Looking back; looking forward

In this hobby, we try to imagine life more than a century ago. In 1900, most Americans had heard of electricity, telephones and radios, but few in rural America had access to such technology. One source suggests that by 1940, nearly one-half of all residences in America lacked hot piped water, a tub or shower, or a flush toilet.

Steam engines were on the move before 1900; the earliest farm tractors just barely hit the ground before the turn of a new century. One hundred and twenty-two years later, satellites and global positioning systems have become a critically important part of agriculture.

It is easy to experience whiplash when looking back and looking forward. In Christopher Gillis’s article on the Colorado family who’ve played such an important role in preservation of American windmill history and tradition, historian T. Lindsay Baker recalled the late 1980s, when a windmill collectors’ group was being formed.

“Their only ways to communicate … were through typed or handwritten letters, travel to visit face-to-face, and expensive long-distance calls over hard-wired systems,” he noted.

When was the last time you wrote a letter or routinely found yourself tethered to a landline? When was the last time you thought about the expense of a long-distance call? And have you ever tried to explain to a teenager the urgent importance once assigned to an incoming long-distance call?

Perhaps the key is to accept change while saving space for what’s important. Articles in this issue of Farm Collector celebrate familiar icons of the past, everything from mousetraps to windmills. Enjoy the time travel!