Author: Fred G. Baker Publisher: ISBN: 9780615906027 Category : Farmers Languages : en Pages : 180
Book Description
When his father retires early, young Fred is forced to leave the ice cream shops, elevated trains, and bustling streets of suburban Chicago and move to a small farm in southwest Wisconsin. It is the beginning of a new life filled with fun and adventure. There is a snake den under the back porch and the kitchen floor is covered with dead insects. There are snapping turtles to catch and farm animals to play with. But there is also work to be done. The old farmhouse has to be completely rebuilt. Dad's vision of being a gentleman farmer involves having his two sons help with milking the cows, taking care of the chickens, fixing fences, and shoveling snow off the driveway in addition to attending school. And the Wisconsin summers are hot and humid, the winters long and bitterly cold. This is the story of how one family of four manages the transition from Chicago to rural Wisconsin in the late 1950s to 1960s. The story unfolds in a series of vignettes seen through Fred's eyes, which describe how they renovate the old farmhouse, get an inactive dairy farm up and running, learn how to plant and harvest crops, overcome hardships, and adapt to the personalities and customs of a traditional farming community. The experiences will leave a permanent impression on Fred. Listening to the colorful characters in Richland Center and Yuba, exploring the farm on horseback, rounding up stray cows and sheep, cooling off at the swimming hole on the Pine River, catching fireflies, and stargazing on clear summer nights-these are memories that will last a lifetime. Dr. Fred G. Baker is a hydrologist, historian, and author living in Colorado. He is the author of The Life and Times of Con James Baker and The Light from a Thousand Campfires (with Hannah Pavlik).
Author: Tom Fortney Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub ISBN: 9781426929144 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Growing Up is about the formative years of four children who grew up on a dairy and tobacco farm in southwest Wisconsin in the 1930s and 1940s. They took their first innocent childhood steps in the security of a loving family. As they grew toward adolescence, the world was no longer a storybook land, as they had imagined in grade school, but a whole new world of different people and strange surroundings. It always seemed, though, as they grew from puberty to young adulthood, that what they learned in Sunday school and from their parents came to the surface when they were faced with making hard decisions in an adult world. The difference between right and wrong, instilled in them from earliest childhood, stayed with them all their lives. All parents want their children to have a better life than their own, and their parents did everything they could to convince them to get a more complete education. Tom did not go to college like his sister and brothers, but attended a vocational school in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he learned auto mechanics and welding. After one year, he was drafted into the Army and served in Korea. The war had just ended, so he did not see battle. Come join this wonderful family on a trip down memory lane.
Author: Carol Demarco Publisher: ISBN: 9781974067701 Category : Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
Carol was born to Polish-Americans in a small blue-collar town south of Milwaukee. The book spans three generations: her immigrant grandparents at the turn of the century, her parents who grew up immersed in the Polish culture, and their three daughters who enjoyed the "happy days" of the 1940's and 50's. Nostalgic, funny, insightful, the book is lightly seasoned with Polish words, recipes, and wisdom, but you don't have to be Polish to enjoy this well-written memoir.
Author: Robert Burdick Publisher: Book Services Us ISBN: 9781642555516 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 154
Book Description
Growing Up in Beloit brings to life the universal exuberance and industry of youth, from comic adventures to the more serious business of navigating academics and experiencing hard work at a variety of jobs. Burdick's vivid descriptions of daily life in Beloit, Wisconsin in the 1940s and 1950s will appeal to anyone yearning to slip back in time.
Author: Richard L. Cates Publisher: Terrace Books ISBN: 0299227839 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 209
Book Description
From 2001 to 2006, Richard L. Cates Jr. interviewed senior members of more than 30 families living in and around Arena township, a small community in southern Wisconsin. He asked them about growing up in rural America and their connection to a way of life that is vanishing in the twenty-first century. The result, Voices from the Heart of the Land, is a collection of reminiscences, observations, and opinions celebrating the stewardship of the land and the values of the stewards. Of course, as Cates points out, these are nothing less than “our core human values—integrity, commitment, responsibility, citizenship, self-determination, decency, kindness, love, and hope.”
Author: Ann M. Lewis Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society ISBN: 087020730X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 106
Book Description
Ship Captain's Daughter is a daughter's memoir that recounts the family side of Great Lakes shipping and the changing tides the family endured throughout the years that her father sailed the inland seas.
Author: Charlie Berens Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0063074966 Category : Humor Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller A hilarious full-color guide to Midwestern culture, from comedian and journalist Charlie Berens, creator of the viral comedic series "The Manitowoc Minute" Have you ever had a goodbye lasting more than four hours? Do you lack the emotional capacity to say “I love you” so you just tell your loved ones to “watch out for deer”? Have you apologized to a stranger because she stepped on your foot? If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a good chance you’re a Midwesterner—or a Midwesterner at heart. Even if you answered no, you probably know someone who held the door for you from two football fields away. He likely waved at you and said, “Hey there,” like you organized the church bar crawl together. That was a Midwesterner in the wild. We understand that your interaction was strange—but it’s likely to get stranger. Don’t wait until they stick their head in your second-floor window to invite you over for a perch fry because they climbed on your roof to clean your gutters. There’s no need to pull the pepper spray; this species is helpful by nature. And the relationship could be very symbiotic—but only if you let it happen. And that’s where this book comes into play. Inspired by my comedy tours across the Midwest and life growing up in Wisconsin, this book is an exploration into my favorite region on Earth. Some may think the Midwest is just a bunch of bland flyover states filled with less diversity than a Monsanto monoculture. But scratch that surface with your buck knife and you’ll find rich cultures and traditions proving we’re more than just fifty shades of milk. So whether you’re a born-and-bred Midwesterner looking to sharpen your skill at apologies or a costal elite visiting the in-laws for the holidays, this book will help you navigate the Midwest, with everything from the best flannel looks to dating and mating rituals (yes, casserole is involved) to climbing the corporate corn silo to how to handle a four-way stop—and every backyard brat fry in between. And for those of you who don’t like reading, don’t worry—we’ve got pictures! Toss in illustrations, sidebars, quizzes, and jokes worthy of a supper club stall and The Midwest Survival Guide is just the walleye-deep look into this distinctive, beautiful, and bizarre American culture you’ve been looking for.
Author: Jerry Apps Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society ISBN: 0870206087 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 161
Book Description
The Quiet Season Remembering Country Winters Jerry Apps “As I think back to the days of my childhood, the frost-covered windows in my bedroom, the frigid walks to the country school, the excitement of a blizzard, and a hundred other memories, I realize that these experiences left an indelible mark on me and made me who I am today.”—From the Introduction Jerry Apps recalls winters growing up on a farm in central Wisconsin during the latter years of the Depression and through World War II. Before electricity came to this part of Waushara County, farmers milked cows by hand with the light of a kerosene lantern, woodstoves heated the drafty farm homes, and “making wood” was a major part of every winter’s work. The children in Jerry’s rural community walked to a country school that was heated with a woodstove and had no indoor plumbing. Wisconsin winters then were a time of reflection, of planning for next year, and of families drawing together. Jerry describes how winter influenced farm families and suggests that those of us who grow up with harsh northern winters are profoundly affected in ways we often are not aware.
Author: Fred G. Baker
Author: Tom Fortney
Author: Carol Demarco
Author: Raymond Kaquatosh
Author: Robert Burdick
Author: Richard L. Cates
Author: Ann M. Lewis
Author: Charlie Berens
Author: Jerry Apps
Author: Greg Peck