Introduction
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| Children were an important
part of many farms. |
"My land and my home means so much to me.
It isn't just a house and it isn't just some dirt out
there that we put some seeds in. …It's living;
it's a part of me. My grandparents blood, sweat, and
tears
went into that [land] and my dad's and now my husband's
and son's and grandson's…We've stepped on every
bit of this land and have put the seed into it on
faith
that it will grow. And to see it from spring to fall,
the crop mature and be harvested and to be used as
food
or to be put back in the ground as seed to grow again
and to feed us all…I just like to be part of
that. It just fills my heart…it's so exciting."
-- Norma Ehlers  (Quicktime required) |
Family life on a farm in York County was very different
from life in town in the 1920s. On the farm, there was no
electricity or indoor plumbing. Farming was hard work, with
long days and little money. Work and play revolved around
the seasons. Every member of the family had chores -- milking
cows, harnessing horses, gathering eggs, cleaning the outhouse,
washing clothes, and more. Children usually walked to school,
rain or shine, and spent summers helping in the fields. Farm
families looked forward to the fun of school programs, trips
to town, church gatherings, and other social events. With
help from neighbors, 1920s farm families brought in the harvest,
battled fires, coped with accidents and illness, and weathered
natural disasters such as tornadoes and drought. Spring,
summer, fall,
and winter brought different chores
and social activities for farm families.
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How was life on the farm
different from life in cities?
 "The
character and quality of life changed dramatically
in Nebraska during the 1920s….The effects
of technological change were most obvious in the
cities. By the 1920s most small cities had paved
streets, municipal electricity and water systems,
telephone systems, streetlights, and sewage systems…
The homes of most urban Nebraskans had running
water and indoor plumbing…Electricity appeared
in homes  on
a grand scale during the 1920s, at first for illumination
but by the end of the decade for washing or sewing
machines, irons, toasters, mixers, and vacuum
cleaners…Refrigerators began to replace
iceboxes for short-term food preservation, and
electric fans began to cool hot summer days.
"Change came more slowly for
country people, who would wait another decade
or two for electric appliances. Their lives were
more profoundly transformed by the gasoline-powered
automobile and truck, where effects were especially
acute in sparsely populated agricultural states
such as Nebraska." From Nebraska: An
Illustrated History, by Frederick Luebke,
University of Nebraska, 1995, Lincoln, London
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Written by Claudia Reinhardt.
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Introduction
