With nearly 100 vintage images and personal stories, [this book] relives the era [1930-1970] of this major agricultural revolution and takes the reader on a journey that will define a time of momentous change.

Ohferdumb is a compilation of stories and pictures about growing up in a large family on a farm in northern Minnesota. "Ohferdumb" is a term that our mother affectionately used when one of the seven kids did something dumb, which was not uncommon. Our father died at the young age of 40 from an unexpected heart attack. My mom, at age 36, had to take over the day-to-day running of the farm while raising three girls and four boys. Growing up in a rural community, one had to create their own fun and often there were significant risks involved. These stories and pictures will help the reader get an inside look at what life was like in a small rural farming community in the 50s and 60s.

In a day when farm folks pitched in together to accomplish tasks too big for one person, when strangers shared car rides, and housewives lingered over cups of hot coffee, a small boy named Joe discovered the richness of life on his grandfather's farm. A gentle, adventurous, and proud boy enraptured by farm life, Joe learned at a tender age that he had a way with animals, both domestic and wild. On Grandpa's farm, he became fast friends with a dog, a deer, a rabbit, and even a blue jay. His feathered and furry companions seemed to understand him just as perfectly as he did them. Their many carefree escapades included hunting woodchucks, visiting the barbershop, playing in the schoolyard, riding in the rumble seat of Grandpa's coupe, fishing in the creek, eating spaghetti lunches at the county fair, and much more. A memoir from the heart, this is the spirited tale of a young boy coming of age in a bygone era as he makes lasting memories and enduring friendships exploring field and forest with a bevy of animal buddies.

Poetry and prose from two sisters with Norwegian ancestors.

As the United States transformed itself from an agricultural to an industrial nation, thousands of young people left farm homes for life in the big city. But even by 1920 the nation’s heartland remained predominantly rural and most children in the region were still raised on farms. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg retells their stories, offering glimpses—both nostalgic and realistic—of a bygone era. As Riney-Kehrberg shows, the experiences of most farm children continued to reflect the traditions of family life and labor, albeit in an age when middle-class urban Americans were beginning to redefine childhood as a time reserved for education and play. She draws upon a wealth of primary sources—not only memoirs and diaries but also census data—to create a vivid portrait of midwestern farm childhood from the early post–Civil War period through the Progressive Era growing pains of industrialization. Those personal accounts resurrect the essential experience of children’s work, play, education, family relations, and coming of age from their own perspectives. Steering a middle path between the myth of wholesome farm life and the reality of work that was often extremely dangerous, Riney-Kehrberg shows both the best and the worst that a rural upbringing had to offer midwestern youth a time before mechanization forever changed the rural scene and radio broke the spell of isolation. Down on the farm, truancy was not uncommon and chores were shared across genders. Yet farm children managed to indulge in inventive play—much of it homemade—to supplement store-bought toys and to get through the long spells between circuses. Filled with insightful personal stories and graced with dozens of highly evocative period photos, Childhood on the Farm is the only general history of midwestern farm children to use narratives written by the children themselves, giving a fresh voice to these forgotten years. Theirs was a way of life that was disappearing even as they lived it, and this book offers new insight into why, even if many rural youngsters became urban and suburban adults, they always maintained some affection for the farm.

David grew up in the 1950's on a Minnesota turkey farm. These memoirs...or musings, tell the story of his childhood in a "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle. David recalls two near death experiences while growing up! Join with him in these memories of a life that is much rarer in today's world of cell phones, social media and hectic lifestyles. If you grew up in the 1950s, you will relate to these memories of those days. Enjoy the journey back in time.David now lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife Elizabeth. They have 5 children. His oldest, Jeremiah, died while serving in Iraq. They are also blessed with 6 grandchildren.