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FRED: |
This is the kitchen. It was the most important room in the house.
Most of the family life took place here. |
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MARTIN: |
There's no water, no plumbing. |
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FRED: |
Very few farm homes before nineteen hundred had plumbing. The
farmer's wife or the children carried water from the pump outside.
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MARTIN: |
How
did they keep clean? How did they bathe? |
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FRED: |
They didn't bathe often. Usually once a week. Maybe they had a bath
on Saturday night before church on Sunday. |
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MARTIN: |
Where did they bathe? |
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FRED: |
Here in the kitchen in front of the stove. They bathed in a large
wooden or metal washtub. The children bathed first, then the farmer.
They usually bathed in the same water. |
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MARTIN: |
Wasn't there enough water? |
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FRED: |
There was plenty of water, but it had to be heated on the stove. The
farmer's wife bathed later, after everyone else was in bed. |
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MARTIN: |
I
suppose the children studied in this room. |
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FRED: |
Yes. They sat around the table. There was a kerosene lamp in the
middle of the table. |
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MARTIN: |
What were the father and mother doing? |
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FRED: |
The
mother was probably doing some kind of sewing. The father was
perhaps repairing something for the horses. |
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MARTIN: |
Where was the hired hand? |
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FRED: |
In
a small house, he was with the family. He ate with the family, and
slept with the other boys. |
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MARTIN: |
I
would like to see the barn. |
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FRED: |
In
this area, the barn was built close to the house. |
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MARTIN: |
It's just across the road. Why was that? |
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FRED: |
Because of the cold winters. Later on, when farmers built new houses
they built them away from the barns. |
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MARTIN: |
This barn is very large. |
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FRED: |
It
had to be for all the animals. It also had storage space for all of
the food for the animals. They had to store everything for the
winter. |
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MARTIN:
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The
winters must have been terrible. |
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FRED: |
I
don't think so. It was a time for fun. |
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MARTIN: |
They couldn't work in the fields of course. |
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FRED: |
Right. They could go to town more often. They visited neighbors.
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MARTIN: |
Were there many towns? |
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FRED: |
Yes. In the Midwest farm country, there was a small town within
driving distance. |
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MARTIN: |
What was in the town? |
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FRED: |
The
most important thing was someplace for the farmer to sell some of
his crops. |
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MARTIN: |
What else? |
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FRED: |
There was probably a high school. |
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MARTIN: |
What about stores? |
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FRED: |
Yes, there were general stores. Women met one another there. |
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MARTIN: |
Where did the men meet? |
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FRED: |
In
most towns, it was the barber shop. In some towns, there were small
hotels with bars. |
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MARTIN: |
Did
people go to town often? |
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FRED: |
No,
it took too much time. They went when they had to, or on Sunday for
church. |
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MARTIN:
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It
was a slow life. |
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FRED: |
Do
you know much about farm life, Martin? |
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MARTIN: |
Not
much. I'm a city person. I don't know anything about farm life in
the early nineteen hundreds. This is great. |
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FRED: |
Let's walk though the barn. |
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