Wednesday – Mill City Museum

Minneapolis is known as the Mill City because at one point in history it was the largest flour producing center in the world. The optimum location had rail access to bring wheat and was near the Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River to provide hydropower. The Mill City Museum is on the west bank of the Mississippi River is in the old Washburn "A" Mill and across the river is the rival old Pillsbury "A" Mill.

On Wednesday, September 19th, we toured the Mill City Museum, sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society to learn all about wheat. We were heeding a word from the wise

Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who is entirely ignorant of wheat. – Socrates

As can be seen from the previous photo and following diagram, the museum is a tall building. We had entered at the Main Entrance on South 2nd Street, which is actually the third floor.

There was a main floor exhibit of Minneapolis history and mill equipment, a baking lab, a water lab and an eight level freight elevator conveyance to view mill scene dioramas set up on other floors.

 When we first entered we were introduced to the anatomy of a grain of wheat.

All this detail in within this tiny grain.

We could touch and feel the different grains and note the differences in various flour types.

We each took a turn at grinding the grains to different levels of fineness with a hand roller. The roll method was an advancement from the original mill stone method of grinding.

In contrast to today's age of gluten free options, I found this sign singing the praises of gluten. Less gluten means smaller loaves of bread with large holes throughout that grow stale quickly.

We would need to finish the exhibits later. We were off for our elevator tour of the flour tower to learn the process of making flour from wheat.

Viewers sat on bleacher type seats within the roughly 12 ft x 12 ft elevator floor area and were moved up and down to see scenes from the stages of flour manufacture. Here we are seated about to move.

Photos were not permitted during the tower tour but each level was like looking at the stage for a play. Here is a picture I found of a typical school tour to give a flavor of what we saw.

Once we were at the top, the eighth floor, we walked out into a glass enclosed panoramic viewing area. A poster labeled the sites we were seeing. Most of them are further upstream than our cruise from Sunday had taken us. Off to the right is Upper Anthony Falls (#6) and its Lock and Dam (#12), the farthest upstream we had gone on our river cruise. In the mid foreground is the Stone Arch Bridge (#13).

The present location of the waterfall along the Mississippi River is where its upstream migration due to erosion has been arrested.

Looking downward we saw the remains of what had been the Washburn "A" Mill.

On May 2, 1878, a spark ignited airborne flour dust within the mill, creating an explosion that demolished the Washburn A and killed 18 workers instantly. Eye witness accounts report that the explosion started on the grinding floor and then worked its way upward at a rate of one second per floor until it blew the roof off building 150 feet into the air. It created a crater 30 feet deep into the ground that burned for 30 days. In the archives I found this historic stereograph photo from the event.

At ground level patio chairs and tables had been set up on the lowest remaining floor.

Frank and I posed for a photo from an upper level.

From the top of the tower we had also seen a fairly close view of the Gold Medal Flour sign that had been a landmark pointed out on our river cruise the previous Sunday. Gold Medal Flour is a product of General Mills, originally called the Washburn Mill, the site of the museum we were in.

Washburn-Crosby company's popular advertising phrase for Gold Medal Flour was "Eventually – Why Not Now?"  That became our group's catch phrase for the next couple of days.
     "Do you think we should go to dinner?"    "Eventually..."   "Why not now?"
     "Should we start the jigsaw puzzle?"        "Eventually..."   "Why not now?"

Pillsbury, a rival mill countered the Gold Medal slogan "Why not now?" with their concise response, "Because Pillbury's best".

Pillsbury's Mill is across the Mississippi River from General Mills, within walking distance.

Pillbury's sign that had shown for 70 years was dark for 5 years of refurbishment, letter by letter. Monday November 2nd, 2015 it was relit. See https://blog.generalmills.com/2015/10/watch-for-flying-red-letters/ for details.

Pillsbury has a special place in my heart because of their advertising campaigns. I enjoyed nostalgic moments sitting in the museum and listening to many of the television and radio ads and jingles for Pillsbury (and Betty Crocker, as well), to name a few. Everybody knows...

Nothin' say lovin' like somethin' from the oven; and Pillsbury says it best!

