MULLEN PRODUCERS' NON-STOCK CO-OPERATIVE ASS'N

by Gussie Boyer Osborne

Entry B2 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Original Co-Op Creamery Building built sometime
before 1924

The Mullen Producers' Non-Stock Co-
Operative Association, more commonly
known as Mullen Creamery was organized in
May 1926. It had been in operation for two
years as a private business owned and
operated by Mac Osborne in a building
owned by Sewell R. Babcock at the east end
of Main Street. Babcock wanted to sell the
building and it was decided the best way to
raise the $5,350.00 needed for the purchase
was selling 100 shares at $53.50 each. Some
ranchers could not even raise this amount, so
Babcock agreed to take notes and allow them
to apply their future refunds from their sale
of cream on the notes until they could pay
them off. Some earned their total shares in
this way.

The first directors elected were S.R. Bab-
cock, President; Mac Osborne, Secretary;
C.R. Wolfenden, B.F. Prentice, Ben Mayhew,
C.E. Williamson and Fred M. Evans. Mac
Osborne was hired as manager.

Butter was churned in an 800-lb. capacity
churn, then placed in 50-lb. wooden tubs for
shipment to Chicago by train. A 10-gallon ice
cream freezer provided free ice-cream to
customers and their children each Saturday.
In later years it become more practical to ship
cream rather than butter. As many as 70 to
100 10-gallon cans of cream were frequently
shipped by train to Kansas City or Omaha.

Poultry and eggs were the next leading
items of business. Records show one day in
1927 when 13,000 doz. eggs were purchased
and shipped. Carloads of live poultry (tur-
keys and chickens) were shipped by rail, as
well as many barrels of dressed poultry in
refrigerated cars.

Potatoes were purchased from local far-
mers who brought them to town by the wagon
loads to be shipped by rail to eastern cities.
I recall at least two, Charlie Long and Tom
Carr, who brought wagon loads pulled by 4-
horse teams. Flour and sugar were purchased
by the carload in 50-100 lb. sacks. Records
show one carload of 50-lb. sacks of flour
purchased and sold to members at $1.05 per
sack. Some of the early employees were Ara
Starr, John Payne and Frank Kudrna, hired
in 1927 when he was in the seventh grade to
count and candle eggs after school and on
Saturdays.

When a co-op oil company was organized
in 1927, a service station was built adjacent
to the creamery. Mac was named to manage
it in addition to the creamery. In 1939 the
creamery was moved uptown to a brick
building on Washington Street known as the
Mercure building. Frank Fitzgerald was
contracted to remodel it to provide space for
cream testing, storage of cattle and poultry
feed and an office for the creamery and
adjacent co-op oil company. The creamery
and oil company continued as separate
organizations until 1948 when the two were
merged to form the "Mullen Co-Op."