churning butter

By Elyse Fuchs

We will be discussing how butter is churned and used for trade in Pioneer days.

We will also be discussing the differences between trading goods and services in Pioneer days and trading goods and services in today’s society.

What does it mean to trade? The act or process of buying, selling, or

exchanging Have you ever traded anything?

Introduce the books Colonial Kids by Laurie Carlson and Skillet Bread, Sourdough, and Vinegar Pie: Cooking in Pioneer Days By Loretta Frances Ichord, Jan Davey Ellis.

Do you like butter? What do you use it for?

Cooking To make food taste better

Have you ever thought about trading butter with someone for another good or service?

Today, we buy our butter at the store, but in the pioneer days, families had to churn their own butter, or trade a good or service with another family who churned butter.

A simple and easy way to make butter is to shake up heavy whipping cream in a glass jar. You will need:

Heavy whipping cream Glass jar Strong shaking abilities

The pioneers would create butter in this way, or they would use a butter churn, like this one shown above.

Not everyone had the luxury of having their own cream to make butter because of scarcity. What is scarcity?

Shortness of supply

People who did have s cow to get cream from may not have had bread or spices so they would trade their butter for other goods that they needed.

What would be something you could trade someone for your butter?

Both parties can benefit from a trade. For example, If I have butter but no bread, I could

trade some of my butter with someone who has bread. Now we both have bread and butter.

Some trade items may be worth more than others. For example, you would not trade a jar of butter

for an ox, horse cow, etc. An ox is worth a lot more than a jar of butter.

How are other items used for trade? What are some differences between

trading in Pioneer days and trading in today’s society? Not as common Not as essential People do more favors for each other (If

you feed my dog while I’m on vacation, I’ll take you to the movies).

We use money for trading today.

Vegetables Bread Spices Flour Coffee Beans Rice Dried fruit Today we trade money for butter at the

grocery store

Have students churn their own butter by shaking heavy whipping cream in baby food jars.

After the liquid has the consistency of butter, let the students sample their butter on some bread or a cracker.

Describe the pioneer days trade compared to trade of today’s time

What are a few items that would be considered “fair” trade for their butter? “Fair”- Will both parties benefit from this

trade?

Before students make and sample their butter, they could decorate their butter jars with fabric, ribbon, and buttons.

1.4.1 -Identify goods that people use. 1.4.5- Explain that people have to

make choices about goods and services because of scarcity.

1.4.6- Explain that people exchange goods and services to get the things they want.

Carlson, Laurie. (1997). Colonial Kids. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press.

Douma, M., curator. (2008). Butter through the Ages. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.webexhibits.org/butter.

Ichord, Loretta Frances, & Ellis, Jan Davey. (2003). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Millbrook Press.