PATHWAYS TAKEN

Work, Leisure, Holidays and Recreation

The orientation to daily work was strong and uniformly present in rural Iowa during my youth.

Work was mandatory in order to attend to the needs of farm animals and poultry, and to meet the seasonal needs and care of farm crops.

Work was arranged or assigned in varying proportional amounts to members of farm families. Age, gender, physical capability and special needs influenced the amount of work expected from each family member.

As an example, at the age of nine, I was expected to help with the “chores”, both in the morning, and in the evening, after school. This included milking cows, feeding chickens, gathering eggs and pumping well water for the house.

I also was expected to help my mother with housework, especially on Saturdays. This responsibility was probably mine because I was the youngest of the five brothers who were considered to be of working age.

During the football season of 1939, at age 11, I had the assigned chore of mopping the kitchen and dining room linoleum floors. While doing the mopping, I listened to radio station WHO, a “clear channel” 50,000-watt station on our battery-powered radio, with an antennae on the roof of the house.

 “Dutch” Reagan was announcing the University of Iowa Hawkeye football games. Yes, “Dutch” Reagan later became President Reagan.

I made the mopping chore last three to four hours. My mother was considerate and I believe she knew full well what I was doing [or not doing]. The mopping chore was developed into recreation for those Saturday afternoons.

The 1939 season featured the “Iowa Ironmen” with 13 players playing both offense and defense. They achieved an illustrious season, led by quarterback Nile Kinnick, defeating Notre Dame and the Minnesota “Golden Gophers”, and winning seven of nine games.

That season fired an interest in the State University of Iowa that was sustained in the years to come.

The night and morning chore work, the work on Saturdays and during the summer and other vacation times minimized “free” time.

 At the same time, I believe that the farm work was character forming.

The results of one’s efforts were apparent at the time. The results were not necessarily ego building, but the results did provide a sense of accomplishment. A sense of duty or responsibility developed, linked to the time of day, and to the seasons.

After enrolling at the State University of Iowa in September 1947, several weeks time passed before I no longer had the awareness of “chore time” in the late afternoon.

I believe that an individual required or expected to do manual work for many years, is unlikely to look with disdain on other individuals doing such work, but is much more likely to respect them for their societal contribution.

The long hours of farm work often required dogged persistence to complete a task. This willingness can cause one to be determined and draw on physical reserves to complete a task.

The job or work at hand on Midwestern farms required ingenuity and resourcefulness, at times.

Mechanical knowledge and manual motor skills develop that serve one well in many fields of life.

Lifting, carrying, shoveling, grasping, kneeling – all these activities develop physical fitness. True work hardening occurs.

Weight lifting and exercise in a spa or gymnasium is then redundant.

The Midwestern general farmer needed management skills to prioritize work needing to be done, and systematize its accomplishment. Blending chore tasks such as feeding dairy cattle while using milking machines at the same time; planting crops before repairing harvesting machinery are simple examples.

Work can be extolled only to a degree, however.

Work does have negatives.

Leisure time was certainly minimal on most rural farm days; and in fact, leisure activities were given minor emphasis most of the time.

Repetitious work can have a dulling effect, with limited challenge.

Lack of leisure time, and lack of financial resources for our family precluded any extensive recreational travel that is often highly educational, memorable and relaxing.

Stimulating intellectual activities, and artistic endeavors are thwarted with long working hours.

Occasionally I have wondered what musical accomplishment I might have achieved; or what foreign language skill I might have gained; or what storehouse of information wider reading would have provided.

When leisure time events occurred, the events are well retained in my memory.