INDUSTRIALIZATION IMPACTS CULTURE

TRANSPORTATION
Many a cowboy or cow stopped in their tracks to view the passing COLUMBUS BICYCLE or velocipede.  This strange mode of transportation carried R.E. McLain down cow or buffalo trails at the break-neck speed of 5 mph and allowed the brave soul on board to travel up to 60 miles a day.  J.W. Murray, the first newspaper editor and publisher, also rode a velocipede from place to place, amazing other settlers.

Disgruntled owners complained that the 1908 BRUSH RUNABOUT AUTOMOBILE had a "wooden body, wooden axle, wooden wheels and wooden run."  That's not quite true, but come see the antique car and make up your own mind about the pleasures and comforts of that mode of transportation.

To be passed by with the railroad meant virtual stagnation if  not death to the growth of early 1900 settlements.  Forward thinking investors secured the fate of Crosby County by building forty miles of railway known as the CROSBYTON SOUTH PLAINS RAILROAD in 1911.

ORDERING BY MAIL
After railheads were established at Colorado City and Amarillo, whole houses of pre-cut lumber were shipped to West Texas by rail and freighted by wagon to the construction site.   Farm equipment, household goods and personal attire could be ordered from mail order houses such as Sears and Roebuck, Co. and Montgomery Ward.  The appearance of the Santa Fe and then THE CROSBYTON SOUTH PLAINS RAILROAD built from Lubbock to Crosbyton in 1911 changed the freighting industry forever.  Affordable cultural materials become available to everyone.  This unique marketing strategy has served middle America well.  It was particularly effective in the rural areas.  PERIOD ROOMS and other memorabilia will bring back memories or...be objects of wonder.

A lone rider approaching a secluded house at night might be cause for alarm.  But the CIRCUIT RIDING PREACHER was a welcome sight to most communities.  He performed weddings, funerals and preached the Christian message to those who hungrily awaited his arrival as he rode his circuit of 500 to 1,000 miles.

Ancient desks bear scars of would-be artisans' first attempts at carving; long dry inkwells bring to mind the smell of chalk and wet woolens that pervaded the EARLY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS.  The life-size silhouette of a child completing school work at the kitchen table reminds us that learning can take place anywhere, at anytime.

CHILDREN WORKED beside their parents in the fields in the early decades of the 20th century.  Schoolwork was forgotten and long hours of strenuous labor in all types of weather took precedence over the formal education of most children.  When they finally did return to the classroom, many were behind their classmates and some dropped out with minimal or no reading skills.

In good weather, it is said, the physicians performed their surgery out on the lawn under the shade trees, then moved patients inside the building until they were able to return home.  Some patients simply sat in the grass while the operation was performed and then paid the going rate of $2.00 for the fee.  In 1890, such procedures were considered modern and just what was expected for OPEN AIR SURGERY.