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There was such a strong "fall feeling" during each of the two events you are about to see, even though both took place in August with heated temperatures and humidity. But, the coming of fall was in the air nonetheless. Lammas Day in early August may attest to that.
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When it came to history as was taught when I went to school, farming was hardly mentioned at all. Even today, aside from the kids in the history class where I work as a parapro, only an offhanded agricultural comment is written in history books ("most people back in those days were farmers"). Yet, this subject - this occupation - was perhaps as important as any other job out there. And it seems to have a growing interest of late. I must say, I am proud that I have been at the forefront of writing about historic farming and agricultural life for quite a while now. But, I am not just writing about it, I am presenting about this subject, and often a few of us can be seen accomplishing many period tasks and chores during reenactments.
In fact, me and my presentation partner, Larissa, speak often on the subject throughout the year - if you click HERE you can read about how we present historic Victorian farming at an actual farming fair!
And though we were in August, the feel of the season of autumn and harvest was in the air, and this gives more of an understanding why Lammas Day (mentioned above) was such a celebration, and it seems interest in the subject grows even greater in our modern age.
So now let's head back to an older Michigan, though in a modern way:
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| This was the 155th anniversary of the incorporation of the rural Village of Armada, Michigan, and the 150th anniversary of the Armada Fair. We were honored to be there. |
Michigan was a very popular location for pioneers and immigrants searching for new homes and better lives. "Michigan Fever" infected thousands of Easterners and they flocked westward to this state in droves. Macomb County was a center of immigrant growth with the northern part experiencing rapid settlement from 1832-1836. The wilderness had largely disappeared under the diligent farmers' plow.
In its heyday, the town of Armada boasted an opera house, a theater, seven grocery stores, a hotel and livery stable, three hardware stores, a lumberyard, a grain mill, two implement dealers, a bakery, five doctors, and several blacksmiths.
The community's strong ties to agriculture helped to bring about the well known Armada Fair (an annual event since 1873). It really seems that our fairs in this area tend to have their roots in farming, and displays of old equipment and tools are a center of attraction.Of course, I had a bit of fun with that:
Here is a first-hand later 19th century account of what it was like on the farm during threshing time:
There were barns/outbuildings for rabbits, chickens, goats, and horses.
And so did - - - - -
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| Me with my flail / hand thresher. I have no idea of the age of the threshing machine behind me...and neither did the guy who was running it. I suspect it is relatively new. |
With a flail, one man could thresh 7 bushels of wheat, 8 of rye, 15 of barley, 18 of oats, or 20 of buckwheat in a day.
Double that for two men.
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| Using a flail to thresh wheat in 1770. |
The flail remained the principal method of threshing until the mid-19th century, when mechanical threshers became widespread.
Threshing machines mechanically knocked the grain off the straw much quicker than the hand-held flail, which took much more time and effort.
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~This photo of the Moss Family Threshing Bee was taken in the late 19th century right in my hometown of Eastpointe, Michigan. The farmhouse is still in owned by the descendants~ |
By the late 19th century there were steam powered threshing machines, at a much greater cost of course. Since most farmers could not afford to purchase a mechanical thresher, a group of farmers would often pool together and the thresher's owner would visit each farm and thresh...for a price.
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| A 1904 Westinghouse Threshing Machine at historic Greenfield Village. |
"Later in the week when the threshing crew arrived, it was bedlam. The enormous ungainly machine clanked up the lane, pulled into the field by a team of six mules. The steam engine was fired up with a clatter you could hear all of the way up at the big house and seemed to shake the shingles on its roof. Men were feeding the sheaves into its hungry maw, while more men were filling bags with the stream of kernels it disgorged, tying them, loading the wagons and driving them, heavy, to the granary, where still another crew was waiting to unload and stack the bulging sacks.
Harriet recruited women to help her in the kitchen. An enormous breakfast and an equally large noontime dinner had to be produced. I rolled up my sleeves to do my share. The kitchen and summer kitchen throbbed with heat from the cook stoves. Dishes clattered. Hurrying bodies bumped into one another as we carried platters to and fro. By evening every muscle was screaming ‘no-no-more,’ aware the ordeal would have to begin again at dawn the following day.
And then it was over. The threshing crew moved on to the next farm, the extra hands paid off. There was quiet and satisfaction of knowing we had made a good crop."
But, here is how Mr. Wilder felt about the new-fangled threshing machine (taken directly from Laura Ingalls Wilder's wonderful book, "Farmer Boy"):
Mr. Wilder thought the threshing machine was "a lazy man's way to thresh. Haste makes waste, but a lazy man'd rather get his work done fast than do it himself. That machine chews up the straw till it's not fit to feed stock, and it scatters grain around and wastes it. All's it saves is time, and what good is time with nothing to do?"
Yeah, give me the flail any time over the machine!
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| The threshing machine in Armada was running when I took this picture. |
But there was more to the Armada Fair than threshing.
