Sew Butte!

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives had an exhibit on vintage sewing machines from the collection of Virgil “Sarge” Sargent. I contacted the archives and asked about the possibility of doing a podcast episode about the exhibit. That led to a discussion with Laura Sargent, Virgil’s widow, and an invitation to come down and view the machines in person. We decided on a date and I made plans. I left after church Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a lovely 3-1/2 hour drive down to Missoula and across I-90 to Butte. I needed to run away by myself for a while.

I’ve been through Butte a number of times, but I am ashamed to say that I have lived in Montana for 30 years and never been to Butte, except for the time I stopped at the Walmart there on the way back from Boise to get a battery for the BMW’s key fob. I checked in to the hotel Sunday evening, got a good night’s sleep, and arrived at the Archives yesterday morning at our appointed meeting time of 9 am.

My native Montana friends are welcome to weigh in on this opinion as they know more than I do, but Butte and Great Falls and Helena feel more like real Montana to me. Kalispell sometimes doesn’t even feel like part of Montana. Those cities seem to have a much better sense of—and are better caretakers of—their history. We have a historical society here in Kalispell, but not like the one in Butte. For whatever reason, I rarely hear about the history of Kalispell with the same level of detail. Perhaps it is because Butte’s history is so inextricably tied to the mining industry, and Great Falls’ to that of Lewis and Clark.

The Archives are housed in the old firehouse, which has a series of wonderful quotes about Butte engraved on the outside of the building:

Waiting outside the building when I arrived were three women, who introduced themselves as Laura Sargent, Leslie Doyle, and Rose Brock. Leslie and her partner moved to Butte some years ago and ended up working for Laura’s husband, Virgil, at the antique store he owned. (Laura has recently retired from a position with the county.) Sadly, both Virgil and Leslie’s partner died within a few months of each other, leaving behind an antique store and a warehouse full of merchandise.

To help deal with their grief, Leslie and Laura decided to do something with the sewing machines, and approached the Archives about an exhibit. They enlisted Rose’s help as a member of the Butte Chateau Quilt Guild to provide antique quilts as part of the display.

Laura walked me around the exhibit, which was set up to tell a story in chronological order. All of the machines came from somewhere in Butte-Silver Bow County. That alone blew my mind, as some of the machines were quite esoteric, like this Lewis industrial machine that was used to sew blind hems in draperies.

Butte had quite the fur garment industry, too, as one would expect in a cold climate and also in a place where some people were very, very wealthy.

The first floor showcased machines through the mid-1900s. Upstairs, the exhibit continued with more modern machines and one very early serger (Laura’s own). I was quite tickled by this Rocketeer that resides in a retrofitted treadle parlor cabinet.

I will try to make up an album of all the photos I took.

After touring the exhibit, the four of us sat down in the conference room for a conversation and podcast episode. We concluded the visit with lunch at a local restaurant, where I had the most amazing Reuben sandwich of my life. I was back on the road by 1 pm and home just before dinnertime.

Rose and Laura both asked if I would come back to teach a serger class, so I expect I’ll be making a few more trips to Butte in the future if we can make suitable arrangements. I’m only sorry it took me 30 years to get there. I do love Montana.

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The greenhouse is beginning to look very green, indeed. All of my seedlings have popped up, and on Sunday, just before I left, Sarah brought over half a dozen flats of plants she started at home. Susan and Elysian are also planning to bring over some of their seedlings. Every year, we try to have more inventory for the plant sale.

I’ve got another busy day today, but I’m hoping to be able to catch my breath tomorrow and finish that Emerald dress.