Wheat harvest early 1900s

I remember such scenes in the 1930s. Some time in July, the ripe wheat was cut with the binder, which gathered the wheat stalks into small bundles tied with binder twine (the same that we used to make ropes). The harvest crew gathered the bundles and set them up in shocks to dry. When the time was right, the crew used sharp-tined pitchforks to pitch the wheat onto a hayrack (a wagon with a large flat bed) to be hauled to the thrashing machine.

It was a hot, sticky job but the farmers' wives would gather to cook a hearty dinner at noon for all the workers. Men ate first, of course, with the women and small children (if they came along) eating at the second table. Supper was eaten at home, after the chores were done and the animals fed.

—Arla Aschermann