We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Karen and Urban Kultgen pose in front of the 'Whitlash Mall.' In the building, which was at once the post office, the former storekeepers in Whitlash offer drinks, snacks, block ice, and propane tank filling in their mini-mall. The pay phone is one of only about 100,000 pay phones still operating in the U.S. About 15 pay phones are still maintained by the telephone cooperative that serves the Whitlash. The phone is important since cell phone service is limited in the area around Whitlash.
Helen Stratton searches for sewing patterns in a cabinet in the basement of the Whitlash Presbyterian Church. Stratton, current president of the Whitlash Homemakers Club, said the pattern cabinet was put in the church by the women's club "so patterns would be accessible and shared by the community." Above: Blue Star banners were created during World War I to be placed in home windows of families to show a member serving in the Armed Forces.
This photo is of the Blue Star banner in Liberty Hall in Whitlash. It's design is unusual in that it was one banner made to honor all the members of the community who served during World War II. The banner has one gold star (see arrow) displayed which represents a local killed during the World War II.
South of the Border,
Column No. 11
Columnist's note: I've had the privilege to live in many diverse locations over the years. A newcomer to an area has a unique opportunity to see a place with a 'new set of eyes.' Things and situations longtime residents may take for granted often stand out to the new arrival. Here are a few things I've found curious during the four months my wife and I have lived in Whitlash.
In its basement the Whitlash Church has a cabinet full of sewing patterns
During a coffee hour in the church social area I noticed an unusual four-drawer file cabinet with the name "Butterick" on it. I'd seen similar cabinets in fabric stores. It's a specially made cabinet to store sewing patterns complete with spaces for the catalogs showing illustrations of clothing, a slanted top so the catalogs can be browsed open on top of the cabinet and below, the drawers with sewing patterns illustrated in the catalogs.
I asked about the cabinet and got answers from Helen Stratton, church pianist and president of the Whitlash Homemakers Club. Homemaker clubs, sometimes known as home demonstration clubs or home extension clubs, were created in 1914 to "bring expert instruction on the subjects of home economics and agriculture to rural women." Assisted in various ways by county extension agents the homemaker clubs flourished. Along the Hi-line most extension homemaker clubs were started in the 1930's. The club in Whitlash organized in 1938.
By the 1960's as rural women took jobs to supplement families' incomes, less time was left for voluntary activities. Many groups of women adapted the clubs to their own ends, often to include service projects to help their entire community. Helen Stratton said the Whitlash club still helps host funeral luncheons but has not held formal meetings for several years.
About the pattern cabinet, Stratton explained, "Back in the day patterns were expensive, often costing $1.50 each (they now run in the $10+ range). Our club provided an accessible place where we could all share patterns." The pattern cabinet was given to the club by the Penney's store when it closed in Shelby 25 years ago.
An unusual Blue Star service flag
in Liberty Hall
Readers of a certain age likely will remember the Blue Star service flags displayed in home windows during and shortly after World War II. The Blue Star banner was authorized by the Department of Defense "for display by families who have members serving in the Armed Forces during any period of war or hostilities..." The program began during World War I.
In Whitlash's community building there is a Blue Star banner in a style I'd never seen. Rather than a single blue or gold star (blue stars are covered with a gold star when a serving family member is killed in action) the banner in Liberty Hall has 22 blue stars and one gold star.
Local historian Evelyn Aiken explained the multi-star banner. She said the Blue Star banner honored all the people from the Sweet Grass Hills who served in World War II. As to the gold star, which does not cover a blue star as is typical on Blue Star banners, Aiken said that star honored a local who was killed in a plane crash during World War II. I later discovered that multiple star flags could be displayed under certain conditions.
The 'Whitlash Mall,' shopping in the
Sweet Grass Hills
Karen and Urban Kultgen own and operate what I have dubbed the 'Whitlash Mall.' The Kultgens came to Whitlash in 1963 when they bought the local mercantile store. They sold that store in 1968
and the store closed for good in 1970. When the mercantile store closed Karen was the local postmaster. The Kultgens built a new site for the post office attached to their house. That postal building is now the site of the Whitlash Mall.
The mall offers a limited selection of merchandise. There are vending machines with soda and snacks. Block ice is available from an "honor system" freezer and customers can get propane tanks filled. A pay phone is at the corner of the parking lot. The goods and services are listed on the 'mall marquee' by the road.
Urban and Karen set up the 'mall' in 1997. Urban explained, "The post office was still in the building and people often stopped to ask where they could buy drinks or snacks. We added the drink and snack machines and then other things we sell." The pay phone was moved from the border crossing. Urban said, "Our customers include oil crews, hunters, tourists and locals and Coke is our best-selling product."
The pay phone is a bit of a throwback. In the late 1990's there were about two million pay phones in the U.S. Ten years ago a website listed 750,000 working phone numbers. Today it's estimated only about 100,000 pay phones still operate, 20,000 of those in New York City.
A representative with the Montana phone trade association said he didn't know how many pay phones still existed but he guessed most of them would be in rural areas. A spokesperson for Northern Telephone Cooperative that serves the Whitlash area said she believed, "we still maintain about 15 pay phones in our service area." She added that the coop tries to maintain pay phones in areas where cell phone service is limited. The pay phone at the Whitlash Mall is important since cell phone service is limited.
Well, that's just a few of the things I have seen in the Hills with a "new set of eyes." There's still the 'English Boy' grave, the Russian tractors and a trip to the Bears Den. Those stories will have to wait.
