00:00:01.309 - 00:00:21.899

Yeah. Ok. We've got a, uh, tapes rolling and I just wanna say first that I'm in the home of Kenneth. And your first name again? Yvonne. He, and is that the correct pronunciation of the last name? He? Yeah. Right. And I am, uh, the day is

00:00:23.180 - 00:00:46.849

Monday the 20th, 20th. Very good. I knew I had it written down in my calendar. So, first of all of all, would you just state your name and the spelling of your name? Uh Kenneth Heine, um Heine. And uh, the day you were born, uh November

00:00:46.860 - 00:01:12.029

16th, 1928. And I was born, uh, uh, well, there at Schaumburg and Barrington Road. But, uh, my mother did go to the hospital, uh, you know, at that time they were going already, I guess. And do you, uh, remember much about that particular, uh, the, now,

00:01:12.040 - 00:01:31.139

did you stay in that home? The home? You were all the time? Yeah. The time. Yeah. Yeah. Ok. And, uh, now the schoolhouse would have been right near there right across the road. The road. Yeah. Shop and Barrington on the corner we were, and the church,

00:01:31.160 - 00:02:00.199

uh, the school was on the other corner. Do you have memories before you started school? Can you remember back that far? Probably, uh, a few. We had, uh, not too many though, I would say. Um, I do remember we had a terrible tornado in 1933. So

00:02:00.209 - 00:02:27.679

that would have been about, uh, the time I started school, I think I started school right at five years old. I don't think I started the first year. Ruth was there. Uh Ruth uh Andersen or Ruth Regenburg, which we called her. Um But the second year

00:02:27.690 - 00:02:55.949

I think I started when she was there. And uh what about grandparents? Do you remember your grandparents? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Uh Well, the Heines lived on the next road. The, the Heines side and my mother's side were in Schaumburg Engelkings. Um That would have been

00:02:56.649 - 00:03:21.100

just uh on Schaumburg Road again. And then Roselle Road and then they had uh a big farm there where weathers feel us now did the both sides of the family farm and the farm. Would it have been dairy at that time? Oh, yeah. Dairy and hogs.

00:03:21.110 - 00:03:47.839

And uh yeah, that was uh although my dad worked, he was a road commissioner also, uh and worked with the township almost always, I think uh while I was, uh you know, probably since I was born, uh we didn't have a real big fire, you know,

00:03:49.020 - 00:04:06.669

80 acres. And uh that was it, see, and it took a bigger farm than that. But we did have cows and parks and everything else. And did you, did you grow, would you, would, would you, would you be what we call a, a selfing farm? I

00:04:06.679 - 00:04:27.600

mean, in terms of, did you pretty much grow everything? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Everything. Yeah. Now, as a child, were you involved in a lot of chores? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We, uh, helped, yeah. Yeah, there was, uh, something every day, you know, with animals. We had chick,

00:04:27.609 - 00:04:53.660

we had everything, you know, chickens and ducks and geese and, and, uh, that was our food too, you know, milk and we made our own butter and everything, you know. So, do you remember specific chores that you had to do? Well, yeah, I helped, uh, for

00:04:53.670 - 00:05:15.239

sure with the, uh, and we had, uh, uh, a wood burning stove and coal burning stoves, you know, that's all there was that, uh, and we had to bring that in the wood or the coal and also at the school, you know, where, where I went,

00:05:15.950 - 00:05:35.369

we had, had to do that and we had to bring in water. That was no plumbing, you know, or anything. So, were you bringing water from a, well? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, did you have a pump on the well, or? Yeah. Well, my dad did convert

00:05:35.380 - 00:05:58.470

that to electric because of the cows. The electric was always there as long as I was, but not the phone, I suppose. Uh, the phone was on account of money, you know. Do you remember the day you got the phone? Not really. Um, I think we

00:05:58.480 - 00:06:19.519

had the phone now. I probably was four or five years old or maybe a little older when we got the phone. Uh, was there a certain amount of excitement about having it? Well, not really because there wasn't many calls. No, nobody else had them either. It,

00:06:19.529 - 00:06:43.390

it isn't like now, uh, you know, at all. I mean, that, uh, there was a, a party line, you know. And, uh, yeah. So, did you have any pets as a young? Oh, yeah, dogs always. And I did like cattle. I, I re, I really, really

00:06:43.399 - 00:07:06.290

like and pigs. I, I did like pigs. We raised our own pigs, you know. Uh, you'd have the sow and they'd have little ones, you know, and they're not natural, you know, what would go on our geese too? And our ducks, we always was raised. So

00:07:06.299 - 00:07:29.670

there was always something new, you know, almost always. Of course, that was always in the summer. The ducks and the geese and the chickens we bought from a nurse, uh, from a hatchery. Um, did you use the feathers, uh, when you would, you, would anybody keep

00:07:29.679 - 00:07:49.769

the feathers in? Oh, yeah. Yeah. My mother took care of all that. All the, uh, not the feathers, the down of the, uh, the feathers were no good, you know. But the down from the Keys or the docks and that has to be dried for years

00:07:49.779 - 00:08:14.769

for a year or better. They just hang in a, in a cotton bag. Uh, and, uh, you could put them any place and then they drag there is, uh, well, you know, uh, something in them for, uh, so that the water doesn't bother the animal, you

00:08:14.779 - 00:08:37.919

know, when they swim in there it doesn't, so that has to be basically, uh, it's an oil, I imagine, isn't it? And, uh, yeah, we did that. Ok. So dogs were the main pets. Well, that, that was kind of a pet. Yeah. Now I, I did

00:08:37.929 - 00:08:58.270

see a picture of art on a cow riding, a cow. Yeah. Well, we all that. Oh, yeah, everybody tries that, I think. Yeah. And some of them were, would really be pet. You were with them every day, you know, at least once or twice a day.

00:08:59.270 - 00:09:20.359

So, uh, they'd all, you know, they, it, it was different because, uh, there weren't as many as there is. Now on big farms, they have work workhorses. Yeah. Had them. That was a rather special relationship, wasn't it? Yeah, because they were an animal that stayed with

00:09:20.460 - 00:09:40.090

you. Yeah. Yeah. Now, did you, did you have any specific, uh, so you mentioned, uh, collecting firewood? What were you in, on feeding the animals and things like that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was every day though. That was just normal, you know? Yeah, I'd help with

00:09:40.099 - 00:10:01.669

that and the cleaning a lot of times whenever, you know, when I was old enough, you know, you. But, uh, now as far as when you said you started school at five years of age, yeah, I think now, I don't remember when Ruth Andersen started her.

