Nearly 100-year-old sled donated to Brownsville museum
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A nearly century-old sled, handcrafted in Fayette County, has a new home in the Flatiron Heritage Center Museum in Brownsville.
Called a “Yankee Jumper,” the sled positions its passenger up off the ground on a wooden seat. A metal runner helps the sled fly downhill, and riders uses their feet as outriggers to steer.
“My Uncle Dale built it from plans in ‘Boy’s Life’ magazine,” said Keith Swogger. He estimated that was sometime in the 1930s. “I expected it got a fair amount of use when they (his father and his uncles) were teenagers.”
Swogger found the sled in storage at his parents’ Hiller home after he moved back to Fayette County from Niles, Illinois, to be his mother’s caretaker following his father’s death in 2013.
“I always had a mental note, when my mother passes away, I was going to donate the sled,” he said.
When Vivian Swogger died in February, he followed through with the thought, reaching out to the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp. to see if it wanted to include the Yankee Jumper (also known as a Jack Jumper or Ski Jumper), in a display at the Flatiron Museum.
The sled – and Swogger’s father Don – were subjects for former Uniontown Herald-Standard columnist Glenn Tunney.
In 2006, Tunney wrote a column on sledding, and Don Swogger reached out to him.
Tunney wrote: “Don Swogger of Hiller has no problem remembering what a ‘Yankee Jumper’ looks like, for good reason. ‘My late brother Dale built a Yankee Jumper before World War II,’ Don told me, ‘and believe it or not, I still have it here at my house.’ I visited Don in Hiller, and he showed me the sturdy Yankee Jumper his brother built decades ago. Despite its age, it appears ready for use by a daring youngster.”
Keith Swogger recalled trying to be a “daring youngster” many years ago, but had limited success using the sled.
“It’s hard to ride,” he said.
Now, anyone who wants to reminisce about bygone days of daring sledding, or perhaps be inspired for something to do next winter, can check out handcrafted antique.
“I’m extraordinarily pleased that it found a good home where its home always was,” Keith Swogger said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled because it is something unique to Brownsville, a unique piece of memorabilia to Brownsville and from that time.”
The Flatiron Museum is located at 69 Market St., Brownsville, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit barcpa.org.