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Some More Old Vilas
The Springfield Herald had a regular series in either 1918 or 1919 called “Persons, Stories, and Incidents of Old Boston and the Old Days.” I am a bit confuse on the year because several of the issues have the year 1918 marked out in pencil with 1919 written in. This occurs in several issues but…
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Tioga County
The Springfield Herald had a regular series in 1918 called “Persons, Stories, and Incidents of Old Boston and the Old Days.” The episode author is listed as “The Writer”. The February 1, 1918 edition of the series was titled “Tioga County”. The story as told by the Herald is as follows: “Probably there are not…
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The Challenge of the Broomcorn Harvesting Machine
“No machine has yet been invented to successfully replace the hand labor. The men, using broomcorn knives with sharp five-inch knives, move down rows in a field, bending the heads or brush with one hand and cutting the stalk about six inches below the bottom part of the brush with the other hand. “ -Pueblo…
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The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Broom Industry
Rise and Fall of the US Broom Industry is an overview of the broom & broomcorn industries in the U.S. The foundation for this post was provided to me by Sam Moyer Ph.D. He gleaned much of this from BROOM, BRUSH & MOP, (especially Tim Monahan’s 1986 review) Sam Moyer, Ph.D. My updates specifically focus…
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Did Ben Franklin Really Have a Key Role in Bringing Broomcorn to America?
In the talks I have given about broomcorn I have always mentioned that Benjamin Franklin is often credited with bringing broomcorn to America in the 1700s. This concept is usually presented as fact, but it turns out that whether this is true or not is actually up for debate. I introduced you to some of…
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Broomcorn Research Progress 2007: by Dr. Sam Moyer
Reposted with Permission by Dr. Sam Moyer. Although there hasn’t been broomcorn production in Baca County for many years, there actually has been quite a bit of research done in the not so recent past. My newest broomcorn acquaintance is Dr. Sam Moyer, a geneticist and a broom maker from New Jersey. Dr. Moyer has…
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I would rather be in a Tulsa Jail than cutting broomcorn…
We know that harvesting broomcorn was a hard itchy process but at my “Broomcorn Capital” presentation 2 years ago Shorty Miller may have driven the point home when he told us that one broomcorn Johnnie told him, I would rather be in a Tulsa Jail than cutting broomcorn. I haven’t posted much broomcorn info lately…
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Bear Tracks & Cactus Trees: More Info on Life in Early Baca County
Hi there! I’m Heidi, Kent’s wife. I swiped this blog for a minute so I could tell you about a great book filled with Baca County history. I grew up in Balko, Oklahoma and until recently I thought Kent was my only connection with Baca County. My parents recently surprised me with a book they…
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A memory that makes me smile… By Debbie Kuroiwa
This memory is reposted with permission from the Kuroiwa Family Blog (Thanks Deb). This is one of my favorite pictures of all time…. This is me and my grandfather. Though I grew up in the same area as my grandparents, I didn’t really grow up with them. Oh…I knew who they were but….not really. My…