00:10:01.840 - 00:10:25.919

Do you? Uh, I have that written down somewhere but, yeah, I forgot. But, uh, I'm pass, it was the second year she was there. See, I wouldn't have basically, probably remember her that because I think I'm the only one. Me and, uh, Velma Richardson were the

00:10:25.929 - 00:10:45.289

only one in first grade I think. I'm not sure that that's the only one I remember. But, you know, the school was, uh, we had all the classes in the school. So, uh, now how did you get to school? Well, you were right. I could, yeah,

00:10:45.380 - 00:11:13.909

I just ran across, I could come home for lunch. See, but, uh, I'm passive. It was a, I'm pretty passive. It was her second year. So, uh, and then needless to say I was through school too when I was 13. See, that way. So, now, did

00:11:13.919 - 00:11:34.919

you, um, now, uh, someone mentioned that the teachers would stay in the homes. Yeah. Yeah, she did. Yeah, she stayed by our place. That's why I would remember her because I barely reme remember the second one, you know, second teacher that took Ruth's place. Betty Harding

00:11:34.929 - 00:11:57.700

was her name and she stayed by our place, at least for two years, maybe three, when you say by your place in the house. Oh, yeah. They brought her Monday mornings and picked her up Friday afternoons. They, somebody, her brother, she says her brother brought, drove

00:11:57.710 - 00:12:18.150

her there and she came to our place from school and just live there with us. Take me with you. Oh, sure. Everything. The, the house wasn't that big. You know, they move that to the end of the base. Wow. When did they do that? No, we

00:12:18.159 - 00:12:38.419

didn't hand it. That was already dug with machinery. We moved it one time. You told me to hand dug the basement. No, they used to dig those, uh, the original they did with horses. And that, that's why they all have small little basements, part basements. See

00:12:39.559 - 00:12:57.880

the house the school did too. Yeah. The schools got a full basement now. And, uh, but as before it did just under the front, it had part basement for coal and wood and that was all. So you didn't have to take your lunch to school. You

00:12:57.890 - 00:13:19.049

were there? So, so now, so, uh, so ruth the, the teachers were kind of part of the family then. Oh, sure, sure. If there was, uh, uh, the supper was a big supper for, for the family, you know. So did she pay a certain amount to

00:13:19.179 - 00:13:39.880

the family? I think a little. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think she paid something. And, uh, uh, I don't think she did her laundry there. I think she took it home. I'm not sure of that. That was when somebody picked her up on Friday. She went home

00:13:39.890 - 00:13:57.559

for the weekend for the weekend. Yeah. So, what kind you mentioned that you had to do, uh, that you had to build the fire at the school? Yeah. We, uh, if it was real bad out, like, now, uh, my dad would go over there. Well, maybe

00:13:57.570 - 00:14:20.289

sometimes I'd go along, uh, on, on Sunday nights it started, see, get it started because that would help a little, you know, no insulation or anything. But, uh, it wasn't really that bad, you know. Uh, but it was, uh, I've cold windy days and we'd have

00:14:20.299 - 00:14:48.450

to crowd around the stove. It wasn't that warm in there at all. So, do you, do you think there was an advantage? Do you think it was helpful to have the mixed grades like you experienced? Well, now, really? I don't, we never had many, uh, well,

00:14:48.460 - 00:15:14.039

the Richardsons had a big family and they moved them, uh, probably a year or two, two years after. Now. Is that Jim Richardson's family? That's, that's his brothers and sisters all went there and, um, uh, they weren't, uh, a whole lot of, uh, children in there

00:15:14.049 - 00:15:39.880

after that, you know, it cut it way back. So, when you started, do you remember about how many students were there? I don't know either. What about when you graduated? At 13? Well, I think I was the only one that year, uh, in your class? In

00:15:39.890 - 00:16:04.940

my. Yeah. Yeah. But the whole school there was only three of us there for a couple of years. Three of that was, that was it? Yeah. And then, uh, after I got through it, start picking up again and then they, yeah, there was, uh, I think

00:16:04.950 - 00:16:19.989

two years it was only just three of us. Were there any other chores that you had to do at the school? Other than the, the heating? Now, what was the water situation there? Was it? Well, we just took it from my place. There was no, well,

00:16:20.179 - 00:16:42.070

uh, no electric or anything there, you know. So we just carried it over in a pail and everybody, you know, and, uh, there was no bathrooms, you know, they were outside. So, uh, I suppose there was a pan there. If somebody did want to wash, they

00:16:42.080 - 00:17:02.150

take a little of that water. But that was it. Uh, the wild water from our farm, you know, they always got the water there. I don't think that a well was ever put in there at all. Even after, after I was out of school, they always

00:17:02.159 - 00:17:23.849

got the water, the house. But there was times, um, that they would run two electric wires over there if there was something that had to go at night from our place just across the road. You know, for two lights maybe or something. That was, it, it

00:17:25.180 - 00:17:50.109

was. No, well, they were in there. They were there yet but we never used them. Yeah, basically. Yeah, the mounting brackets were in there yet. That, that was it. Now, that school wasn't real old at that time. I don't think it was built sometime in the

00:17:50.119 - 00:18:18.250

early 19 hundreds. So, you know, how long was the school day? How long do you remember? Well, I think, uh, uh, probably we started at eight or nine, wasn't it nine o'clock or something? I, I'm not sure. I think six or seven hours, you know, 6.5,

00:18:18.260 - 00:18:44.569

7 hours, something like that. No, not real early. Was it an enjoyable experience for you? School? Well, yeah, because, uh, you know, there were other kids usually. See and, and, uh, uh, we didn't go nowhere hardly at all. Uh, we did have a car but, uh,

00:18:46.900 - 00:19:08.619

we didn't go to no. Uh, you know, we didn't go, we'd go to town maybe once a month. We, we had to buy flour and sugar and coffee and things like that. Well, uh, we bought our clothes in Elgin and, uh, a lot of our groceries

00:19:08.630 - 00:19:35.839

in Roselle. They had a kind of a, a A&P there, I think at that time. So, was that kind of a big deal? Did everybody go? Was that kind of like a? Yeah. Um, well, see, too. uh, now my sister would have been 10 years older

00:19:35.849 - 00:19:58.219

than I am or more 11. And my brother was five years older than I was. So, three of us. Yeah. Um, uh, but, uh, we'd go with, uh, kind of a little bit of an adventure. It would be, that would be once a month, you know,

00:19:58.229 - 00:20:16.579

maybe, or [unknown] and maybe only a few times a year, two times a year. The alternate three. That was it. What about, um, games in school? Did you, uh, did you, did you have recess like they did? Oh, yeah, we have recess. Yeah, they had

00:20:16.589 - 00:20:38.000

a merry go round an old one. And, uh, well, it was probably new then. We had a lot of fun on there and, uh, and then, uh, we just play ball or something like that, uh, for, you know, what was it? 15 minutes, maybe a recess

00:20:38.010 - 00:21:01.619

or so, just to get us out. So, the, the social part of it was the part you like the best? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I wasn't much in school, you know? Um, it was just, I learned to read and write and math. I'm good in, you know,

00:21:01.630 - 00:21:24.140

uh, was there any kind of art, uh, like drawing or painting? I mentioned we did a little bit. Yeah, we, uh, I very little though. It was, did you have an opportunity to play a musical instrument? No, no, no. What about discipline at school? Yeah. They,

00:21:24.150 - 00:21:46.660

uh, you, well, you know, there was, uh, older kids and younger. So, uh, but I don't know, the kids weren't, uh, too big a problem, I don't think for the teachers, maybe some were. But, uh, because that was the only place they ever went away from

00:21:46.670 - 00:22:13.609

home. So they, we're told at home, you know, what to expect and I suppose it lasted, see what this is like now where people, uh, go places, you know, like my grandkids go all over. So, uh, but no, no, I don't think so. So, you don't

