Ernest "Mooney" Warther lived simply, content go to work at the steel mill and spend time with family in their little house surrounded by his wife’s flower gardens, but in his spare time he carved walnut wood. His carving are absolutely amazing - extremely detailed and exact miniatures of the real thing. He carved 64 trains, walking canes, post cards, 1000s of wooden pliers and even scenes from the steel mill where he worked. He was working on a carving of the Lady Baltimore locomotive when he died at age 84.
Mooney didn’t make the models to sell so when, after 23 years, he quit working at the steel mill he still needed to support his family which was the start of his knife manufacturing business. He had learned how to forge and temper steel when he couldn’t find good knives for his carving work. Today Warther kitchen cutlery is made by 3rd and 4th generation Warthers and is available for purchase at the gift shop.
The museum is shown by guided tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and the tour flows well through the museum galleries. Visitors are welcome to visit any of the rooms on their own after the tour. At the end of the tour large windows allow a good view of the work going on in the knife factory. Before or after the tour visit the Warther house which is opened for self guided tours. There’s also a small building that houses Mrs. Warther’s huge button collection. The flower gardens are planted with seasonal flowers.
The museum is wheelchair accessible. The house has a ramp up to the front porch and the rooms inside are accessible. The button museum has a step at the entrance but most of the display can be seen from the doorway. The garden paths are very narrow and because the gardens are on several levels most areas are not accessible. Park at the gift shop parking lot close to the main entrance for easy access to the museum.
The main parking lot has plenty of room for RVs but there are two sets of steps up to the museum. If you can’t walk up the steps drive through the lot and park in the gift shop lot on the upper level. Museum
40.52548, -81.48741
No comments:
Post a Comment