Hodgson Collection. Prior to accessioning, the number 317 was printed in black ink on the bowl. Smoke Rings Hodgson notes: "Meerschaum calabash. Purchased by Edgar F. Johnson on February 23, 1966, at the factory, Tanganyika Meerschaum Corp. at Aruska, Tanganyika, Africa. This area was said to be one of the two major sources of Meerschaum in the world. The other is in Asia Minor, Turkey? The curved neck is from a gourd grown locally. The gourds are used very widely as a container for milk or the mixture of cows milk and blood which is the exclusive diet of the Masai people who inhabit a large part of the surrounding area of East Africa. Cows urine is used to rinse out the containers. Some say it is used to provide flavor. A well used gourd has an odor that does nothing to disprove the story. By Ed. Johnson." Robert E. Hodgson (1893-1968) was superintendent of the Southern Experiment Station from 1919 to 1960. He promoted modern agricultural methods in Waseca and throughout Minnesota. From 1948 to 1964, Hodgson wrote a column for The Farmer Magazine, and his column “Bob Hodgson Talks” appeared in more than one hundred rural Minnesota newspapers for over 20 years. Hodgson was a member of the Waseca County Historical Society, the Waseca County Horse Thief Detectives, The Boy Scouts and other organizations. Among his many interests were history, nature study and pipe collecting. During World War II, Hodgson wrote a once a month letter to members of Boy Scout Troop 85 who were serving in the armed forces all over the world. The letters were published in the Waseca Journal with separate copies printed and mailed to any Waseca serviceman who wished to receive them. Hodgson’s letters maintained the home contacts, helped men keep up on the locations of friends and provided morale-boosting communications for those far away from home.
