09/40 Cream separator

Manistee was home to roughly a half dozen different dairy operations throughout the 19th and mid-20th Century. This object, which is one of the items that visitors to the museum ask the most about, is a cream separator from one of those dairy operations.

 

The cream separator was also an invaluable tool used by inspectors to test farm milk to determine the fat content and to prevent the producer at a dairy from adding water to dilute their milk.