Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-03

| called them We made a regular
frolc OF that part OF the pig work
and mighty greasy work 1t was We
used to put UP a thirty gallon oaken
casi OF lard for our own use and now
some folks never use lard or pork on
their farms. unless 1t is IA little smoked
ham. Customs change
| u should think they do Who ever
! hears of woodchopping now! In my
young days woodchoppings We're com
mon. Sometimes a family would have
bookkeeping and a quilting the
| same day. The women would quilt
out quilt. and tho men would turn
| in and cut and saw and split enough
wood to last a family year. Then
| there would be a big dinner at noon,
| Il good supper at night and a frolie
| in the evening. with no end OF apples
and cider and doushnuts and pie
passed around. There would be games.
| or perhaps a dance. and every one had
| a good time. don't think that farm
er folks are as sociable as they used
to be. They don't visit back and forth
as much as they used to. We never
thought anything of 1t IL half n dozen
people came to spend the day without
sending us word that they were COM
ing.
Il think that farmer folks used to
be better prepared for entertaining
company unexpectedly than they are
now. ! know my mother always plan
ned 1t so that she had pound cake and
pies and other things on hand in case
we had company unexpectedly. and
we ,oh nf bitat,-
ing up and driving three or four miles
to spend the evening with our friends.
II know how we used to go that far
and farther to attend a singing school
or a spelling school. My, what good
songs we used to have, and how folks
would turn out to spelling bee! One
school would challenge another to
spelling match, and they would see
which school could spell the other
down l can see the old schoolhouse
now, lighted with tallow candles. and
all the horses hitched to the trees out
side and the schoolhouse full of peo.
pie. / know that 1t was considered
quite a privilege to choose sides for
the spelling match. And how the boys
and girls would study their old blue
covered spelling books! One hardly
ever hears of a spelling school nova
days.
mo, nor of country singing school.
And the rural free delivery and the
telephone. and other things have made
the farming folk a good deal less de-
pendent on each other than they used
to be. We used to bring out each 9TH
er's mail and do little errands for each
other when we went to town. Yes.
and used to help each other more n
times of sickness. No one ever heard
Of such thing as trained nurse in
the country when I was a girl in my
home. No matter how sick folks
would be, they were nursed by some
member of the family or by some old
lady in the neighborhood. And she
was always sure to be on hand when
children We're born.
"And the tailoress has disappeared
too. l remember just as we'll how
tailoress named Jenny Spence used to
come to our house and stay two weeks
at time, making up qrkbthing for the
men and boys. Very few people
thought of buying ready made cloth
ing in those days. Jenny Spence made
the clothing for all our men folks. and
her tongue would run fast as her
needle. She was as good as newspa-
per ito fetch and carry news. But
times have changed dreadfully."