MANY MOONS AGO, long before DoorDash or even McDonalds, getting piping hot meals to those working in fields around the turn of the 20th century presented a problem and a Threshers Cook Shack was the solution.
Akin to a small mobile home, the shack was pulled behind huge harvest machines used in the late 1800's through the 1930's or so to feed those doing crop harvest- not to be confused with 'chuck wagons' that insured three hots a day for cowboys doing cattle drives. Actually, a Thresher's Cook Shack was a bit bigger and fancier, large enough to accommodate at least two stoves and a crew of ladies who toiled, day in and day out, making sure everyone had something to eat because time was of the essence when it came to getting crops out of the fields.
You could guess that as time went on, most all of these cook shacks were left to rot or cut up for firewood, making them very hard to find 100 years later however, the above pictured unit was found mostly intact, right here in Bates County, near Butler on Wright road. Former Bates County Museum Curator Nita Thompson, with husband Doug had driven by it many times and Nita was determined to acquire it for the museum but kept hitting roadblocks- until one day it appeared the shack was going to meet a fiery demise.
On a particular Sunday, local resident Etha Black was leaving her daughter's house and noticed an old shed near the cook shack was on fire and it appeared fire would also consume the shack in short order. Etha remembered the Thompson's interest in the shack and thus began a frenzy of phone calls which led Doug Thompson, President of the Historical Society, scurrying to the location to make an appeal to the owner, Jerry Foster. It turns out that Foster wasn't fully aware of the historical value of the shack and gladly offered it to the museum.
Only problem is, while that two chatted, the fire was growing. A corner of the shack began to burn and being in the middle of a field, there was no water hose. But there was a puddle nearby- the two managed to find an old dishpan and feverishly doused the flames. Thus this remarkable local piece of history was saved but more importantly, according to research by Nita, it may be the only one in Missouri and possibly in the United States as well?
Whew, that was a close one. National history was saved right here in Bates County. With a dishpan.
Now the only problem was to get it to the museum. Not an easy task, according to Doug who spent countless hours crawling under it to prepare the axles and reinstall the wheels that were removed long ago, left to rot in the mud and weeds. Fortunately, Tom Nichols, owner of Nichols Welding came to the rescue by repairing the wheels and helping to get the shack 'ready to roll' to its new home at the Bates County Museum where it has sat some time waiting for a makeover since 2009.
Fast forward roughly a decade and a half- the Bates County Historical Society is happy to say the work is complete and the shack as seen in the above photo has been fully restored to its original luster and is proudly on permanent display on the museum grounds thanks to the hard work of many volunteer hours.
To celebrate the completion of the cook shack restoration, this Friday November 14th everyone is invited to the museum located at 802 Elks Drive in Butler, Mo to take a closer look, tour the museum and enjoy refreshments from 4 to 8 pm. More information is available on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/share/1ATyZrVmMe/
