Well I noticed that over 5 million have visited this thread, and I would like thank everyone for stopping by and listening to my ramblings, but you know that there seems to be a real appetite out there for discussions about common everyday life from times gone by
I just took down and dusted off my old Stanley 45 adjustable plane and tried to explain to one of my shop visitors how it worked and what unique things could be done with it like laying a bead right on the corner something that is pretty near impossible with a modern tool--I had examples of a window frame and its associated trim handy to prove my point--he had to agree it was quite unique
My son just went by the shop with a 4 furrow plow with a 100 horses ahead of it, it brought back to my mind my uncle pulling into the field over yonder within eye sight from where I am, I was only 6 at the time by the way--he laboured for the best part of a week with a walking plow and 3 horses, turning a 8 inch furrow resting at each end of the field, the lines around his back.
The same horses and plow turned out our potatoes each fall, upsetting each row so their contents could be easily removed with a short fork that had its tongs turned at the blacksmith shop to create hooks. We put upwards of 1500 lbs in the cellar to last us for the year with some left over for next years seed
You know as I reminisce more of yesteryear returns, and I can't help wondering what we have really gained with all our modern, expensive--to the point of being stupid--
