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Thursday 1pm - 4pm Friday 1pm - 4pm Saturday 10am - 12pm 1pm - 3pm

Arnim Museum

The museum is dedicated to preserving the history of Flatonia from its founding in 1873.

06/15/2023

Happy Father's Day! This 1938 picture of Dr. Emil Pulkrabek kneeling by his infant son David and daughter Carol captures the essence of Father's Day better than any greeting card I have ever seen. Pulkrabek was a much loved family doctor who delivered many Flatonia babies during his time here.

06/01/2023

It's summer time! In the summers of my youth, my main object was stay as wet and cool as possible. These bathing beauties must have felt the same way, enjoying the cooling, if slightly smelly, waters of the Sulphur Park swimming pool. Seen here in 1946 are Evelyn Simcik, Loretta Greive, La Verne Brunner and Billie Grace Ungerer. Bonus points to anyone who will share a photo of the famous top with me!

05/25/2023

Memorial Day. Flatonia's American Legion Post 94 will be honoring Jaromir (Jerome) Michal at its annual service at noon on Sunday, May 28, at the American Legion Hall. Jaromir made the ultimate sacrifice for his country in World War I, killed in action in France in March, 1919, and they named the local post for him when it was established later that same year. The public is invited to come out and hear his story, one of the many thousands that are at the heart of every Memorial Day service in the nation.
Memorial Day weekend is also a good time to visit the Veterans Museum upstairs at the Arnim Museum, where the American Legion and the Museum worked together in 2007 to establish a place where all area men and women who have served their country in the armed forces are honored. We will be open our regular hours on Saturday, May 27, from 10am to 12noon and 1pm to 3pm.

05/18/2023

The Flatonia High School Class of 1911. This class of five graduated on May 18, 1911, exactly 112 years ago today. A VERY small class, to be sure, but they celebrated the occasion with all due fanfare. The museum has not only the class photo in its collection, but also a formal invitation, the Commencement program, and even a copy of the valedictory address by Frank. L. Wotipka. The ceremony was held at the opera house (upstairs in the building still standing at 109 South Main Street) and the hall was decorated with an abundance of purple streamers and white sweet peas to represent the class colors. A week later the Flatonia Argus reported that the house was "filled to the fullest extent and the exercises were about the nicest ever gotten up."
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MUCH LARGER FHS CLASS OF 1923--LONG MAY YOU REMEMBER YOUR SPECIAL DAY!

05/11/2023

Adolph Topperwein and his wife Elizabeth (nicknamed Plinky), billed as the World's Greatest Shooting Team, appeared in Flatonia at least twice, perhaps more. They traveled throughout the United States giving shooting exhibitions for Wi******er Rifles. They performed at the 1903 Flatonia Street Fair, mentioned in an earlier post, and again on May 11, 1917, as advertised by the poster shown on the right. The latter performance occurred on the vacant lot east of the Bludworth residence. The shooting, according to the Flatonia Argus, consisted of "stationary and moving targets, rapid fire shooting, lying down position and all kinds of miraculously accurate shots." The museum is lucky not only to have this original poster advertising the event, but a piece of Ad Topperwein's artwork--a so-called "shoot out" by which he would fire at a blank sheet of metal to create the image of Uncle Sam, an Indian chief, or a cartoon character with bullet holes. Check out the THSA website to learn more about this Texas Sports Hall of Famer and his absolutely phenomenal feats of marksmanship.

05/04/2023

The rhythm band--ah, I remember it well. There I was strumming away on my rhythm sticks and singing my little second grade heart out when suddenly it was brought to my attention that I couldn't carry a tune with a bucket. Sad, but true, and sometimes it's best to learn these lessons early in life. But we will assume that none of these innocent first graders from May of 1951 had had to face that hard truth . . . yet. In Miss Ward's class (top photo) we have Peggy Mueller and Lillian Byler on xylophones, with Becky Garbade as the conductor. In Miss Frierson's class (bottom photo) it is Kathryn Kolar and Sue Cooper as co-conductors and Gayle Novak with the xylophone on the right. If you can identify others in the pictures, please let me know! The building in the background was the 1932 high school classroom building, no longer in existence.

