Artifacts
Radio: 1931
Donated by Mike Craig, this Crosley 122 Super Buddy Boy is a table-top model and is made of repwood, a pressed wood made from sawdust and glue. Crosley Corp. was founded in Cincinnati in 1921. Its modern incarnation is Crosley Radio in Louisville.The 1925 Kentucky Derby was the first Derby broadcast on the radio.
Harness Racing Silk and Hat: 1950s
This silk racing outfit belonged to Henry G. Adcock of Pembroke. Adcock popularized harness racing, in which horses trot or pace, in Christian County. He owned, raised, and raced harness horses from the 1940s-1960s.
Harness, rather than thoroughbred, racing was the most popular kind of horse racing in Christian County.
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Spittoon: 1920s
Made of metal and enamel, this spittoon was used on an L&N passenger car. Spittoons were receptacles for spitting chewing tobacco juice into when inside. Hopkinsville’s L&N passenger depot still stands on East 9th and the railroad tracks.
Many out of town guests to the 1925 Derby arrived in Louisville via the railroad.
Brownie Camera: 1920s
Eastman Kodak’s Brownie series made photography accessible to amateurs in the early 1900s. Suddenly, average people were able to document everyday events and special occasions in their own lives. This camera belonged to Edgar Cayce and was donated by D.D. Cayce, III.
This model was produced 1915-1926.
Purse: 1920s
Believed to be made by Whiting & Davis, this metal mesh purse was found in our collection. Its history remains mysterious! Metal mesh purses were first made in the 1890s and used the same technique as chainmail production.
This stylish art deco bag likely dates to the late 1920s.
Umbrella: 1920s
Ann Henderson bought this silk umbrella for her friend Sara Thomas at E.P. Barnes Store on Main Street. Sara carried the umbrella with her as a student nurse at Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital. An umbrella like this could shield from sun or rain.
It rained on May 16,1925, just before the Kentucky Derby was run.
Tobacco Tins: 1920s
Tobacco production dominated Kentucky’s economy in the first half of the 1900s. Christian County tobacco was shipped worldwide and packaged in showy tins like these for sale as pipe and cigarette tobacco, chew, cigars, and snuff.
Christian County is the #1 producer of dark fire-cured tobacco in the country.
Hats:1920s-1940s
From straw, to wool, to feathers, hats were an important part of completing an outfit for men and women alike during the 1920s. A number of these hats were donated by Sidney Smithson in 2005.
No exhibit concerning horse racing is complete without a vital element of derby couture – hats!
Flying Ebony Bronze: 1920s
Donated to the Kentucky Derby Museum in 1984, this Kathleen Wheeler bronze celebrates Flying Ebony, the 1925 Kentucky Derby winner. Wheeler (1884-1977) was known for her sculptures of animals, in particular winners of the Kentucky Derby.
Flying Ebony is the only Kentucky Derby winner from Christian County.