Hi All, A baker bought his fresh butter from a local woman in the mid- 1800's in northern Wisconsin. Like most professional "dairymaids", she ran the family dairying part of the farm with hard work and skill, churning the fresh milk down in the semi-underground "spring house" where cold well water was used to keep the milk products fresh. She made not only sweet butter, but salted butter, which lasted longer and put it into the fired clay crocks of various sizes used as molds. The family customers would use the butter (each crock having a certain price) then return the crock for reuse. The final step was using the wooden "hand press" to push the butter down into the crocks so there were no air holes to irritate the buyers. This wooden press also left a molded design on the top of the butter; the distinctive first letter of the family surname, surrounded by daisies. She was known for miles for honesty and the top quality of not only the butter, but the "pot" cheese, goats milk and cheese, and other soft cheeses. The baker was concerned that the one pound bricks of butter she sent him were "light", and weighing them proved his suspicions right. The woman was shocked when she received the notice that she was to appear in court for not sending the full pound bricks of butter. During the session, the judge asked the woman about her mode of weighing the butter which she sent to the baker. She explained that she did not use weights on the scale when she cut his butter bricks. For years she had bought one pound loaves of bread from the baker and used those as the weights for measuring the bricks of butter she sent him. The case was dismissed. Hope you enjoyed this one, Rita