00:22:13.619 - 00:22:36.199

remember any, any problems in terms of, no, no, nobody had to stand in the corner. Well, that might have happened a few times but nothing. Uh, and why do you think that was, well, probably being naughty or something, you know? I mean, in terms of why

00:22:36.319 - 00:22:54.180

do you think there was so little problem? Well, uh, like I said, the kids just didn't have the leeway. They do now, I, I think we were home or we were at school. That was it, you know, we did go to picnics in the summer, you

00:22:54.189 - 00:23:15.609

know. Uh, but there weren't many of those either. There was something at Fourth of July. All was all around, you know? Would that be, would you go to a town? Yeah, we'd go to a town once in a while for that. And, um, but outside of

00:23:15.619 - 00:23:39.329

that were birthdays, church picnics, uh, the church picnic we'd have, that was right near us. You know, the church was too. And, and can you give the name of the church that? Well, that's the evangelical and reform. Now, of all the time I went, it was,

00:23:39.339 - 00:24:05.869

uh, uh, German. Well, it wasn't full Luther. Uh, it wasn't just for the farms around there, you know, it's still there. And now did, was German spoken in your home? Oh, yeah. My grandma, she really never learned to talk English. See, so, on the heine, on

00:24:05.880 - 00:24:30.729

the Anglican side. Oh, yeah, we talk German and, uh, they had German school at the church too. Did you attend that? No, I never did. But my brother and sister did, uh, that was just, uh, like for, um, uh, what do you call that confirmation and

00:24:30.739 - 00:24:54.010

stuff, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So, did you grow up speaking both languages? Oh, yeah, pretty well. But, you know, you lose that a lot if you don't use it. There were, and there's two Germans too. There was a high and a low and I think we

00:24:54.020 - 00:25:16.300

talked a low German because the high German I couldn't understand real well. I never do. You know what the difference was? I mean? No, not really. Uh, would it be like it wasn't necessarily slang? I don't know. Exactly. Just a more formal way of speaking in

00:25:16.310 - 00:25:42.089

a less, I guess. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. So, what about birthday celebrations? Were birthdays celebrated much? Oh, yeah, we had uh, at home usually, like, you know, we'd have a birthday cake. What about Christmas? Anything special that would go on at Christmas? Yeah. I

00:25:42.099 - 00:26:01.540

would have a little Christmas party at the school and maybe, maybe during the day or maybe during the evening, maybe that's what electric was for. I think they might have had a little program there and then at the church and that was basically, uh, for Christmas.

00:26:01.750 - 00:26:27.760

Uh, were you one of the people that they always got to be in the programs? No, uh I went, we were, we, we, we had something to do but uh nothing, uh nothing big, you know, nothing special. Uh at the church, we each had something to

00:26:27.770 - 00:26:53.619

do, you know, uh as far as um other celebrations that would have been Fourth of July. What about any special events? Uh like uh going to the picture show or anything like that? No. Um later on, uh my parents knew some people in Pali and they,

00:26:53.630 - 00:27:19.000

we'd go there maybe once a year for a visit. You, you know, people went and visited. Uh then, uh that was, uh I was probably a 10 years old then or maybe uh yeah, eight years old I'd say. And um they had a son that was

00:27:19.010 - 00:27:40.819

the same age approximately as I did. I am. And uh uh I, the, on a Sunday we'd go there and then uh I could go with him to a movie and that would be the, but they had free movies around. You know, you probably heard of

00:27:40.829 - 00:28:00.420

those. No, none, none of the people that you interviewed or anything. Where were they? They were shown mostly at taverns and you could drive over there with the car and sit in the car and watch them. So, it was an outdoor, like a, like an outdoor

00:28:00.430 - 00:28:22.890

only in a little, just maybe 10, 15 cars. Was it? So, was it a very big screen or, you know how the drives are? Yeah, they're huge. No, this wasn't big. I would say about maybe half the size of that there, eight by eight or something. And

00:28:22.900 - 00:28:44.010

it was at its to outside. Yeah, outside. You could stay in the car, sit on the front or whatever they have those. But outside of that, uh, we never went to the movies and, uh, I think those were on Friday nights or something. We never went

00:28:44.020 - 00:29:07.069

to too many. I, I always went with somebody. My folks didn't go but I'd ride with somebody, you know, now there's a, was some kind of a rumor about some shooting at the bell or something like, oh, well, we kind of did that from our garage.

00:29:07.079 - 00:29:33.180

From our, uh, fire. We do that once in a while. Uh, me and my dad, uh, because there was only a little bit shown, uh, you had to be, it was quite a waste too. It was probably, I would say close to 200 ft, you know,

00:29:33.229 - 00:29:56.890

or maybe 300 ft. And, uh, it would ring then see just a little pa-, like a pallet gun 22. And, uh, you only had a little area that you could see of the bell. So it was hard to shoot. It wasn't easy. Is this your dad's

00:29:56.900 - 00:30:27.109

idea? Yeah. He, he used to do it. He showed us that, you know. Yeah. So, what other, what other mischief did you get into? Well, that was about it there that, that we would do, uh, no other mischief. Well, I suppose there was, but nobody lived

00:30:27.119 - 00:30:57.579

close by, you know, nobody. So, who was your closest neighbor? Well, um, let's see, there would have been the Dorwaldts. I don't know if you heard of those. They lived, uh, just south of us. Well, basically there were neighbors all around but some were just

00:30:57.589 - 00:31:26.949

further away and some didn't have Children and some, and none of them were basically the same age. Like the Richardsons only had one girl the same age as I am Thelma, you know. And, uh, so, uh, there wasn't too many, uh, my age and, uh, there

00:31:26.959 - 00:32:05.020

were vines, there were, uh, there were Tatges had no children and there was a, the Dorwaldts had three Children but two only went to school. One was a baby. Um, there was, uh, Walter Walter, but Herbert didn't go to school till I was almost

00:32:05.030 - 00:32:32.670

out and then our f, yeah, but they didn't, uh, uh, I'm not sure there were none of his family in the school when I went. Yeah. None of his Children went to school yet. Do you remember Matilda? He, at all, a sister of his tilly, they

00:32:32.680 - 00:33:05.900

called her. Yeah, I knew, uh, all his sisters. Well, let's see. What was, uh, Jahns, uh, I wonder if her name was Jahns when she married? Oh, no, I think she was older. Elsie Jahns was a sister and, uh, he had all sisters. So, quite a

00:33:05.910 - 00:33:39.869

few. No, the hearts, uh, they had the blacksmith shop too. Well, they, I think they were, I think Hart probably died when I was young, real young. And, uh, I'm not sure when, so they would have been a lot older than me. See, like I was

00:33:39.880 - 00:34:12.879

almost my father's age. Not quite, needless to say. And he might have been near the youngest of that family. But, uh, uh, that's where I, uh, uh, then this Harvey Bierman took that blacksmith shop over. Did you hear that when Hart died? And, uh, he liked

00:34:12.889 - 00:34:33.270

me and, uh, so when I was like, uh, 12 years old or so I could go there and work. You see, and he taught me probably more than I could ever learn in school and I'd ride my bike there, which was about 2, 2.5 miles. And,

