Threshing Machine: Farmers Working Together

Threshing, the process of removing the grain from the stalk on a plant such as oats or wheat, was a big event that drew friends and neighbors to local farms. Prior to the steam engine, this work was laborious and all done by hand. Even with a steam engine to power the threshing machine, many hands were needed to help bring in a crop. Women were also extremely busy during the threshing. The threshing crew needed to be fed and all of the women came together to prepare food for the crew.

Judging by the hundreds of photos Pete took, harvest must have been one of his favorite times of the year. In July farmyards bustled with preparation for the threshing run. It was a time of hope, the first harvest of the season. The White brothers still speak with fondness and excitement as they describe the threshing crew and the 20-ton steam engine creeping up the gravel road toward their farm.

Leonard White: "I remember the sound of the engine coming down the road, coming to our place. It was an exciting time at that time because you lived out in the country and you didn't see a lot of traffic on the road.  But you could always tell when the steam engine was coming, the threshing crew was coming in, the black smoke coming out of the pipe on the steam engine and the sound of the engine.

Kenny White: "They had a whistle on them just like a train engine. They'd blow that whistle when they got close to your house. They knew you were coming."

In this photograph, Kenny White rides his pony, named Dolly, to deliver water to the threshing crew. The waterboy was a welcome sight for the hot and thirsty men working in the fields.

Kenny White: "You had what they called a binder that would cut the grain and put it in bundles. Then after the bundles, they would pick up the bundles and put them in shocks, and those would have to cure or dry out. Then they had the wagons go out and pitch the bundles on the wagons and put them into the threshing machine."

Threshing time was especially exciting for young boys, whose responsibilities grew with each passing year. Like pencil marks on the wall, Harvest time roles were the measure of approaching manhood.

John Vermazen: "I imagine maybe by fourteen, I was allowed to take a team and haul bundles and pitch them into the threshing machine. That was a big step up the ladder in respect of my peers when I was allowed to do that."

Just as the neighboring men came together to make a threshing run so did the women team up to prepare and serve the abundant meals.

Philip Ingmanson: "I tell you, they had good eats. There'd be probably 15 men or more, and they'd come in and eat at one place. One lady neighbor would come over and help the other lady neighbor to feed this gang."

Inez Hult: " They made the meat and mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple of vegetables and bread and butter, of course. They also had different kinds of dessert, pie and cake. I don't remember what else it was, but it kept the women busy all the time."

Herman Wolf: "I look back and think how in the world did we ever work in the afternoon when we ate that much at noon."

Don White: "That was the highlight of the season, I guess. Your neighbors come in and you worked together and you had your stories and just general visiting."

Neighbors relied on one another. Most were relatives or close friends. But even if people had their differences, they put those aside to get the job done. Without the technology we have on farms today, families needed extra hands and extra muscles.