Who does not like the Pillsbury dough boy? He made his first appearance November 7, 1965. In 1987 he was declared "America's most-loved character" per ADWEEK. According to a poster at the Mill City Museum

He's appeared in more than 600 commercials since 1965. A doll made in his likeness was named "Toy of the Year" by Playthings magazine in 1972. Along with Betty Crocker, the Green Giant, and Tony the Tiger, he made Advertising Age magazine's top-10 list of 20th century advertising icons. 

And the Pillsbury Dough Boy even has his own obituary, which many of you readers may have already seen:

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 49.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described the Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he was still a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had a bun in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 350° for about 20 minutes.

Bisquick is just one of the products of General Mills sold under its Betty Crocker brand name. I like this set up for a photo opportunity. From left to right we are John, Sue, Diane (me), Frank, Margaret, and Joe. Note that the table is a stack of pancakes and that the seat of each stool is a pat of butter. Per the Wikipedia entry for Bisquick, 

Bisquick was invented in 1930 after one of their top sales executives met an innovative train dining car chef on a business trip. After the sales executive complimented the chef on his deliciously fresh biscuits, the dining car chef shared that he used a pre-mixed biscuit batter he created consisting of lard, flour, baking powder and salt. The chef then stored this pre-mixed biscuit batter on ice in his kitchen, enabling him to bake fresh biscuits quickly on the train every day. As soon as the sales executive returned from that business trip, he created Bisquick. The recipe was adapted, using hydrogenated oil, thus eliminating the need for refrigeration. Bisquick was officially introduced on grocers' shelves in 1931.

We learned that prior to using a roller, wheat grains were ground with a mill stone. The surfaces of a mill stone pair stone were conically shaped with slightly different angles so that when the top (concave) and bottom (convex) halves were paired, there was a thinner gap at the outer edges. The grain was ground finer before being expelled.

Song of the Roller Mill

I am the mill that takes the cake,

I make the flour that skill can bake

Into the very best bread

That ever human being fed.

Down with the stone, the old mill-stone!

No matter if its friends must groan;

Its day is past, its work is done.

No more shall turbines make it run.

In foreign clime the roll was born;

In ours it was improved upon.

Its adjuncts here have perfect grown,

No more need you the old mill-stone.

Away with pick and picker too,

The roller mill for you will do.

Many will shed a bitter tear

At the parting with their mill-stones, dear;

But none this course will ever rue,

The rolls far better work will do.

Farewell to old: all hail the new!

The roller mill's the thing for you.

– G.P.W.

The Northwestern Miller, February 1, 1884

We stopped for lunch at the restaurant within the museum, fittingly called bushel & peck.

After lunch we explored the water lab. In the water lab we learned about logging, a profession just as dangerous as that of a mill worker. Minnesota trees were carved into wooden arms and legs for loggers and mill workers injured in their dangerous jobs. For many years, Minneapolis led the nation in the production of artificial limbs. This next photo reminds mill workers of what they must do to stay unharmed.

This dapper gentleman in the museum store is sporting a grab handle, pressure gauge, start/stop button, some warning bells, and other tools of the trade.

Just beyond the cafe where we'd eaten was the rail corridor where trains would roll in with their cargo of wheat harvests. The rail corridor was at the Third Street entrance and a partial level down from the tickets and cafe level.

A box car was on display for visitors to read about and look into. The rail corridor was not extensive but it did give a feel for the delivery method for the wheat grains that came from throughout the country.

Here is the famous gold medal flour. Perhaps the photo could be captioned

One Old Bag Kneeling Beside Another Old Bag.

We posed for one last picture after our fun and informative visit. Left to right Frank, John, Sue, Margaret, and Joe. I am across the street taking the photo and then we drove home. After a dinner at The Lowry, we relaxed with a jigsaw puzzle.

It was purely coincidental but highly appropriate that the puzzle I packed in my suitcase and brought with me from California was a collage of General Mills Cereal boxes. 

Although it was 1000 pieces, each section was distinctive enough to assemble that, as a team, we were able to complete it that night. Fortunately we were spared having to contend with great expanses of blue sky or mottled forests of green trees.
Back row: Joe and Margaret. Front row: Sue, Diane, Frank.

John is taking the photo showing off our accomplishment.