Cleopha and Lolly were born at Schubert. One summer the folks were in town. I was herding cows across the road and Lolly or Cleopha (I don’t remember which one), came out on the road in diapers and had traffic stopped until Margie came out and got her off the road… Ha!
A year or so after we moved to Schubert, Otto Tichelkamp lost their farm and rented a farm near where we lived. We had lived next to them while we lived on Uncle Theodore’s Honey Creek farm. We went to Forest Hill School with Harriet Tichelkamp one year. The barn on the farm was very well made. It had the same kind of floors in it that most houses have, plus electricity. One year we cleaned it up good and had a barn dance. Daddy got the Herbrant boys to play the music. I don’t think I was to a barn dance before or after that.
Mom was always a 4-H club leader. She had girls from Schubert, Taos, and all around in her club. The land on the farm was very poor and not much of it, so we rented land anywhere we could find it. One year we rented land over in the Callaway Bottoms. That was a long way to go with a team of mules. One time Bud was crossing the Missouri River Bridge in Jefferson City and a train went through under the bridge and blew its whistle and Bud nearly lost control of the mules.
They planted pumpkins in the corn over in the Callaway Bottom land and that fall on election eve in 1946, when Roosevelt ran against Landon and Knox, we were out at the barn carrying that load of pumpkins into the barn. We cut them up with a corn knife and fed them to the cows. We were spoiled living with an electric washer, radio, brooder and iron at Schubert, because on our next move back to Honey Creek, we were again without electricity for a long time.
Christina says
What is a brooder?
Cleo says
We need Mahlon to tell us about a brooder. I think it is where they keep chicks warm after they are born, or is a brooder where they hatch eggs? Help!
Mahlon says
A brooder is — ours had eight sides and was about four foot across and the sides were about eight inches off the ground, a light bulb was inside to warm the birds. There was cloth that hung down all around the bottom so the birds could come and go when they wanted to but could be warm too. A brooder was used to keep the chicks warm. It would hold 300-400 baby chicks. This was used until the birds started getting feathers when they were about three weeks old. Most of the time Dad would keep the chicks in a wire cage the same size as the dining room table. We put newspapers on the dining room table and the cage kept the chicks there until they could be put outside.
Besides that table being used to keep the chicks it was where Grandma delivered most of the children.
The incubator warmed and hatched the eggs-then the chicks were put under the brooder or in the cage. More than you ever wanted to know…
Christina says
Grandma used to have little chicks in the kitchen some times when I was little. She would let up hold them and pet them. But the cages were not near as big as the one when you were small (of course there were a lot less chicks too!)
Julie says
seems like a long long way to go to grow corn and pumpkins…especially if you are going with a horse and buggy. That is real determination!!!
Christina says
So when did Grandpa start growing tobacco?
Mahlon says
After the war started and the soldiers thought they had to smoke, “the reason they smoked was because they was too green to burn”. There was a shortage of tobacco and more allotments were made for growing the crop. When the crop was finished the price went way down and we only made about $125 for the whole season and ten people working their butts off.The following year the government put a stable price on tobacco and we made a fair reward for our labors.
Mahlon says
I think the date in Vernon’s story is probably 1936 instead of 1946. The war ended in 1945.
Naomi Vetter says
Yes, Mahlon it did say 1936 in Vernon’s write-up. I double checked it and found that I made a typo when I typed from his hand written memories. Sorry, everyone! I’m glad you caught that! Thanks for your added information. Please keep it coming!
Aunt Lolly says
Our cousin, Johnnie Ehrhardt, is in the hospital at Columbia,MO, He was struck by a car trying to cross hwy 54 at Honey Creek Drive yesterday. The car hit him on the drivers side crossing 54. He is in serious condition. They air lifted him to the hospital. That is all I know for now.
Julie says
I heard about the wreck on the news…I didnt know who was involved though. I will pray for him.