Christmas is for remembering.
I remember Christmas morning when I was a kid, with a stack of presents under the tree that couldn’t be opened until the morning milking was done. Of receiving new wool socks and mittens that Grandmother Witt had knitted, and a new pair of skates, the type that clamped onto the bottoms of your shoes and were tightened with a key.
I remember Christmas dinner with aunts and uncles and cousins all gathered around the big dining room table in our farm house, enjoying a meal comparable to what we saw when the threshing crews came. Roast turkey or duck. A heaping bowl of mashed potatoes. Home-made dill pickles. Apple and mincemeat pie. Christmas cookies of many shapes and flavors.
I remember walking a mile with my brothers to the neighbor’s farm with a small present and a freshly baked pie, because we knew that the neighbor’s wife had recently died and his grown children had left home and moved to the cities, and he was there alone on Christmas day.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time in your busy life to remember.
CHECK THIS OUT: My newest book, Garden Wisdom (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is out. It’s all about vegetable gardening from seed selection to keeping away the critters. Included are a number of Ruth’s favorite fruit and vegetable recipes. Check at your local bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 11 and 12. 12:30 each day. Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Stories from the land.
February 11. Janesville, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.
March 9-11. Canoecopia, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) Scheduled speaking time not yet determined.
March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.
March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum, Chicago area. Talk and workshop. Details coming.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Christmas 1946
The Christmas season brings back many memories, especially those when I was a kid. I fondly remember Christmas, 1946. We were all happy that World War II was over and that my several cousins who fought overseas had returned home safely. Mother was happy that she could once more buy sugar and return to her much beloved Christmas baking (sugar was one of many items rationed during the war).
And the entire family was especially thankful that come the next spring we would have electricity on our farm. In looking forward to the 1946 Christmas, my brothers and I spent hours paging through the Sears Christmas catalog, looking for toys that required electricity. Battery operated toys had not yet appeared.
We found an erector set and together agreed (a rare moment among my brothers and me) that we wanted it for Christmas. An erector set was one where you built cranes and other such important machines. A tiny electric motor came with the set.
On Christmas morning, we found the erector set under the tree, complete with electric motor. We assembled a first rate crane, but, alas, we had to wait until the following April before we could operate it with our little electric motor. That’s when we got electricity for the first time, and how things changed after that. But that’s a story for another time.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A most Merry Christmas to all.
CHECK THIS OUT: My newest book, Garden Wisdom (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is out. It’s all about vegetable gardening from seed selection to keeping away the critters. Included are a number of Ruth’s favorite fruit and vegetable recipes. Check at your local bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
And the entire family was especially thankful that come the next spring we would have electricity on our farm. In looking forward to the 1946 Christmas, my brothers and I spent hours paging through the Sears Christmas catalog, looking for toys that required electricity. Battery operated toys had not yet appeared.
We found an erector set and together agreed (a rare moment among my brothers and me) that we wanted it for Christmas. An erector set was one where you built cranes and other such important machines. A tiny electric motor came with the set.
On Christmas morning, we found the erector set under the tree, complete with electric motor. We assembled a first rate crane, but, alas, we had to wait until the following April before we could operate it with our little electric motor. That’s when we got electricity for the first time, and how things changed after that. But that’s a story for another time.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A most Merry Christmas to all.
CHECK THIS OUT: My newest book, Garden Wisdom (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is out. It’s all about vegetable gardening from seed selection to keeping away the critters. Included are a number of Ruth’s favorite fruit and vegetable recipes. Check at your local bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sheboygan Co. Historical Research Ctr.
For ten years the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center in Sheboygan Falls has sponsored a series of programs called “Second Saturdays.” The programs, held at the Sheboygan Falls Library, are free and attract a sizeable audience from throughout the area.
I’ve been privileged to have been part of this interesting contribution to the Sheboygan County Community for each of the ten years. This past Saturday, on a chilly, frosty morning, more than 100 people gathered to learn about agricultural history and share stores of farm life from an earlier time.
Tales of growing up without electricity, stories about party-line telephones and battery operated radios—and the early radio programs such as Fibber McGee and Mollie, The Life of Riley, Jack Armstrong, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow and Captain Midnight. Stories of hard work and perseverance. Stories of “making do” when times were tough. Stories about kerosene lanterns and cow bells. Stories about the history of Wisconsin from the earliest settlement days to the present time.