00:34:33.280 - 00:34:56.399

uh, and, uh, when I was like, during the war and stuff. I worked there all through there and, uh, he taught me everything about welding and steel and we had to make a lot of things for farm equipment and stuff that was in that hearts, uh,

00:34:57.219 - 00:35:23.540

Blackman shop that is that we talking about. No, that was just out, out on 72 and Barrington Road. It's still then, uh, during the war there, we built Kwanza across the road from that. He wanted a bigger place and, uh, he wanted to sell fire machinery

00:35:24.709 - 00:35:47.760

and the old place was a regular old blacksmith shop. See, so we built, he built a new place. I helped him build it across the road. It's still there. Uh, quonset hut, if you ever go by that way on 72 and, uh, Barrington Road. So you,

00:35:47.770 - 00:36:04.330

that was that your first job outside the home? Yeah. Yeah, basically the first. So you would go there after school and then when you graduated? Yeah, I have to go there. Yeah. And you went, did you start in full time or were you still? Oh, I,

00:36:04.389 - 00:36:21.320

oh, no, I'd stay, do the farm work and go there, you know, whenever we could, you know, lots and a lot of times in the winter I'd worked there all winter and I could work at a farm right across the road from us that, uh, McNaughts

00:36:21.330 - 00:36:44.929

bought, that's where the school property belonged to and that part and, uh, I could go there and work all summer too. Do you remember what your wages were? Oh, yeah, 35 cents an hour. But, uh, that was a lot of money because, uh, uh, I know

00:36:44.939 - 00:37:12.540

the grownups that worked at that firm, this was a big firm. They bought two firms and combined them. And, uh, they had, uh, uh, well, they were millionaires in the thirties. They built, uh, made wrenches and power. Are we talking about knots? They built, uh, power

00:37:12.550 - 00:37:38.229

tools and, uh, uh, they made branches and things like that, uh, in a factory in Chicago, they own it. And, uh, I don't know, uh, everybody always said they laundered their, some of their money. They, they invested it in, in the farms and, uh, they bought

00:37:38.239 - 00:38:09.800

purebred livestock and stuff like that and big new buildings and modern tractors and everything new, you know, and they, uh, uh, they had help, they hired all the help and 11 was a manager, like one farmer took the manager's job and then they hired regular help.

00:38:10.989 - 00:38:32.070

But, uh, uh, I could go there after school too or on the weekends and work all the time. So there's, uh, mainly, uh, mainly in the summer, you know, I'd go there but I could go there almost any time because there was always something to do.

00:38:32.080 - 00:38:49.729

You know. How old were you when you first started to work outside the home? Well, 1213 there. Yeah, I was still going to school when I worked there. What kind of work did they have? You do? Well, a lot of it was, um, uh, just driving

00:38:49.739 - 00:39:11.719

a tractor or cleaning calf pens or hog pens or hauling manure and hauling feed and, uh, things like that, gather, you know, harvesting some, what a tractor, you know, and things like that. Now, at the blacksmith shop, how much did you make over there? Well, he

00:39:11.729 - 00:39:40.149

gave me 40 cents an hour. And, uh, uh, but, uh, it was, uh, in a way after I see nowadays it was well worth that. It was actually a lot of money, you know. Well, also you were getting an education there. Yeah, I can build almost

00:39:40.159 - 00:39:57.860

anything. I want to build that. This farming is just kind of a hobby for me because I ran heavy equipment, you know, for 45 years. So, so did you, how did you make that leap from the? Now tell, tell me a little more about what all

00:39:57.870 - 00:40:25.540

you learned from him at the blacksmith shop in the w, well, basically, uh, um, the nuts and bolts, you know, sizes, uh, the welding, the fabricating, the measurements, the angles, the, to build things completely from nothing. You know, when you are talking about equipment. Yeah. Now,

00:40:25.550 - 00:40:45.989

say, for instance, during the war, all that farm equipment wore out there wasn't none ready available then, uh, we'd have to make hitches or make parts for them that wasn't available. You know, it was either, uh, you didn't have it or we couldn't mate as much

00:40:46.000 - 00:41:07.350

as we could there. And, uh, then all the, uh, shovels and the shanks and the, the plows, they all had to be reconditioned always every year or so, farmers would bring them in. And then at that point in the thirties, things were going from steel wheel

00:41:07.360 - 00:41:31.790

farm equipment to rubber tire. And we cut hundreds of those wheels that steel rim off of there, welded a tire rim on there or even if it was, would we do it? And, uh, then they had Robert tiers, uh, on, uh, you know, use, they use

00:41:31.800 - 00:41:52.100

car tires or truck tires, whatever the machine called for, you know, that's how a lot of those wagons because they were good wagons, you know, was, uh, good wagons that they built and nobody wanted to get rid of them. But they had a, the roads were

00:41:52.110 - 00:42:11.139

starting to get paved. And, uh, you know, and it was easier to pull a rubber tired wagon than a steel wagon for horses and, and farm equipment and it was faster. So we did hundreds of those and he was one of the first ones that developed

00:42:11.149 - 00:42:31.020

that method to do that. See, so when did you, when did you get hired away from that? Well, basically I stayed there about 1011 years and then I had to go to the army in 1950 you know, uh, I was the first to go for a

00:42:31.030 - 00:42:51.600

career. I wasn't old enough for World War Two. But, uh, before we get that far along, let's back up because I want, I want to, uh, I want to find out a little bit more about your social life. Uh, well, well, we didn't have any places

00:42:51.610 - 00:43:17.149

to go to, you know. Uh, what about when you were a teenager? Well, you just went with wherever you could. It's, we used to, they used to have dances at Elk Grove, go there or, um, sometimes we'd go ice skating in the Elgin and Lords Park.

00:43:19.419 - 00:43:48.199

Uh, somebody get a car, we just take maybe four of us or so and go there and, uh, no, no ch, you know, uh, so what did you do about finding, finding a mate? Well, how did that happen? Uh, I didn't know, uh, Vy here until

00:43:48.209 - 00:44:12.030

after I got back from the Army. But, uh, uh, we'd go to dances or someplace, uh, you know, on the weekends. Yeah. And, uh, who would put on the dance, who would do this, you know? Well, they were a tavern and they'd have them every week

00:44:12.040 - 00:44:34.750

or, uh, in the winter, especially summer. A lot of people wouldn't, wouldn't go to them because there were other, like, those picnics were a lot of picnics. You know, you could go to too. Bartlett used to have a huge picnic and, uh, all these picnics were

00:44:34.760 - 00:44:58.729

basically because there was no fire equipment and they bought this fire equipment through these picnics. These volunteers, like my dad helped with the Bartlett. Even though we were out there we had no fire department. You know, there was nothing. So, there was few farmers out there

00:44:58.739 - 00:45:18.510

and there and then the town of Bartlett and Wayne got in on it and they'd have this big picnic and they bought all their fire equipment with it. So, would they have raffles and things like that? Oh, they had everything. They had gambling. They had, uh,

00:45:19.389 - 00:45:46.479

uh, bingo games there. That was, that had run about 34 days, uh, that start on Thursdays at first Friday nights. Saturdays and Sundays there once a year. Almost like a carnival in a way. Yeah. Yeah, they have rides there. Oh, yeah, they run the bagel and

