SEGMENT: CHILDHOOD WORK, BUTCHERY, & WOMEN'S WORK

Mary Stark>NIU Collection>NIU Collection, Segment 20

SEGMENT: CHILDHOOD WORK, BUTCHERY, & WOMEN'S WORK,

duration 14:59
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FAMILY BACKGROUND
Family and early years in Aurora. Mary recalls father's farm & work. Father worked at dairy plant & at International Harvester. Differences between city and country life. Father's decision to farm. Mother's feelings. Mary's feelings. The farm at Cloverdale. Mary said she'd never marry a farmer, but she did.
HOLIDAYS
Christmas, anecdote about candles, Easter, etc.
LIVESTOCK
Mentions farm animals.
LAND
Family moves to Virgil (Kane County). Father a storekeeper, then back to a farm, south of Virgil, c. 1927, when boys were old enough to work.
CHILDHOOD WORK
Notes girls' and boys' work on the farm, including collecting eggs. Recalls love of being with horses. Mary's brother in a box beside her. Describes shocking grain. Taking care of the animals. Mom's work and Dad's work. Mother works in the field with Mary's brother in a box beside her. Shocking grain.
FARMING METHODS
No recollection of who crops were sold to. Much of grain fed livestock.
BUTCHERY
Butchering with neighbors was a big event. Discusses hog butchery in February. Notes smokehouse, preservation of meat, making sausage, head cheese, pigs feet, hams & rendering lard. Butchery of hogs took about 3 days. Meat lasted the whole year.
WOMEN'S WORK
Used wood & corn cobs for heating & cooking. Mentions kerosene stove & tin oven.
FARMHOUSE
Discussion of heating the farmhouse & layout of house. Kept warm by dressing appropriately. Had to stoke furnace/stove at night.