If we had any fireworks it was because someone had driven to Hopkins, MO and brought them back. Sparklers for the kids, firecrackers for the adults and colorful roman candles for all to enjoy.
But mostly it was business as usual, which meant the seasonal farm work went on.
From the diary my mother kept in 1952: Friday, July 4: "Cut our oats today. Cut oats at Dean's this P.M. Went up to Dean's & had a picnic supper & Weiner Roast."
No mention of any kind of fireworks. Dean, Crystal and their son Norman were our nearest neighbors to the North.
They were good friends and part of the neighborhood threshing ring which was formed every July.
Mom didn't have time to write much each day, but for the first twelve days of the month, they went like this: "July 1, Tuesday: Baled hay. Finished baling this eve. Louis and Warren started cutting oats this P.M. Rained a sprinkle."
Wednesday, July 2: "Cut oats today on Shearburn's. Mother & Leona & Kids came out. I curled Leona's hair."
July 3, Thursday: "I washed today. Cut oats at Warren's. Pulled to Reichardts at noon. Went to Mrs. Humbert's funeral this P.M."
Saturday, July 5: "Louis and Warren cut grain at Henry Mitchell's today. Went to town this evening." -- Of course we did. That is what we always did on Saturday nights.
July 6, Sunday: "Went down to Lois and Alvin's. The men went fishing. Rained hard in the night. The pheasants got wet." That was when Dad was raising pheasants for the gun club members. The brooder house for them was up at the other place.
Monday, July 7: "Louis got a load of feed ground. Rainy all day & turned much cooler. Went to school house to the school meeting. Had ice cream and cake."
July 8, Tuesday: "I washed today. Louis and Russell Vogel went into Miss Friman's and straightened up their books. (Miss Friman was the county Supt. of Schools. Dad was Secretary for our one room school. Russell must have held one of the other positions - maybe treasurer?) Louis went to Gun Club meeting."
Wednesday, July 9: "Louis finished cutting oats this P.M. Alvin and Lois brought up a bottle of gas."
July 12, Saturday: Twelve days later and Dad is back in the hay fields. "Louis is raking hay this morning. I ironed and cleaned upstairs. Dressed four more chickens. Ramona and Betty went down to Grandma's. Went to town this evening and to the show 'Pa & Ma Kettle Go To The Fair'. Raining."
A week later, threshing commenced at Reichardt's. This photo is of Shorty Reichardt amidst all the shocks of oats in one of their fields.
Two days later they began threshing at our place on Monday.
And finished by noon on Tuesday. In this picture two of the younger guys are pitching the shocks up onto a wagon while the older man is distributing them neatly.
A threshing ring was made up of all the farms in a neighborhood. The owner of the thresher moved from farm to farm in an orderly manner to finish that area quickly and move on to another area.
Mom "got ready for threshers" by dressing seven chickens and digging a bucket of potatoes.
The next day, after the oats were safely stored in the oats bins in the corn crib, Dad and Shorty "went looking for a baler". Even though most of the straw was left in a big stack in the field, some of it was baled and put in the hay mow to use as livestock bedding during the winter months.
Once the threshing was done in July, there was a let up in the field work, except for more haying, until fall. But for the women folk, the end of August ushered in canning season. What was that old saying? "A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done."
It was a simpler time. I enjoy reading Mom's diaries and recalling the memories from those years.
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