addition to our family of artifacts. The Kissler family of Lincoln, NE recently donated a cash register that was originally built for Robert Kregel & Bros. Auto Repair here in Nebraska City. Robert Kregel was the brother of Arthur Kregel that took over the Kregel Windmill Company in the 1940's. Robert, as well as Art's other brothers Mark and Don, ran the auto repair shop in town from 1910 to 1948. When Robert passed away in 1948 the shop was cleared out and machinery was sold off or stored in the old windmill factory. This particular cash register was likely sold back to the National Cash Register company after the shop closed.
This register is a Class 400 from the National Cash Register Company and was built in Dayton, OH. Underneath the cash drawer there is still an intact manufacturer's sticker that states it was built on July 17th, 1918 for Robert Kregel and Bros Auto Repair and was sold by H.B. Whitehouse. Also on this sticker are the serial number and the tracer number, used to designate the specific assembler of the register.

The style of this register definitely matches the mindset and frugality of the Kregel family, mostly as it is fairly unadorned and simple. Most of the machines of this class and from this company were decked out in bronze or silver inlay and had very elaborate designed etched into their cases. This one however has a simply steel body that is painted to look like wood grain and the push buttons are all plastic backed and not the fancier mother-of-pearl.

The following picture shows the only special add-on that was built onto this cash register. It is a receipt printer that would allow the printing of a specific type of work that was done to a customer's vehicle. This device is no longer in working order but there is still paper fed into it, although it is so brittle that it won't run through. 

We would love for everyone to swing by the museum and check out this new addition to our collection. It will be prominently displayed as we will be using it as our primary cash register. So come on in and hear the bell ring as this old cash register comes back to life after 67 years in retirement. We hope to see you at the museum, and my your blades always catch the wind!