Ralph Foster Museum, Branson, Missouri

We visited the Ralph Foster Museum located at the College of the Ozarks, a Christian liberal-arts college where its students work at the college in payment for their tuition, so they come out of college debt free. 

Mr. Foster also collected artifacts, one of which is the famous "Beverly Hillbillies" vehicle, which was the actual one seen in the television series.

The Original Beverly Hillbillies Automobile

This is the original truck used on the television series. The truck is made from a cut down 1921 Oldsmobile.

The college has a creamery where they make their own ice cream and fruitcake. The Ralph Foster Museum is located on their campus. In 1924, Foster and his partner, Jerry Hall, set up KGBX, a 50-watt station in a corner of their Firestone tire store in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1932, Foster moved the station to Springfield, Missouri. He then changed the call letters to KWTO, turning it into a famous slogan "Keep Watching the Ozarks." Many famous country music stars either got their start or appeared on KWTO, such as Slim Wilson, Porter Wagoner, Chet Atkins, etc.

Regina Music Box c. 1898

In 1888, Dr. Alexander Day invented a time recorder. Day's patent for the dial time recorder was driven by a simple spring-driven clock with a cast-iron wheel affixed to its dial side. Day's Dial Recorder had employee's numbers around the circumference of a large ring on the front of the machine. To record his starting and stopping time, an employee positioned a pivoted pointer arm around to his own number and pressed it into a guide hole thereby printing the exact time opposite his number on a sheet of paper inside and ringing a bell with each punch. The printer had a two-color ribbon that could highlight tardiness in terms of lateness and early departures in red. This picture displays the clock in its original form with the printer area intact. Unfortunately, when our clock was designed it was already missing its printer arm.

Marking the end of World War I, the United States replaced the "Morgan" dollar with the "Peace" dollar. The designer of the "Peace" dollar was Anthony de Francisci whose wife Teresa Cafarelli was the model for the Goddess of Liberty.

Umbrella Stand

Mr. Ralph Foster's Office

This pioneer Ozarks cabin once stood approximately ten miles east of the campus. The builder, assumed to be the grandfather of Homer Bookout, made the cabin out of hewn logs shaped with an adze. The "bookout cabin" was purchased in the 1980's by the Missouri State Highway Department and disassembled and numbered so as to aid in reassembly. This structural piece of pioneer history was displayed at the New York Worlds Fair and again at the Missouri State Fair. The cabin was donated "The School of the Ozarks" and now resides in the Ralph Foster Museum. The cabin is furnished with period furnishings.

Washing Machine

A "modern" step away from washing laundry by hand on a washboard.

College of the Ozarks students in the "Flying Falcons Club," an organization of the Aviation Science Department, built this "Wright Flyer" replica in 2002 for the annual Homecoming Parade, in which their float won first place. The airplane is a 1/4" model of the real "Wright Flyer."

There were three floors of things to see, and one whole floor devoted to various guns and rifles, some of which were one of a kind.

Blitzkrieg No. 1

Gun Checkering ~~ Checkering is an artistic style of carving on gunstocks, is thought by many to be for decorative purposes only, but it was primarily done to increase friction for control of the recoil. It is more common on the sportier types of guns. Some of the plainer looking checkerings are the most difficult to cut, while some of the more intricate looking designs are really easier to do. Most checkering is done in a 25 line job, meaning 25 lines cut per inch. Such detailed work requires a steady and experienced hand. Beginners usually carve a spacing of 20 lines per inch, which can be studied easier with the naked eye. The closer the checkering, the more the pattern is subject to wear from friction. The two main tools of the checkering artist are the spacer, which spaces out the lines, and the V-tool, which deepens the lines  until the crest of each diamond is sharp. Wood selected for the purpose of checkering should be dense and close-grained. The area to be checkered must be rubbed down with turpentine combined with linseed oil, one part each. Allow the finish to thoroughly harden before checkering or it will fuzz. The artisans of this craft have through the years designed and produced there own individual patterns.

Bengal Tiger

The Bengal Tiger lives in the Sandarbans region of India and Bangledesh, as well as India and Nepal and Burma. The male can reach up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 575 pounds. When a Bengal tiger roars you can hear it almost two miles away. Tigers purr just like house cats when they feel good or sometimes when they feel pain. They live from 13 to 15 years in the wild, and in captivity, can live as long as 18 years.

Elephant Ear; Ivory Tusk

Caribou

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly bears can be found in western Canada, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. They used to be found from Mexico to Alaska and from California to Ohio, but human expansion and interference have forced the grizzly bears into areas uninhabited by humans, such as mountains and remote forests. They are generally solitary animals. They live alone except during mating season. They eat a lot during the summer and hibernate for 5-8 months.