At times there was laughter, at other times serious quiet as people thought about their own histories, many of them having grown up on farms.
The Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, with Beth Dipple as Director, is located at 518 Water Street, Sheboygan Falls. Check their website for information on program activities including “Second Saturdays” but also much, much more. www.schrc.org.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When we forget our histories, we forget who we are.
CHECK THIS OUT: My newest book, Garden Wisdom (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is coming off the presses this week. It’s all about vegetable gardening from seed selection to keeping out the critters. Ruth has included a number of her favorite fruit and vegetable recipes as well. Check at your local bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
I’ve been privileged to have been part of this interesting contribution to the Sheboygan County Community for each of the ten years. This past Saturday, on a chilly, frosty morning, more than 100 people gathered to learn about agricultural history and share stores of farm life from an earlier time.
Tales of growing up without electricity, stories about party-line telephones and battery operated radios—and the early radio programs such as Fibber McGee and Mollie, The Life of Riley, Jack Armstrong, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow and Captain Midnight. Stories of hard work and perseverance. Stories of “making do” when times were tough. Stories about kerosene lanterns and cow bells. Stories about the history of Wisconsin from the earliest settlement days to the present time.
At times there was laughter, at other times serious quiet as people thought about their own histories, many of them having grown up on farms.
The Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, with Beth Dipple as Director, is located at 518 Water Street, Sheboygan Falls. Check their website for information on program activities including “Second Saturdays” but also much, much more. www.schrc.org.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When we forget our histories, we forget who we are.
CHECK THIS OUT: My newest book, Garden Wisdom (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) is coming off the presses this week. It’s all about vegetable gardening from seed selection to keeping out the critters. Ruth has included a number of her favorite fruit and vegetable recipes as well. Check at your local bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Fireside Books and Gifts
Visiting an independent book store is like going home. The clerks greet you by name; they stand ready to help you find a particular book of interest; they chat with you about books they like and have recently read, and they ask you how things are going in your life. Sometimes they even offer you a free cup of coffee.
Fireside Books & Gifts in West Bend is such a store. I was there this past Saturday, when the weather was wet and cold, and the day more than a little dreary. I was giving a talk and signing books. Ruth was along, and as I signed books, she browsed and sought out Christmas presents.
This was my 12th consecutive year at the store, and what a pleasure it was. Dennis Uhlig, bookseller and event organizer extraordinaire, asked people to reserve seats ahead of time for my presentation—and they did.
The chairs were filled with more folks standing in the back—thanks to Dennis’s promotional efforts. We stuck around until two-thirty, talking with people, talking about books—and chatting about how important it was to have a bookstore such as Fireside in their community.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Hard to think of anything more pleasant on a dreary day than spending time in a bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 7, Memorial Union, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 7:00 p.m. Max Kade Institute. Stories from Wisconsin: Germans, Beer and Prohibition.
December 10, Sheboygan Falls Library, 9:30 a.m.: A brief history of Wisconsin Agriculture.
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
Fireside Books & Gifts in West Bend is such a store. I was there this past Saturday, when the weather was wet and cold, and the day more than a little dreary. I was giving a talk and signing books. Ruth was along, and as I signed books, she browsed and sought out Christmas presents.
This was my 12th consecutive year at the store, and what a pleasure it was. Dennis Uhlig, bookseller and event organizer extraordinaire, asked people to reserve seats ahead of time for my presentation—and they did.
The chairs were filled with more folks standing in the back—thanks to Dennis’s promotional efforts. We stuck around until two-thirty, talking with people, talking about books—and chatting about how important it was to have a bookstore such as Fireside in their community.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Hard to think of anything more pleasant on a dreary day than spending time in a bookstore.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
December 7, Memorial Union, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 7:00 p.m. Max Kade Institute. Stories from Wisconsin: Germans, Beer and Prohibition.
December 10, Sheboygan Falls Library, 9:30 a.m.: A brief history of Wisconsin Agriculture.
January 11 and 12, Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Details to come. Speaking on both days.
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