The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-09-24
Butter Tub
Manufacture
In City Starts
900 Daily Is Being Turned
Out; Capacity of
1000 Soon
MANY ORDERS AHEAD
With Modern Machinery the
Process of Manufacture Is
a Simple One

The Menasha Woodenware Corp,
Of Menasha, Wis, who made ar
rangements several weeks ago to
open a buttertub factory in this
city, have their machinery in place
in the Parker potato warehouse
and began functioning Monday.
At the present time about 900
tubs are being manufactured daily
from Sitka spruce which is shipped
to this city in carload lots from
Tacoma, Wash. Washington is the
only section of the United States
where this wood can be secured.
Formerly buttertubs were manu-
featured from ash. This wood is
becoming scarce. The spruce
makes a tub weighing about Ga
pounds while the old and rough
ash tubs weighed more than II
pounds each.
The company owns a forest of
$4,000 acres of Sitka spruce in
Washington. 1t is cut in the right
lengths and turned into proper
stave shape by band saws. 1t is
then shipped to Tacoma, WASH
where it is put in dry kilns Of a
temperature Of from 180 to 100 de-
grees fahrenheit, remaining six
days. This serves to thoroughly
cure the wood and kills any moth
formations which the wood may
contain. The result is a fine, sweet
tub of GA pounds capacity. Butter
is, perhaps, the most susceptible to
odors of all food products. The
Sitka spruce tubs eliminates all
danger of odors.
The manufacture Of the butter
tub is very simple matter. At the
present time there is only one
complete manufacturing unit opet-
ated by two men. The slaves are
placed in an iron circle, a steel
hoop is hustled on, the smoother
gives the tub the once over and !,
is then placed on another machine
where the Inside is smoothed and
groove for the bottom Is put in
This all happens in a twinkling o,
an eye. The tub then goes to an
other machine where the bottom i!
put in place and two other hoop.
are installed. That's all there is tc
the making Of tub.
The workshop is in charge of Phi
Stepanski and Jas. Luka, experr!
from the Menasha plant. Mr.. Ia
penski will move his family mere II
short time. Otto Beaton, produc
ton manager for the corporation o.
Menasha left this Thursday morn
ing after spending a couple o.
weeks in this city getting the plan
in shape to function.
T. S. pullman, salesman for thi:
company for some time. will be 10
cal manager and selling agent fOl
this territory which will includ,
that section of Minnesota within {
radius of 200 miles of Sank Centr'
and North Dakota. Mr.. pullman ha!
rented the Eliza Brown residence
on Pine street and will remove hi
family to this city within short
time.
The first shipment Of 500 tub!
will go to the Sedan cooperative
creamery Friday Of this week.
In a talk the Herald editor hat
with Mr.. Bullman Wednesday fore
noon he said they had orders booked
already for more than $1,000 tub.
and that the demand for the pro
duct far exceeded the company!
expectations. He predicted thai
additional units would be installed
within a short time.
The Menasha Woodenware Corp
grafton are the oldest manufacture
ers Of woodenware and tool handle:
in America. They have been doing
business since 1854.