00:45:46.489 - 00:46:17.629

all that and, uh, you could buy food there too. To the fire department. Yeah. And everybody was volunteer. They would buy the food, you know. But, uh, a lot of those towns have those then to do that. That was the only way they could, you know,

00:46:17.639 - 00:46:33.840

cause a fire if a fire started it, it was almost impossible to put it out with just farmers, you know. And what about the, the dances? Who would have put the, who was putting those on? Do you think would have been the, were they from, were

00:46:33.850 - 00:46:52.350

they a money raiser too for something or? Uh, I think some of them were and some weren't, some were just, uh, tavern or? Yeah. Now, when you say tavern, I guess my, my, uh, thought is I, when I hear the word tavern, I think alcohol. But,

00:46:52.360 - 00:47:21.959

yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, alcohol, you know, the prohibition was over then. And, uh, age limit on drinking. Well, if you could, uh, order a drink, you could get it if you had the dame or whatever. Yeah, it's pretty wild. Well, we had a little

00:47:21.969 - 00:47:43.600

beer at home. Not, uh, the Bartlett tap would have dances upstairs all the time. Yeah. But that was for, for that was, yeah, the blue moon had steady dances. So, that was like, that was a ball. Yeah. Yeah. Where was that? That was right here off

00:47:43.610 - 00:48:14.500

the bypass where you came through. Yeah. No, I don't think you're acquainted in Elgin. So, is the ballroom still there? No, that's gone. That's gone. And, uh, but, uh, no, that was basically it. Uh, and then weddings, you know, you'd go to, they celebrate their weddings

00:48:14.510 - 00:48:35.649

then, like they do now. Probably only maybe be bigger. Uh, but it was mostly done. A lot of winnings were at home. A lot of them were maybe just rent a hall and then the people that got married, the parents of those would bring the food

00:48:35.659 - 00:48:59.600

and all that and some in church, the wedding. So that would be about it. Now, did you go to church? Regularly. Your family? Yeah, we went pretty regular, you know. Yeah, we only had a little ways to go there. But, uh, my dad was trustee and

00:48:59.610 - 00:49:26.989

stopped there and I think he was, well, he, uh, I think he signed Ruth's contracts there for the school too. He had something to do with the school too. So he was kinda like that was involved with the church. No. Uh, yeah, just, no, not much.

00:49:28.229 - 00:49:48.080

Yeah. Ladies' aid. But outside of that she, yeah, once a year they'd have a cleaning there. Well, the school too, I think we had to go over there and clean. Yeah, they did that once a year because there's some pictures of that. Remember in one of

00:49:48.090 - 00:50:09.040

those books you have? Yeah. Have you got that book? I think David has that 10, I don't know if you got another one or not. I remember that. Yeah. There, there, yeah, when they clean the school or they'd have a little something there once in a

00:50:09.050 - 00:50:34.060

while. Birthday party for somebody. If one of the kids had a birthday, we'd have a little party there in the afternoon. So, after school you did? You have much homework? I mean, was that something you, no, it, it, it's different now, I suppose. Uh, I know

00:50:34.070 - 00:50:59.729

my grandkids got a lot of homework, you know. Uh, well, we didn't have many books in school. I don't know if Ruth told you we had hardly any. I don't think anybody that I remember. Well, you gotta have some, well, they get them from the county,

00:50:59.739 - 00:51:30.189

I think, well, or whatever she would, she could get them from the county only though you wouldn't be able to have classes without books. Well, she did. Yeah. Well, there wasn't too much to learn, you know, just reading and writing and, and math and, uh, whatever

00:51:30.199 - 00:51:57.110

else. Maybe a little bit of history. But I don't even remember that, you know. So now you had mentioned, uh, remembering, um, was it a tornado when you were? Yeah, I, I remember that because it devastated the area, you know, and, uh, it was in July

00:51:57.989 - 00:52:26.110

and, uh, uh, the next day there was still ice out, uh, sleet, you know, from hail and stuff in the afternoon yet in July, you know. And, uh, although it didn't, uh, it took, it, it killed all our chickens in there and the crabs but, uh,

00:52:27.469 - 00:52:46.899

uh, it didn't hurt our buildings real bad except all the windows, needless to say we're broke and, uh, awful lot of rain. And I remember my dad boring holes in the floor here in the ho in the house, you know, to let the water run through,

00:52:46.909 - 00:53:12.179

out and into the basement. That's how I blew in the house from that storm. I just barely remember this. See, so that was, uh, 1933 I think. Was there another natural disaster of that magnitude that you remember later on, well, 36 we had snow that blocked

00:53:12.189 - 00:53:39.469

us in for three weeks. But, yeah, there was a lot of snow. They had to get the people out with shovels and everything to open some of the roads in the, uh, no, the, uh, wing on the plow. Basically. He was the first one of those

00:53:39.479 - 00:53:59.120

to use that. But, uh, they had what they called the WP A, you know, the poor for the people that lost their jobs and stuff. They had them shovel a lot of places, the tops off and moved it and moved it. And so how many feet

00:53:59.199 - 00:54:21.479

are we talking about? Oh, I imagine some of them were almost as high as electric wires. Some of the drifts, I'd say 10, 12 ft. So, you all, were you all? Ok. I mean, you had, oh, yeah, we, we had our, we, well, see, you didn't need

00:54:21.489 - 00:54:45.340

nothing then really. Basically outside of the place you did. But you didn't either. Uh, we didn't, the electric was probably off a lot and we didn't need the phone. We didn't have it or didn't need it. And, uh, so, uh, we, we got along good. The

00:54:45.350 - 00:55:07.449

stoves were wood burners, you know. So that's all you need. And we have plenty to eat. We always have plenty to eat, you know, never a food problem. But them Germans are that way, you know, they, by my grandma said I used to eat five times

00:55:07.459 - 00:55:33.949

a day times. They're not little nails either. Were they big people? Oh, yeah. Yeah, they set the table at nine o'clock in the morning, at three o'clock had coffee and they had early breakfast. Then they'd go out and work, you know, and then they'd come in

00:55:33.959 - 00:55:57.360

and have coffee and something, then a lunch and then a snack and then a big supper they would graze. Well, we always ate lunch in the afternoon on the plant too. Something. But then people worked hard, you know, they got it. They didn't have a lot

00:55:57.370 - 00:56:17.860

of conveniences. So that snow. You were in the house for three weeks. Well, the firm, you had a lot to do that had to be the cows had to get out some, you know, this was coming and that it was gonna be this bad. No, I

00:56:17.870 - 00:56:47.860

don't think so. No, I mean, well, you had to clean up areas for them to get, it wasn't all over. That was drifts, you know. Yeah. Uh, at spots. Yeah, behind buildings and in the doorways and, and then it was cold. It was terrible cold. So,

00:56:47.870 - 00:57:15.090

uh, now what about this is gonna totally change the subject. What about health care? I mean, you said you were, you didn't get any? No, my mother took care of us real well. Uh, there was never no health problems. Um, yeah, that's true. I don't. She,

00:57:17.199 - 00:57:48.419

like I smashed my finger once and, uh, she fixed that up. And, uh, and then when I went to the army, uh, then I had, uh, I had a tooth, I had a little bit of, uh, yes. Yes. Abscess. No, just a, uh, cavity, a little

