Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Kitchen, LaMarche, Wildish, Lindner, Branstiter
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 7/27/2022
Antique Washer Makes 1K-mile Trip to Greenwood (2022)
Jim Kitchen and Russ LaMarche of Camp Victory near Greenwood, museum committee member Diane Wildish and museum chairperson Pat Lindner are shown with the antique washing machine recently donated to the Branstiter Museum in Greenwood on behalf of Camp Victory.
Jesse Heslip/Clark County Press
By Jesse Heslip
Greenwood took over and The Branstiter “Old Streets of Greenwood” Museum received a new addition recently. The journey took a year.
Jim Kitchen made a promise over a year ago to get an antique washing machine to the museum in Greenwood all the way from New York. With the help of friends and friends of friends on multiple trucks, it ended up close enough for Kitchen to pick up and bring the rest of the way with the assistance of Russ LaMarche.
“I got a hold of a bunch of guys that run in that area. Luckily one of them was able to bring it to Indianapolis, so it sat in a warehouse for weeks until another guy who runs dairy out of Wisconsin was able to swing by and pick it up, he loaded it on the back of his truck and dropped it off in Monroe. I run locally in Wisconsin, so at that point I was able to go pick it up and get it here to keep my promise. I would venture to say this washer traveled over 1,000 miles to get here too,” Kitchen stated during an interview after delivering the washer July 16.
Kitchen and LaMarche made the donation on behalf of Camp Victory near Greenwood.
The 1912 washing machine is made mostly of copper and brass, which makes it a bit more rare than other machines.
“There are not a lot of these left. They have a high percentage of copper, so most of them have been scrapped over the years for the metal value,” Kitchen stated.
The washer has been known about by Kitchen for a while. In conversation with an “old Army buddy,” the washer came up. Kitchen inquired about it and the idea started to take shape.
“Oh, you know how it is when old friends get together. We were just talking about old times and the washer came up randomly. It was in his hometown in an old-style bed and breakfast, or an inn type of place where people would stay for various lengths of time. When we talk, we cover it all. We are military friends for life,” Kitchen said of the conversation.
The washing machine has been added to the display at the Branstiter Museum and was welcomed by a large group there for its arrival.
The museum has a wide variety of displays to enjoy, including 38 miniature antique cars, coins dating back to the 1930s, 238 toy tractors, old tools used in early farming and lumbering days, old stamps and photographs, and more. The museum is in Greenwood at 600 S. Main St. and is open from noon to 3 p.m. the first Sundays in August and September.
