Greenfield Village Open-Air Museum

According to the 1930's Edison Institute Guidebook, this smokehouse was the original smokehouse located on the property of the McGuffey's in Pennsylvania. Most rural families had a smokehouse on their land like this one to help preserve their meat. Without refrigeration, meat would become inedible quickly and thus, preservation was necessary. After rubbing ham or bacon with a salt mixture and letting them set for a few weeks, the meat would then be hung from the rafters in the smokehouse. The smoke, created by a fire in the floor of the structure that was made from aromatic woods such as hickory or apple, flavored the meat and created a crust that prevented its ruin by flies or other pests. .

According to the book, "American Diner Then and Now" by Richard Gutman, the Owl Night Lunch Wagon, acquired in dilapidated condition in 1927 and restored to its reconstructed glory shortly after, is the only remaining horse-drawn lunch wagon. It is a very good example of "fast food" from the 19th and early 20th centuries. According to a Ford cousin, Ford Bryan, in his book "Clara: Mrs. Henry Ford," Henry Ford patronized the Owl Night Lunch Wagon during his years working at Edison Illuminating. It was pulled to and from the curbside at Michigan and Griswold streets in Detroit by Reddy the bay horse, owned by John Colquhoun. It opened at 6 p.m. and left at daybreak - this at a time when restaurants in Detroit closed up by 8 p.m. There were originally stools inside the wagon and a window for take-out service. This 1890's diner was originally placed inside the Village in 1933, serving hamburgers to those first patrons of the Village. It was then moved insi...

According to the book ' A Home For Our Heritage' : "The public, notified by...articles in the nation's periodicals, knew well that Henry Ford had something going on behind his brick walls. The few curious passersby a day grew to about 400 a day early in the 1930's. By the late spring of 1933, however, a curious public had swelled to nearly 1000. To turn this many people away simply amounted to bad public relations. ...The following recommendations were made...: To operate Greenfield Village in a manner that will permit the visitor to feel as if he or she had been transported back a few years...it should be arranged that they are not herded through in groups with a guide having a set 'lingo' which becomes monotonous and detracts from the true atmosphere of the historic town. Visitors should be charged admission, adults 25 cents, children 10 cents." The book speaks on how there should be craftsmen in the respective shops, an old-time hotel keeper at t...

This very interesting conversation piece was brought over and put up in Greenfield Village from the same part of England as the Cotswold Cottage and the Cotswold Forge - Chedworth, Gloucestershire - and was built the same year as the cottage itself - about 1620. Dovecotes, such as the one in the picture, were built to house doves or pigeons. In the 17th century, birds from dovecotes provided relief from smoked and salted meats during the harsh winters.