00:57:48.429 - 00:58:12.590

cavity and, uh, they fixed it in the army and, uh, I had my tonsils out in the army. I had trouble with them always. And I got, uh, not a real big. Oh, yeah, they were a problem. They were a problem with me. So I had

00:58:12.600 - 00:58:29.969

them take them out in the army also. But I got sick there once they asked me if I wanted them out. So I did and they, a year later. So they took them out for me. And, uh, but outside of that I, well, I had to

00:58:29.979 - 00:58:49.800

go to the doctor about 9, 10 years ago. I had some blockage and he asked me when I went to the doctor and I said the last time was in 1953 and he couldn't believe it. Well, great. You, you've been a healthy man. That's wonderful. Well,

00:58:49.810 - 00:59:09.139

all the people died then though, from appendicitis, you know, my, my dad sister died from it. 8, 1819 years old. He went to the dentist. I think he had one little care. He said, how long have you been to before? You've been to the dentist for

00:59:09.159 - 00:59:37.750

about 40 years? Oh, my God. I got good teeth. Yeah. Yeah. My mother pulled all the, the first ones, you know, she was handy. Well, uh, there was nothing really you could do, you know, you didn't have the money. So, and everybody got along good with

00:59:37.760 - 00:59:58.560

it, you know? I don't know. They weren't baby like there nowadays either. You know, you had a pain. Well, get over it. Yeah. Now, did you all have that many meals in the home or? Were you more? No, we more. My mother watched this a little

00:59:58.570 - 01:00:21.610

bit on the food, you know, we had everything, dessert and that once in a while and, uh, but we had three meals for sure. Good meals. You know. Now, what about preserving meat? Well, that's done. Uh, you either did that, uh, uh, like we'd make. So

01:00:21.620 - 01:00:47.350

we did that in the winter, you know, and then when that was gone, uh, she'd canned beef and canned chicken. But chicken, you can eat year round, you know, it's there in the pen. But ha that had to be processed. You had to, uh, either smoke

01:00:47.360 - 01:01:14.989

the hams but that you did that. We did that ourselves. But once that got done, they would keep, see, you didn't need no refrigeration or nothing. But we did get a, uh, a freezer. Then, uh, I think approximately in 1942 there was some place that had

01:01:15.000 - 01:01:35.120

one yet and we bought it because that helped a lot. Instead of trying to c and, and butter, uh, the butter wouldn't keep, see, so you had to make that every couple of days, every three days or four days because there was no, nothing in it

01:01:35.129 - 01:01:53.629

to keep it, you know, and no, no refrigeration. So, what did you use a well or? Yeah, we used the basement, we had a basement and, and it was cool down there and that had every time you eat, you had to go down and get what

01:01:53.639 - 01:02:11.830

you wanted there. Yeah, the butter would be down there and the milk, milk, you could keep in cold water too, too, you know, but you had that fresh every day. So that didn't make any difference, you know, whatever you didn't drink, you threw out and then

01:02:11.840 - 01:02:42.750

just go to get another. Uh, now, uh, there was an influenza epidemic. Cosette around the time I imagine. Yeah, there was, do you remember anybody getting sick in this area? No, no, I did get the whooping cough though at school but they quarantined everybody then, you

01:02:42.760 - 01:03:06.620

know, whoever had it for sure you had to stay home this right now. Will they keep going? That was all I had ever gotten. So, um, you, you fought in the war in the Korean War? No, no, they sent me to Germany. The outfit I was

01:03:06.629 - 01:03:30.199

in, went to Germany at that time because of the Russian problem on the front there on the border was, that's, that's basically all I did. I never was in the actual battle or nothing. And then after, when you came back, how did you all meet? Well,

01:03:30.570 - 01:04:06.120

where did we meet? Yeah. Yeah, I was coming home from bowling or something and stopped a bunch of girls, you know? And there he was the love of my life. So cute. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Every, everything I think is the 40 1954. Oh, you got 49

01:04:06.169 - 01:04:42.389

years. So, any memories of Ruth Andersen that you can, can, uh, not, not a whole lot, uh, really, uh, you know, at that time and then just to, I'm positive I only went to school with her one year that, that I'm pretty sure. And, uh, well,

01:04:42.699 - 01:05:04.350

it's always nice, I guess but I know her staying there and everything. I remember that, you know, other teachers stayed there too at the next one did too. Betty Harding. She stayed there two or three years and then after that the teachers, there was one more

01:05:04.360 - 01:05:27.379

that teacher I had and, you know, I can't think of her name and, uh, she stayed over at the Tatge's. Yeah, that was the next fire down from us. So, uh, so, uh, as far as any other incidents, like the shooting at the bell or anything

01:05:27.389 - 01:06:04.939

like that, uh, not too much. Not too much. No. Did you ever get into real trouble doing anything? Were you very well behaved? No, I was probably well behaved. I, uh, I don't know. I, uh, you know, I probably was more so, uh I was kind

01:06:04.949 - 01:06:24.330

of creative, you know. Uh I think I like to work in my dad's garage. You know, we had a few things there but not much to work with. And then needless to say that, well, they fascinated me. So I was really busy. I had kind of

01:06:24.340 - 01:06:41.709

a busy uh teen, you know, if I wanted to because I could work any place I wanted to, I could go to the farm. If I didn't want to go to the, in the summer I'd go to the farm mostly cross the road and the winter

01:06:41.719 - 01:07:01.850

I'd head to the blacksmith shop. You know, I could get, see, he had candy there and pap and cigarettes and I could get them there. And, uh, I just ride my bike down there whenever I needed something. He had a bike so he couldn't go too

01:07:06.219 - 01:07:27.810

well. I did, I did when I, when I went to work, I take the car, the old car we had. And, uh, uh, because, uh, I come home at lunch with, you know, so it was heavy work. It was, it wasn't easy work. It wasn't clean

01:07:27.820 - 01:07:49.830

work either about Uncle George and the old car he had got all snookered up his uncle, you know, one night he had this real old car, he's going down the road, he went in the ditch and the police came along and the, the cap starts looking

01:07:49.840 - 01:08:13.860

at the license plate and he says you can't drive with this plate and hear what he had been doing for. I don't know how many years. 10 years. Yeah. So just painted the plate the color of the year. Same. Yeah. Finally caught up with him. So

01:08:13.870 - 01:09:02.459

he quit driving. Yeah, just wouldn't buy a new plate. He just paid the paint the plate. The color was f, yeah. Poor George. This was his uncle George. No, not his brother. Yeah. Oh, my golly. That was funny. So, the farm

01:09:02.470 - 01:09:23.689

you grew up on? And then this farm here, how did that, when did that transition? When did you actually come here to this farm? Well, uh, we came here in, uh, 70 um, when I got de needless to say when I got out of the army

01:09:23.700 - 01:09:47.859

and we got married, uh, we, I bought a house in town in Bartlett. I thought I'd like that but I didn't care for that. So we bought another place out in the country by Bartlett. But, uh, I thought, uh, two, we were starting to have Children

01:09:47.870 - 01:10:13.580

and, uh, there on those places and, um, I really didn't like it, you know. So, uh, compact, uh, you know, I have been in the army and that was the first time that I was with other people a lot, night and day, you know, and that's,