Us, for example:
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| We had a small set up, just using a tent fly for a covering. But it worked out very well, especially when a pretty nasty thunderstorm came through in mid-afternoon. Ahhh...we survived! |
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| Sue brought along her flax break and hackle. Yep - that's my thing as well, but I will present mine during 18th century events while she does 1860s. |
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| This gentleman played the banjo wonderfully. I requested "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - the Flatt & Scruggs classic - and he honored my request. I appreciated it. The young girls in the background here enjoyed "dressing the part." |
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| ~Summertime USA~ The midway of the fair: food and other fair food such as corn on the cob, carmel corn, elephant ears, cookies, cinnamon roasted almonds, kettle corn, hot dogs and burgers, pop - - a wonderfully typical rural Michigan fair. It was pretty awesome. Rides were on the other side - I didn't make it that far. |
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| They had wool judging contests as well. |
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| I spoke to the spectators mainly about 1860s / 1870s lighting. I included my hand-dipped candles and candle mold, as well as my 1880s antique oil lamp. Oh---and you already know I brought along my flail as well to speak a bit about farming, and I'm glad I did! |
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| Candy weaved baskets. She, too, garnered quite a bit of interest. |
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| When you say Bud... The Budweiser Clydesdales were there! I never saw them up close! You said it all...! |
We only made it to the fair for one day - an all-day rain fell on Sunday and, well, being the finicky reenactors we are, and not wanting wet canvas, the decision was made to remain home and dry.
So it was the following Wednesday, August 31, that I took part in a chores presentation at the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum, located not too far from where I live, over in our neighboring city of St. Clair Shores.
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| The curator of the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse asked a few of us if we would be so kind as to volunteer our time during their "chores day" on the last Wednesday of August. It was unfortunate that in many areas school had already begun, so we didn't get nearly as many people - kids especially - as hoped. |
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| Here's a bit of history as put on the historic placard. I don't have to type it out! |
We did have a young man and his mom come out together. He was a bright lad who seemed genuinely interested in the past and was anxious to try out a few of the tools I brought along with me.
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| I helped him with a scythe, my flail (shown here), and a rake. I explained his job as a young man on a farm in the 1860s. He commented how the skin on his hands hurt a little after handling the farm tools. I told him we needed to toughen his skin up! |
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| Although you cannot tell from the top photo, this house was built in what we now call a "saltbox" style, with the elongated slanted back roof.
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Houses built in the later part of the 1860s were usually not in this "salt-box" manner, which went out of style over a half-century earlier. That's not to say they completely stopped building them this way - just saying there were not nearly as many as a century earlier.
Not too long ago, Kim Parr became the curator of the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse.
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| The Curator of the farm house is Kim Parr, who is on the left in this photo. |
Kim "inventories, curates the collection, and create programming to match the mission and tell the story of the culture and how the Selinsky-Green family lived in St. Clair Shores from the time they built the house. I also see to the care-taking of the building inside and out. Part of this includes working on efforts to make the home as accurate as possible. Restoration and preservation projects are on-going."
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| Ah! Too bad we didn't have an actual tintype taken of us! Well, this is the next best thing, I suppose. |
Kim works hard to bring history to life. She's been doing it most of her adult life, for she worked as a historic presenter at Greenfield Village, then she moved to the Crocker House Museum in Mt. Clemens, and from there to the Selinsky-Green Farmhouse Museum.
And did you know she also sang in my Simply Dickens period vocal group for a number of years?
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| Simply Dickens 2013~ That's Kim on the far left. |
On a sad note, it was later in the evening of August 31, 2022, the same date I was at Selinsky-Green Farmhouse, that our Simply Dickens bass singer, Tom (TC) Campbell (second from left, next to Kim), passed away of a heart ailment. Tom was a wonderful and very talented guy. He played guitar as well as sang, and he is one of the very few people I know who loved the Beatles more than me. He will be sorely missed---not just in the group, but as a friend.
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| That's Tom Campbell on the left, my son Tommy in the middle, and me on the right. |
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Both, the Armada Fair and the Selinksy Green events were enjoyable to take part in. If the weather was a bit more conducive at the Armada Fair, we would have spent the full weekend there, but, as it were, no one enjoys reenacting or presenting in the rain.
And I believe as long as Kim Parr keeps forging ahead, her "Chores Day" for the younger folk and the other historical happenings, such as 19th century cooking demonstrations, will grow, and continue to grow as word spreads. Like everything, you got to start somewhere, and I believe Kim and this farm she curates is off to a good start.
So if we all keep our passion for the past and continue to teach people, both young and old, about times gone by, days of future past will be secure.
Until next time, see you in time.
To learn about A Year on a Colonial Farm: Living By the Seasons, please click HERE
To learn about historic farming through the centuries via TV, please click HERE
To read about the farming presentations of Larissa & I, please click HERE
To read more of our farming presentations at schools and reenactments, click HERE
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