This past Labor Day weekend, we visited the annual Thresher’s Reunion and Steam Engine show that takes place near our farm. The 4-day show, showcases some of the oldest tractors, steam engines, and farm equipment that exists today.

Charles City, Iowa is the birthplace of the modern tractor and was once home to the famous Oliver tractor factory. So it seems natural that a region wide Thresher’s Reunion take place outside of town. To me, it was simply fascinating to see what was once considered modern inventions of their time.

It also reminded me of the beginning of the use of fossil fuels to run engines and the pollution it creates. There were no limits back then or environmental controls in those days! As I coughed and gagged my way around the show, I felt as if I were in a different world…even many of the people working the engines and machinery wore older-fashioned clothing of that era.

Above is a 1924 steam engine using a long belt connected to a saw to cut logs.

As I walked the grounds I admired all of the hard-work that farmers and their families once put in to be sustainable, but it also made me realize that older is not always better. New technologies that make machinery and equipment more fuel efficient, less pollutant, and more efficient in general says a lot to our wasteful and ignorance-to-the-environment past.

Above is a small engine powering a corn sheller. The sheller separates the corn kernels from the ears. The ears and shucks can then be used for bedding.

On a different note, the country school that my grandmother, Thelma H. Johnson, started her teaching career in the 1940’s, stands inside the show grounds. Her pictures and one-room classroom brought tears to my eyes as I imagined her teaching as a young 20 year-old woman. It was the first time I had ever been to the site, and it was wonderful to be reminded of her existence in the community and her wide accomplishments. The woman in the classroom was one of my grandmother’s students who became a teacher there after my grandmother left to start a family and be a full-time farm-wife.

The above picture shows all of the different hats a one-room schoolhouse teacher used to have to wear. The sign says: “Teacher was disciplinarian, nurse, lunch supervisor, librarian, moderator, custodian, physical education activities, confidant, music and arts and crafts supervisor, public relations in community.”