Joined
·
483 Posts
Our first telphone was the crank type and then you told Mable who you wanted to talk to.
We would get up early like 4:00 AM to milk cows, feed and water them before walking to our one room school house. Unless it was full blowen winter then since the hill was between our house and the school we skied part way there and part way home. In the winter we had a Friday night sledding party every Friday. Moms would fix a dish to pass, some one brought hot dogs to roast and some times even a bag of marshmellows.
Spring found us working the fields I had my own personal tractor by the time I was 8.
![]()
I plowed fields for oats and corn plantings. Picked up well over a trillion rocks in my life time.
About the time you finished up the planting and rock picking it was haying time. We did loose hay with a hay loader hooked to the wagon.Then the wagon was brought to the barn to unload with a numbr of methods at one time or another. We had what were called egale claws 3 tines to a side that pivoted in the middle sunk as deep in the wagon load of hay as you could get. then the tractor was hooked to the big rope to pull it aloft then we kids grabbed the hual back rope swinging out over the drive floor to get the hay to the rear of the barn. My dad and one of the uncles would then use long poles with a spike in the end to swing that load of hay to one side of the barn or the other. We also used what were called harpoon forks & grapple hooks to lift the hay. the grapple hooks were the best.
Then in the early 60's we got a baler. when it was going to rain we used every thing and then some to haul hay from the field to the barn.
![]()
![]()
Once maybe twice a summer we went to a drive in movie. Movies were for winter time when the work load was not so great.
Those were the good old days. Family gathered in the spring to haul manure to the field, in the fall to buzz wood for winter heat and MOMs cook stove.
Food all home made by mom and aunts always covered the tables at that time. I still can picture the huge platter of fried chicken that went with the stewed chicken and home made rolled out egg noddles.
The women of today can't cook half as good with all the modern stuff. Of course the men today would pitch a hissy fit you asked them to help buzz firewood with a buzz saw.
Moms Studie had 3 pedals and a button on the floor and a shift lever on the colum.
It is the car I learned to drive, I already knew how to drive the flat bed truck and tractor.
When I was in high school during planting time and haqrvest time I drove that flat bed truck to school so I could get home a good hour before the school bus went by.
There were 4 of us farm boys who lived close to each other. We took turns driving into town for drivers training which was the middle of the summer. The instructor knew we were driving in too. He pretty much told us when to change drivers and allowed us to drive where ever we wanted. We liked to cruse the lakes around the area to see the girls.
Our drivers training car was a 56 ford 4dr sedan I think a custom was the model. the other car with a auto trans nobody liked was a 57 Pontiac cheiftan station wagon. It was as heavy feeling as our tractors at home. It is what we did our free way driving pratiace with as it was so heavy it just seemed to float down the road.
Today I can say I have drove about every type of wheeled motor driven mode of transport and then some.
From mini bikes to semi tractors coast to coast.
As a Kid the farm was not all work. We had lulls in the spring when we went and collected what we called cow slips from the swamps in the area. We also went and got a bag full of frog legs for frying up with the wild morels we picked. Latter in the summer there was berry pickin in the woods. We got black berries, and goose berries which made good pies but I didn't like very well raw because of the spines.
We even had a time or two thru the spring and summer for fishing.
Al
We would get up early like 4:00 AM to milk cows, feed and water them before walking to our one room school house. Unless it was full blowen winter then since the hill was between our house and the school we skied part way there and part way home. In the winter we had a Friday night sledding party every Friday. Moms would fix a dish to pass, some one brought hot dogs to roast and some times even a bag of marshmellows.
Spring found us working the fields I had my own personal tractor by the time I was 8.
I plowed fields for oats and corn plantings. Picked up well over a trillion rocks in my life time.
About the time you finished up the planting and rock picking it was haying time. We did loose hay with a hay loader hooked to the wagon.Then the wagon was brought to the barn to unload with a numbr of methods at one time or another. We had what were called egale claws 3 tines to a side that pivoted in the middle sunk as deep in the wagon load of hay as you could get. then the tractor was hooked to the big rope to pull it aloft then we kids grabbed the hual back rope swinging out over the drive floor to get the hay to the rear of the barn. My dad and one of the uncles would then use long poles with a spike in the end to swing that load of hay to one side of the barn or the other. We also used what were called harpoon forks & grapple hooks to lift the hay. the grapple hooks were the best.
Then in the early 60's we got a baler. when it was going to rain we used every thing and then some to haul hay from the field to the barn.
Once maybe twice a summer we went to a drive in movie. Movies were for winter time when the work load was not so great.
Those were the good old days. Family gathered in the spring to haul manure to the field, in the fall to buzz wood for winter heat and MOMs cook stove.
Food all home made by mom and aunts always covered the tables at that time. I still can picture the huge platter of fried chicken that went with the stewed chicken and home made rolled out egg noddles.
The women of today can't cook half as good with all the modern stuff. Of course the men today would pitch a hissy fit you asked them to help buzz firewood with a buzz saw.
Moms Studie had 3 pedals and a button on the floor and a shift lever on the colum.
It is the car I learned to drive, I already knew how to drive the flat bed truck and tractor.
When I was in high school during planting time and haqrvest time I drove that flat bed truck to school so I could get home a good hour before the school bus went by.
There were 4 of us farm boys who lived close to each other. We took turns driving into town for drivers training which was the middle of the summer. The instructor knew we were driving in too. He pretty much told us when to change drivers and allowed us to drive where ever we wanted. We liked to cruse the lakes around the area to see the girls.
Our drivers training car was a 56 ford 4dr sedan I think a custom was the model. the other car with a auto trans nobody liked was a 57 Pontiac cheiftan station wagon. It was as heavy feeling as our tractors at home. It is what we did our free way driving pratiace with as it was so heavy it just seemed to float down the road.
Today I can say I have drove about every type of wheeled motor driven mode of transport and then some.
From mini bikes to semi tractors coast to coast.
As a Kid the farm was not all work. We had lulls in the spring when we went and collected what we called cow slips from the swamps in the area. We also went and got a bag full of frog legs for frying up with the wild morels we picked. Latter in the summer there was berry pickin in the woods. We got black berries, and goose berries which made good pies but I didn't like very well raw because of the spines.
We even had a time or two thru the spring and summer for fishing.
Al
