09/07/2026
🏛️ Museum Monday – Labor Day Edition 🏛️
On this Labor Day, we’re taking a look at an everyday document that tells part of the story of work and agriculture in our area more than 125 years ago.
This 1897 account statement from The Waterloo Manufacturing Co. was sent to Mr. George W. Meyerhoff. In 1893, the company advertised itself as a manufacturer and jobber of “Milk Cans & Dairy Supplies,” including butter tubs, smokestacks, cream vats, and other items made of tin and sheet iron.
The statement is dated December 1, 1897, and shows a balance of $102.90, additional purchases during the year, payments on the account, and a remaining balance of $72.38. At the bottom is a handwritten request: “Please send $50.00 if you can spare it.”
It’s a wonderfully human little detail in what otherwise might seem like an ordinary business record!
Documents like this help us understand the network of farmers, merchants, manufacturers, craftsmen, and laborers who kept the local economy moving. Before modern farm supply stores and overnight shipping, agricultural communities depended upon local and regional businesses to manufacture, sell, repair, and distribute the equipment and supplies needed for everyday work.
That makes this simple 1897 bill especially fitting for Labor Day. History isn't built only by famous people and major events. Much of it was built—quite literally—by the hands of people who went to work each day.
Today we celebrate the generations of workers whose labor helped build our farms, businesses, towns, and communities.
Happy Labor Day from the Dunkerton Historical & Tourism Association!
View the full catalog description in our online museum at the following link:
https://dunkertonhistory.catalogaccess.com/archives/464
Support your Dunkerton Historical & Tourism Association with a donation at the following:
https://dunkertonhistory.com/ols/all
