Bass House 2

These are additional l photos from the Bass House in Leeds, Alabama.

This is one of the better pictures of the parlor.

Native American Artifacts
These are arrowheads found on the Bass property and other places.
A plaque to Marie West Cromer, a white woman who was a positive activist for Native Americans.
The "chungke" stone was an oval stone similar to a discus that Native Americans used along with a spear in the game of chungke. The sporting events were played all day and in all types of weather. The stone was kept in a safe place and passed from generation to generation until it was completely worn out. This stone was found on the Bass property.
AROUND THE HOUSE

Not sure but, I think this is called a rim lock. It would use a skeleton key to open. To lock or unlock it from the inside the person wouls flip the latch that you see on top.

North Electric Telephone

This fixture illuminated the table inthe kitchen.

Coffee grinder. Place the beans in the top. Grind them by turning the handle. Open the drawer and remove the ground beans for coffee.

Reproduction wash board. Used for scrubbing clothes to get them clean.

Brown jug, atop a whirlpool refrigerator. The ceramic jug was probably used to store milk and lower into a spring to keep it cool. NOTE: The Bass House has incorporated the old and new in its kitchen. The kitchen appears to be a functional one.

Notice the white flour sifter on the lower left of the cupboard? It is attached to the cabinet. A large bag of flour(probably in a cotton flour sack) was placed inside the cabinet with the sack tucked down into the cylinder of the sifter and used as needed. That way the flour is stored and there's no need to lift a heavy bag of flour each time it is needed. The closest I could find to something that looks like this was a Hoosier cabinet.
Pie safe

Not sure what this copper container is but it appears it has held water judging from the patina inside.

ice box

??Where does the large block of ice go??

Outside The Bass House

This is a well that has been covered up. The family would hang a bucket from the pulley above and hoist up the water. I'm sure it has been nailed shut to avoid any inquisitive souls from opening it and falling to their imminent death down a deeeeep, dark, hole. The well was located right outside of the kitchen attached to the house. That's convenient.

A barn or shed of some type located at the back end of the property.

Back of the Bass House .

ARCHIVES ROOM

  Former basketball player Charles Barkley hails from Leeds, Alabama.
Heroic Veterans of Leeds, Alabama

This was a good day trip for me. While I have quite a few photos here, there was so much more I didn't photograph.

I am impressed with the way the museum encompasses the history of all of the people of Leeds. The museum shows the diversity of the history of Leeds, Alabama.

Museum guides are volunteers and admission is free.

Street Address: 1129 Montevallo RoadLeeds, AL 35094

Hours of Operation: The Jonathan Bass House Museum is open to visitors on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Group tours are available by appointment and can be arranged by calling 205.699.2721.

The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.
THAT'S IT***

Bass House Part 1

I’d seen an article in the paper regarding a display of Barbie Dolls at the Bass House in
Leeds, Alabama. According to the article, the collector has over 400 Barbie’s along with a few Ken’s and others from Barbie’s entourage. The entire collection was not displayed just a few from the collection.

I’d never heard of the Bass House Museum let alone Jonathan Bass. From what I could find out, Jonathan Bass and his family were lifelong residents of Leeds, Alabama. The house was built by his father and was still under construction in 1863 while Jonathan was away serving in the Confederate Army. Two rooms were finished after Jonathan returned in 1865. The home stayed in the family for over one hundred years.

Other articles I found expressed the uniqueness of the architecture for a house during this period of time.


I think this may be the lady's parlor since there are elbow length gloves draped over the sofa arm.

Another parlor.

I was impressed with the stencil painted ceiling.

Now on to the Barbie's

It was difficult to decide which way to photograph the display. They were all inisde a glass display case. Some were standing, some were flat so I just went in at different angles. The museum guides who are all volunteers admitted that she was unsure as to how to display the dolls.

This is one of the earliest Ken dolls. He has felt hair (which reminded me of how Steve Harvey wore his when he had his sitcom). The zipper on his pants is less than an inch long and it works. Though Ken's maroon cummerbund is a little low I can overlook it considering he's been around for over 40 years.

These are additional Barbie and Ken dolls in various themes.

The Bass House Museum is a menagerie of themes. Other rooms displayed Native American arrowheads, war heroes and sports figures from Leeds. I'll show those pictures in my next post.
THAT'S IT for now***

Things That Work My Nerves

 1. Christmas. Too commercial. Too expensive. Stressful. People who haven't been nice all year get all chummy. Too fake. I'm usually glad when it's over.

 2. Drivers who tailgate . There's hardly any traffic and plenty of space for them to go around me if I'm going too slow.

 3. People with missing teeth who insist on talking with food in their mouths. WARNING: Cover yourself because the food is going to fly in all directions.

 4. People who get into an elevator before the occupants can get out.

4. People who forward chain e-mails. Among these:

*Free O'Charley's dessert. and in tiny print I have to buy a dinner first.

*Forward an e-mail to help breast cancer. How is this helping fight breast cancer?

*Get a free laptop or a free I-Pod. All you really want is my e-mail address so that you can clog it with spam.

*Make $2000 a week if you forward this e-mail. How is this possible???????

* Forward an e-mail about a missing child who really doesn't exist. How can forwarding an e-mail help find her? I saw this same e-mail four years ago.

* Look underneath my car for thugs who may carjack me. That's got to be a mighty thin criminal to fit underneath my car.

**Don't take flyers off of my windshield because a criminal is hiding behind my car waiting to attack me. For more >>>>>ridiculous chain e-mails .

5. People who forward e-mail with every body's name on it. Great way for my computer to get a virus and more spam than I can imagine. Not to mention people who have my e-mail address that I don't want to have my e-mail address.

6. The constant beep of someone texting in a tranquil setting: Doctor's office, library, funeral, spa.

7. People who look me up and down to see if I am wearing what they consider fashionable or designer

8. Stuck at a table with people I don't know who ask me my name first and then, "What kind of work do you do?" Translation: Do you measure up to our standards? Are you worthy to share the air we breathe?

You already know how I feel about cell phones. This past weekend I saw a toddler run out into the street at a shopping outlet. Had it not been for two older ladies dashing out to retrieve the child, he might have been hit by a car.

His guardian had her back turned talking on her cell phone. When she heard the commotion, she turned around and screamed a frantic, "Niko!"

I think I would have dropped my phone overcome by the thoughts of what could have happened. She didn't!

The child began to cry as another man who was with them began to try to calm the child by saying, "Stop crying, your mama just went to the restroom.". This child had been entrusted to this irresponsible woman. She never let go of her phone. It was as if it had been riveted to her hand.

Bad cell phone etiquette in general!!!!!

What works your nerve(s)?

THAT'S IT***