01:10:13.589 - 01:10:38.859

uh, kinda put an impact on me that I kinda liked it. Uh, you know, a little further, further apart in the neighborhood, you know what I'm saying? So, uh, then I start looking for a place and, uh, uh, so then I bought this with, I've seen

01:10:38.870 - 01:10:57.220

an ad, I put an ad in the paper and they answered it and I bought it, uh, the man that lived here, he was getting too old to stay alone. So they wanted to sell it and it was in bad shape. And so I bought it

01:10:57.229 - 01:11:20.600

in 69 or 70 I sold them other places apart, you know? But, uh, that's how come I come out here and then through the years I accumulated a lot of machine and I got a shop here, like a black shop. Only. Not a black shop. It's

01:11:20.609 - 01:11:49.359

welding and I kept all that stayed out there kinda when it, it's kind of a hobby, you know. But, uh, uh, I kept buying some fire machinery and stuff and now I just do a, I used to have cattle here, beef cattle. And, uh, but the

01:11:49.370 - 01:12:12.200

work that I did was always a 10, 12 hour day, you know, uh, all six days and a lot of seven day work, like when the toll roads went in originally, seven days a week and 12 hours a day steady, you know. Do you make good money?

01:12:14.430 - 01:12:36.419

Yeah, that now it's getting, uh, at the end here, uh, the income tax is hitting us so hard, you know, when you start making big money by the hour. But then we were getting $3 an hour and a truck could cost you $15, $1800 and gas

01:12:36.430 - 01:13:00.740

was 25 cents a gallon. You know, you could take your money home and taxes were cheap. But now they all, uh, they'll take half of your pay for that at the end. Like, when I was working, uh, six days a week, 12 hour days, I think

01:13:00.750 - 01:13:27.430

I worked yet. Uh, it was costing me over $1000 a week for taxes. So, how long ago did you retire? I think, eight years or nine years. Yeah, I can still go to work though if I want to. Uh, but, you know, uh, I was never

01:13:27.439 - 01:13:50.250

home before and now I'm home and I just enjoy it. Uh, they, uh, they, they'll let you work, uh, at least the last three years I could have went to work and still get my pension and everything. They're so sure to help the kind of work

01:13:50.259 - 01:14:20.790

that I did. Yeah. Right. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, I don't know if it'll be that way this year. But, uh, it's been, uh, a lot of people don't want to do their work. It's noisy. It's dirty. It's the weather you're constantly out in it,

01:14:20.799 - 01:14:51.339

you know. And, uh, but although I don't think it hurts you, you know, it's dusty at times and terrible. Oh, well, if some of those were longer too sometimes. You know. And then the seven days he, he won't run around, he'll go to bed and try

01:14:51.350 - 01:15:14.950

to get as much rest as he can. You know. Both boys are in X grade and they are, and the daughter works for floating. Gosh. Yeah. So, they're all kind of into it one way or another, you know. Yeah, we were the 12 hour days because

01:15:14.959 - 01:15:35.680

it was always like a deadline trying to get something done as fast as possible because it was road building or what. Yeah. Well, um, they didn't want to run two shifts a lot, you know, three. Although they did once in a while they'd run two, like

01:15:35.689 - 01:16:04.279

when I was on the 12 hours, seven days a week, there was two shifts. They run night and day. But, um, uh, that was originally like when 90 went out and, uh, 80 here, um, those there and the equipment, I suppose it wasn't like it is.

01:16:04.290 - 01:16:26.169

Exactly. It wasn't quite as modern as it is now. So, uh, it was such a huge project that a lot of these companies couldn't handle it alone around here. There were other companies came in and they merged and that's how they got the job done, you

01:16:26.180 - 01:16:53.819

know. And, uh, that way there, they didn't need as much equipment. They ran the same equipment that you did during the day at night too. See, and, uh, just kept it going. Then there's weather problems you know, if the weather got real wet then you couldn't

01:16:53.830 - 01:17:22.009

work and, uh, then you were sidelined. You know, he either did repair work then and you could take it a little easier. I mean, it wasn't nothing pressing then, but when the weather's good they ran them, we ran that stuff till. So, uh, you work in

01:17:22.020 - 01:17:42.649

your shop now? Yeah, a little, I do a little odds and ends around here for the neighbors of, oh, well, maybe something that's broken or sometimes I make some things, you know, I got a lot of, uh, hay equipment. So there's maintenance on that. I do

01:17:42.660 - 01:18:05.209

that myself, all my own work. So I'm not, uh, obligated to anybody, you know. Uh, I buy the equipment, you know, but I usually buy it all used even though it needs some repairs, sometimes I buy new but not often when you say you make things,

01:18:05.220 - 01:18:29.490

what kinds of things? Well, attachments for, for that stuff to make it handier. And, uh, uh, I don't handle a hay, like, like farmers did years ago I handle it with a machine, you know, and pick it up and loading and unloading. I do, I do

01:18:29.500 - 01:18:46.939

hire a Mexican now in the summer. He helps me with it. And then, uh, another man I hire because we do quite a bit of hay and I don't want to do it all on, you know, the guy that helps him with the A now he

01:18:46.950 - 01:19:11.660

used to work at McNaught's years ago. Yeah, hes over here now. Yeah, he's retired, uh, Ed Busche and, uh, he helps. We're like, we don't, we need to start early in the morning, you know, nine o'clock, 830. And, uh, but sometimes we have to go Sundays.

01:19:11.669 - 01:19:34.310

It depends on the weather. Sunday afternoons will work a little bit ba, you know. And how many do you have? Well, here, I own 26 and then I rent quite a bit and I do some hay for other people too. But, uh, I did plant, I

01:19:34.319 - 01:20:04.410

used to plant corn and beans, you know. But they, that's a losing battle. The, you know, for a small, small operator, you've seen a lot of changes in farming and technology and equipment and things like that. Well, yeah, there has. But, uh, um, the technology like,

01:20:04.419 - 01:20:29.450

uh, basically was, I think in chemicals, all the equipment still basically works the same. It's bigger, you know, more massive, uh, caps and air condition. Air conditioning is on a lot of your things. Now, I guess paying has changed though because if you think about, I

01:20:29.459 - 01:20:48.200

mean, at least I don't remember big round bales. Oh, you're right. That, that, uh, that's probably the big rounds. I got a round, I got one too, a big round Bayer. I'll show them to you when we get done here. And, uh, what it does and

01:20:48.209 - 01:21:16.250

that if, if like, uh, but the small square bales is what the people really want here for, for their horses. And because women have a lot to do with the horses and they feed them and it's easier to handle yet. It's still easier, easiest way. And,

01:21:16.259 - 01:21:40.290

uh, four by eight. Yeah. But they're mainly for dairy farms. They make a square bale that's 3 ft high by 3 ft wide and 8 ft long that's handled with equipment. You know, the, my round bales are too, well, my round bales would be a little

01:21:40.299 - 01:22:03.560

bigger. They weigh 200 pounds and these big squares weighed about 7 to 800 pounds. And then your little bales weigh 40 to 50 pounds. But, uh, it takes labor on the small bales. So people, you know, don't want to do that. Although, uh, most of mine

