This week in Church history
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50 years ago
The plaster cast oxen for the Bern Switzerland Temple baptismal font were completed and rushed for shipping in January 1955, according to the Jan. 22, 1955, Church News.
The oxen replicas "were making motor freight history this week as a large semitrailer truck sped them across the country to New York City in time to catch a ship sailing January 25 for Europe," the article stated.
With permission from the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission, the normal seven-day trip across the country was cut to four days with only three stops to change drivers, the article continued.
Sculptor Millard F. Malin and his assistants made the casts ready for crating on Jan. 19.
Once the plaster casts arrived in Switzerland, they would be cast in bronze and placed in the temple in time for its dedication in August.
According to the article, "While Elder Malin made only six oxen, in Switzerland they will each be cast twice, making the 12 for the baptismal font. Each oxen weighed approximately 500 pounds when crated."
