February 28, 1967, was a bitterly cold night with temperatures hovering around ten degrees, when an alarm came into Muncie’s Fire Station Number One at about 8 p.m. There was a fire at Minnetrista, the former home of the Frank C. and Elizabeth Brady Ball family. The firefighters were on the scene within five minutes. The fire was so intense and widespread that a second alarm was issued soon after. A general alarm, calling in all off-duty firefighters, was issued at 9:06 p.m.

Fruit jars, aerospace equipment, pop cans—those are the products that naturally come to mind when Ball Corporation is mentioned. Christmas ornaments, not so much. In the mid-1970s, Ball Corporation did get into the Christmas ornament business, one of several new products made when the company wanted to expand its product lines. In order to changes its product mix, Ball produced new products to sell directly to the consumer both in stores and by mail-order catalog.

It’s beautiful and in absolutely lovely condition for its age. The quilt features multi-colored silk patches, delicate embroidery and a gray velvet border. Sarah Rogers of Buffalo, New York made this crazy quilt ca. 1890, about three years before she married oldest Ball brother, Lucius. Sarah brought it with her when she and Lucius moved to Muncie and established their home on Minnetrista Boulevard. The quilt was handed down to Sarah’s only child, Helen Ball Robinson, who donated it to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.

We have thousands of letters in the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. Some are momentous, with news of births, marriages, deaths, or important business deals. Others are the stuff of everyday life—requests for money from students away at school, reports on the day’s mundane activities, or a little bit of gossip. One of my favorites hovers somewhere in between. It’s a letter from Edmund F. Ball to his uncles Frank and George, written in September 1942, while he served overseas in the U.S. Army.

At the end of July, faeries will invade the gardens at Oakhurst, bringing their magic with them to delight our visitors. The event Faeries, Sprites, & Lights was conceived more than twenty years ago as a tribute to Elisabeth “Betty” Ball’s childhood belief in faeries. Betty, the only child of George A. and Frances Woodworth Ball, grew up playing in the woods and gardens surrounding her Oakhurst home. Her active imagination allowed her to see the faeries dancing under the trees, skipping through the grasses, and sitting on the flowers.

After being disappointed with the quality of motels available during a family road trip, Kemmons Wilson decided to build his own hotel. The first Holiday Inn opened in Memphis, Tennessee in August 1952. A little more than seven years later, the 119th hotel in the chain opened in Muncie at South Madison Street and U.S. 35. Although some of the hotels were company owned, the hotel in Muncie was franchised by Harper Hotels, Inc. Company president was Henry “Hank” Harper, Jr.

While it’s fun to look at historic black and white images of the five Ball brothers’ homes, it’s also great to see them in glorious color. Albany, Indiana artist Alan Patrick made sure that we will always have that color record of the homes. In 1996, Patrick received a commission from Alltrista (now Jarden Home Brands) to create paintings of the homes. At first, he considered making one painting that would be a collage of all five houses. After consideration and study, however, he decided to make a separate painting of each house. He photographed the four standing houses—the Frank C. Ball home was destroyed by fire in 1967—in the early spring, and went to work in his studio.

On March 4, several Minnetrista staff attended the grand opening of the latest in the series of “You Are There” exhibits at the Indiana Historical Society (IHS). In the “You Are There” exhibits, historic photographs are brought to life three-dimensionally with actors playing the people in the photos. The “Communities Can!” is special for us, because it features a photograph and artifacts from the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. The exhibit was funded by Ball Brothers Foundation.

Help, please. I’ve written about Ball Stores before, but I’m writing again to ask for your help. Please share your stories of Ball Stores for both a book and an exhibit. Did you or a family member work there? Was visiting Santa a yearly tradition? Do you have a particularly vivid memory of a shopping experience? Here are two memories that Hope Barnes shared in her December 12, 1989 article in the Muncie Star:

Ed and Virginia Ball sent beautiful, uniquely designed Christmas cards to family, friends and acquaintances. Some featured their family while others documented places they traveled, events in their lives, and the people they knew. This card, probably from 1954, depicts Ed and Virginia and four of their five children. Only Nancy, who was born in 1955, is missing. The card features the front door of their home; when the “door” is opened, the family is visible.

When the calendar page turns to November, a true Hoosier’s thoughts turn to basketball. And in Muncie, during the first quarter of the 20th century, basketball definitely meant the Muncie High School Bearcats. It wasn’t even necessary to have been born in Indiana or to have attended Muncie High School to be a fan. Bearcat fever evidently infected Frances and Sarah Ball and their sister-in-law Frances Ball Mauck, at least for one night.

I love old company newsletters, not only for the major stories, but for the everyday chitchat. It’s so easy to get lost in the little stories. Every now and then, I pull out a copy of The Ball Line just to see what was going on with the company and employees. The Ball Line was started by John W. Fisher in the early 1940s, and, of course, those issues from the World War II years were full of news of both the home front and the people in service.

Everything that is old is new again, or so it seems. During the past few years, ideas for using Ball jars for everything but canning have been everywhere – on Pinterest, in magazines, in craft supply stores, etc. And, of course, is it even possible to have a wedding reception without Ball jars anymore?

Last month, I shared stories of growing up on Minnetrista Boulevard from Janice, Helen, and their cousin Doris Mauck. This month, we’ll check out the memories of sisters Lucy, Margaret, and Rosemary. Their parents were Frank C. and Elizabeth “Bessie” Brady Ball.