04/27/2023

May Day used to be a big event in this area, especially for those of German and Czech descent, whose ancestors brought the tradition over from their homelands in Europe. As early as 1877, just two years after the town was incorporated, a Flatonia Maifest was described in considerable detail in the Galveston Daily News. A parade, a picnic meal, the crowning of a May Queen, a May Pole and a dance at night were all part of such festivities. This postcard shows the preparations for the elaborate floats to be part of the May Day parade in Flatonia several decades later, in the early 1900s. The G.H.&S.A. railroad depots can be seen in the background, the passenger depot on the left, the freight depot on the right.

04/20/2023

GONE FISHING! One can well imagine that this was a sign frequently posted on the door to Rolla Mueller's paint and wallpaper store on Flatonia's North Main Street. Along with being a talented amateur photographer who left us an incredible collection of pictures of local people and events from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Rolla was a consummate sportsman. He was also quite a do-it-yourselfer, making this tackle box with its hand painted lures and illustrations of knots in the lid.

04/13/2023

Before there was Czhilispiel, before there was a Flatonia Fair, there was a Flatonia Street Fair and Roping Contest. The Old Fiddlers' Contest closed the three day event, April 15-17, 1903. A giant parade with bands, decorated floats, carriages, and bicycles opened the fair, followed by a shooting contest and an operetta at the opera house. Day 2 kicked off with a horseback parade and drill. A scheduled balloon ascent misfired when a strap broke and the aeronaut fell about 8 feet while the balloon went up without him. Nevertheless, there was no lack of entertainment with a grand march, a shooting exhibition by A. Topperwein, roping contests and a grand ball at the opera house rounding out that day's events. Activities on Day 3 featured part two of the roping contest, a continuation of attractions on the midway, and the Old Fiddlers' Contest at the opera house (entry tickets from the museum collection seen here). All who attended agreed that the three days' festivities would long be remembered. (all details from an article in the Flatonia Argus, April 30, 1903)

04/06/2023

Sending wishes for a Happy Easter with this favorite from the museum's collection of vintage postcards. The Easter chick caddy has teed up an egg on the green for the Easter bunny. Printed in Germany, cards like these were very popular in the early 1900s--for you kids out there, this was how people communicated before Facebook and Instagram!

03/30/2023

Spring means baseball in Flatonia and a town team was organized at least as early as March of 1879. In 1931 or 1932 the Flatonia Wildcats played a legendary game against the semi-pro Oklahoma Indians.
The game ended in a 0-0 tie when it finally had to be called due to darkness after 19 innings (there were no lights at the old Flatonia Fair Park field). As recounted by witnesses decades after the event, the contest had been so exciting that when umpire Bill Albrecht was told that his house was on fire, he yelled "Let the damn thing burn, play ball!"
It is said that the same nine played all 19 innings: Frank Daehne (1st), Abe Mueller (2nd), Bill Daehne (3rd), Lonnie Ling (SS), Herman Olle (RF), Allen Webb (CF), Pete Williamson (LF), Harold Foitik (catcher) and Herbert Agricola (pitcher).
This photo is from a few years earlier (maybe about 1928?) but some of the same players were on the team then too. Can you name any of the "unidentifieds," or do you have any corrections? Would love to hear from you if you do!

03/23/2023

This is National Agriculture Week and we have a barn FULL of implements from farms all around Flatonia! Among them is this hay rake, identical to the one seen in this photo taken on the Rietz family farm near Cistern.

Address

P. O. Box 401/101 E. North Main Street
Flatonia, TX

Opening Hours

Thursday	1pm - 4pm
Friday	1pm - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 12pm
	1pm - 3pm

Telephone

+13618653455

Website

http://www.arnimmuseum.org/

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