I asked Uncle George about his experiences as a bundle wagon operator in a threshing ring. First he teased me because I am a farmer's daughter who didn't know about this. Then he told me about a threshing ring and this is wonderful information, and very interesting to an old farmer's daughter. Thanks Uncle George. Next, more info about the dance band drummer job!
"So where do I begin. A threshing ring was a group of neighborhood farmers who formed an agreement to work as a team harvesting wheat and oats. There were usually 10-12 farmers in a threshing ring. One man in the group usually owned a threshing machine. The team was then made up of two men running the threshing machine, two men with two wagons handling the grain as it came from the machine, four men with wagons hauling in the bundles from the shocks in the field and four men assigned to pitch the bundles to the man on the bundle wagon as he loaded the wagon. the team and equipment would move from farm to farm during the wheat (and oats) harvest season. This might take three to four weeks depending on the weather and how many acres had to be harvested.
My dad had a grain wagon assignment because he had a good wagon with sideboards that didn't leak grain. The two men who ran the threshing machine had to hire men to do one job or another. During my high school years I hired out as a bundle wagon operator. Jerald hired out as a pitcher. There was an art to loading the bundles on the wagon. A row on each edge of the wagon and two rows down the middle in a weave pattern so the load would not slip and spill. You would load as high as five or six feet. I never lost a load.
As a kid it was always fun following the threshing ring from farm to farm. So the ring hired me' as a kid' to be the water boy. All day long I would carry water from one man to another. It was a large jug wrapped with burlap. We didn't have paper cups for each man in those days so they just drank from the opening. I don't think anyone ever got sick drinking one from another. That was my training, learning all about the jobs, until I was old enough to do one. I was really too short to be a good pitcher and loved the art of loading the bundles. We usually did four or five loads a day. By the way, I was paid 50 cents a day to carry the water. Rather cheap labor -- right.
At the end of the harvest season the families of the ring got together for a big ice cream social and feast. Great "farm boy" fun/ Enough, If you have any questions -- ask. Wish I could just talk to you and tell you all about the experiences of my first jobs -- threshing ring water boy and bundle wagon operator. Oh, yes, I got $5.00 a day for running the bundle wagon. All of this was like 70--75 years ago -- more or less. Can you believe that????????????"
"So where do I begin. A threshing ring was a group of neighborhood farmers who formed an agreement to work as a team harvesting wheat and oats. There were usually 10-12 farmers in a threshing ring. One man in the group usually owned a threshing machine. The team was then made up of two men running the threshing machine, two men with two wagons handling the grain as it came from the machine, four men with wagons hauling in the bundles from the shocks in the field and four men assigned to pitch the bundles to the man on the bundle wagon as he loaded the wagon. the team and equipment would move from farm to farm during the wheat (and oats) harvest season. This might take three to four weeks depending on the weather and how many acres had to be harvested.
My dad had a grain wagon assignment because he had a good wagon with sideboards that didn't leak grain. The two men who ran the threshing machine had to hire men to do one job or another. During my high school years I hired out as a bundle wagon operator. Jerald hired out as a pitcher. There was an art to loading the bundles on the wagon. A row on each edge of the wagon and two rows down the middle in a weave pattern so the load would not slip and spill. You would load as high as five or six feet. I never lost a load.
As a kid it was always fun following the threshing ring from farm to farm. So the ring hired me' as a kid' to be the water boy. All day long I would carry water from one man to another. It was a large jug wrapped with burlap. We didn't have paper cups for each man in those days so they just drank from the opening. I don't think anyone ever got sick drinking one from another. That was my training, learning all about the jobs, until I was old enough to do one. I was really too short to be a good pitcher and loved the art of loading the bundles. We usually did four or five loads a day. By the way, I was paid 50 cents a day to carry the water. Rather cheap labor -- right.
At the end of the harvest season the families of the ring got together for a big ice cream social and feast. Great "farm boy" fun/ Enough, If you have any questions -- ask. Wish I could just talk to you and tell you all about the experiences of my first jobs -- threshing ring water boy and bundle wagon operator. Oh, yes, I got $5.00 a day for running the bundle wagon. All of this was like 70--75 years ago -- more or less. Can you believe that????????????"