01:22:04.240 - 01:22:30.379

is picked up here or I deliver it and they unload it. So I'm not really get into that too much and that gets, they get kicked into the wagon. You know, you've seen that, them little bales shoot into the wagon automatically, just throw them in there

01:22:33.810 - 01:22:59.520

and they hold about 100 and 50 bales, 60. And then needless to say they got to be taken out of there by him. But that's the only time I handle them is I have that Mexican put them in 8 to 10 pack stacks and then this

01:22:59.529 - 01:23:18.569

machine I got takes them and stack them where I want them. Then if you want to come and get some, I just use that machine and give you 100 100 and 50 bales about a half an hour and never touch them. See, so there's none of

01:23:18.580 - 01:23:41.970

that. Too much around here. I've had this already 10 years already. But, uh, uh, that's the only way, really, uh, economical way to do it, you know, but it doesn't work in a regular farm bar, you know, because the bottom was always for dairy and this

01:23:41.979 - 01:24:06.160

starts to give weight to it, you know, the machine and, uh, although you can stack in tight places, but, uh, it's a lot easier if it's on the level floor, you know. So it's almost like an arm. Yeah. Yeah. And it grabs each bale twice. It's

01:24:06.169 - 01:24:23.990

like a big cloth, like, you know, like this. Yeah. And this is for the square bales that, yeah, that, as far as labor saving right there, it only handled once he puts it in the 10 pack stack in the front of the wagon and then that's

01:24:24.000 - 01:24:46.819

it. That's the last time a person handles it. And the only time. Yeah. So you, it sounds like you were very fortunate in, in that relationship that you made with, uh, the blacksmith shop. Oh, yeah. Yeah. A key part of your training. Yeah. It helped me

01:24:46.830 - 01:25:14.419

with my heavy equipment. Tremendous because I did mechanical work when that, when, uh, in the winter and all the time, basically. Even invented things. No, I never tell me a little bit about that. Well, that's, that's those things that the laborers use that only one you

01:25:14.430 - 01:25:33.450

only need one to use. Yeah. But there were things that other people made that stuff but they didn't make it exactly like I did, you know? And, uh, but they were all crying for him to make him a bunch. It never do it. You look at

01:25:33.459 - 01:25:52.689

from one side of the road, wasn't it to the other side? Yeah. When you find grade to check grade with, you know, and they used to use two men or three men. Even in this way, one man could do it, you know, it, it held that

01:25:52.700 - 01:26:13.009

string just right for all the time. See, while he was doing that. But you could use now it really isn't, uh, you know, they got lasers. Yeah. But you see, they don't always work, right, because the constant changing of the grading and stuff, you know, like

01:26:13.020 - 01:26:41.310

when you go on an on ramp off of a bridge and down, you know, that grade constantly changes really. And, uh, that almost, uh, I don't know if anybody's ever going to come up with something that will really handle that completely. Yeah. Constantly changing. See, it's,

01:26:41.319 - 01:27:11.669

it's easy to make anything level or on an angle or any other way. But if it's changing constantly it's, it's a different game altogether. No, the blacksmith shop I'd say was my college, as far as, uh, as far as the education goes, I went to high

01:27:11.680 - 01:27:32.189

school a couple of months but we had so far to go. They are, uh, it wasn't even practical in the winter. You know, I had to go to Alton from out there and there were no school buses, no school buses here or nothing. But I think

01:27:32.200 - 01:28:05.839

school buses started after I got out of school a little bit later. I'm going to say in the 40 for the, uh, for, after the war, I think school buses started their bus. 45. Yeah. Did you ever view Iron Heney? Yes. Oh, you did? Oh, that's

01:28:05.850 - 01:28:27.649

right. When we did the, I don't know if you've seen the website. Do you all have a computer? No, but the daughter, the daughter and grandkids. Well, I helped Nancy put together a website for the museum. Oh, we used Art Heine's sister Matilda a lot. Her

01:28:27.660 - 01:28:46.229

photographs. Oh, yeah. And so I went over there one day with this equipment and sat with him while he looked through those photographs to help us identify some of each work going on in the photo. Right. Right. Right. I could write, you know, a little bit

01:28:46.240 - 01:29:11.410

about now. They took a lot of photographs and our family didn't, we have hardly any of, uh, I don't think we have a, well, we had a little book at home of the grandparents and stuff. I don't even know if I got any of those that,

01:29:12.890 - 01:29:39.549

do you remember when they came over or had they been here for uh several more generations or who your grandparents? Uh I think they were all born here. I know on the Heine side was my grandparents was my grandpa. There was, um because his father came

01:29:39.560 - 01:30:08.879

over uh on the Engelking side. Now, I don't know. We'd, I got a book on that. I'd have to look that up again. My uncle gave me a, a history of that. Well, yeah, somebody, uh, I got a cousin that did it, I guess. But

01:30:08.890 - 01:31:12.370

I think they were all born here. All the grandparents were born here, but great grandparents, they're the ones that generation would be the ones that came over. No. Yeah. Well, I think that's pretty much it covered a lot of the

01:31:13.810 - 01:31:37.450

questions that I had. Yeah, it's, you know, I remember more of my first four years of school than I do really? Of the last 43. Yeah. I don't know. Uh, well, I do remember there was, uh, just three of us in school there for a couple

01:31:37.459 - 01:32:08.720

of years and, uh, those people had rented a farm there by us and then they moved out and, uh, I never seen them again. And, uh, although I asked around a little bit out here when I moved out here and I don't know exactly, uh, where

01:32:08.729 - 01:32:30.250

the, what boy was that went to school? With me then. Um, but he isn't around here either. I think he's up in Wisconsin or something. He's live here. No, no. The richest since I started with. They're all around here. They moved to Dundee from over there

01:32:30.259 - 01:33:03.100

where we were then. Um, they're practically emptied the school. Yeah. And, uh, uh, but, uh, I only had the one girl, uh, in my first grade and I think she was only there two years at the most and she moved and then it emptied out kinda

01:33:03.169 - 01:33:25.850

slowly. But after I got through it picked up again then there for a while it was full. If I, if you noticed, uh, some of the pictures. Yeah. Well, there's one picture I'd like to get a copy of if I could out of there. Uh, I'm

01:33:25.859 - 01:33:43.830

gonna stop there some day. What day is she there? Well, uh, she's, uh, I think they open it. They're closed during the winter but you could probably call over, you know, call her because she is there most days she could probably get that was in the

01:33:43.990 - 01:34:14.000

book. It was in the, in the school, the school. Yeah, it's one with Ruth Regenburg and me and Velma Richardson and maybe a couple of other kids. And, uh, so that would have been our, our first or second grade, first grade, I think. And, uh, the,

01:34:14.029 - 01:34:42.040

the picture that I have here. Yeah. Yeah. Doesn't have me on it. I just like to kind of have it for my grandchildren. Um, I think this is in the school. See, that one, let me see that one, that one over. You're not in there? No,

01:34:42.819 - 01:35:18.350

this is my brother George. And now are you the oldest or was, he's five years older than I am. He's the oldest. So I wasn't in here yet. And, uh, see my sister was through already. Yes, that's, I was the youngest and now after this year

01:35:18.470 - 01:35:40.649

would been the years that, uh, after this year, I don't know what year this was and I don't know if Ruth, that must have been Ruth's first year of teaching. See, right there.