The Husker Wagon

From "Lexington" by Mary Wilson and Sharon Y. Asher, published sometime after 1975.

THE HUSKER WAGON

The Husker Wagon was a large covered wagon with shelves built on each side. These shelves were filled with coffee, tea, sugar, flour, beans and many other articles from the local store. This wagon was drawn with a team of horses and traveled from door to door with the owner buying eggs and butter in exchange for articles on the wagon.

Steven Lowry of Lexington had a route that ran east of Lexington. His granddaughter Mable Renschler tells the story about her father Clarence who, on one of the days he drove the wagon for his father, bought a very large roll of butter from one of his customers. When he arrived home and cut the butter, he found that it was all dough inside and only covered with butter on the outside!

There were many Husker Wagons in the pioneer days. Around 1917, however, after roads improved and travel was made easier for everyone, the use of these wagons began to decrease until they finally disappeared completely.

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