Event Near Filley Nebraska: Oct. 14th and 15th

Delmonico · July 12, 2006, 01:34:54 PM

I have been asked to cook at this event to feed the domonstrators supper both days. My pard set it up so his name is one the poster.

I had to scan it in two parts it was too large for my scanner. Some of the demo's are of a later period, but these events are fun. Tractor folks are just ren-actors of a later period.

Delmonico · July 12, 2006, 06:02:27 PM

http://www.lasr.net/leisure/nebraska/gage/beatrice/att12.html

http://www.beatricene.com/gagecountymuseum/Elijah%20Filley%20Stone%20Barn.htm

A couple links with the history of this barn.

Silver Creek Slim · July 13, 2006, 11:41:12 AM

Del,
Looks like a good time. You can get some more Sorghum molasses there.

Slim

Delmonico · July 13, 2006, 01:41:56 PM

I plan to, them folks is also cutomers and friends of mine.

oscar · July 18, 2006, 11:10:52 PM

I have been in that barn about 10 years ago. If my memory serves me well the sliding door is on the West end.
The wife and I were in Beatrice visiting a friend and heard of some event being held at the Filey barn. it was a cold rainy morning "Fall season" and i don't remember what was happening there but do remember the barn was restored and really a nice piece of history still standing proud today. There were people there in period dress, men and women.

Just memories of mine.

Mustang Gregg · August 20, 2006, 01:19:04 PM

I figure we will be there, Delmonico!
Thanks for the heads-up!
MG

Forty Rod · September 16, 2006, 04:25:53 PM

Are you gonna be fixin' Filley cheese steak sammiches?

Delmonico · September 16, 2006, 04:27:37 PM

That is baaaaaaad.

Forty Rod · September 16, 2006, 07:18:22 PM

Not if you know how to make 'em right.

Hey, invent something and call it the Filley cheese steak. It don't have to be anything like Philly's product.

Delmonico · September 16, 2006, 09:12:41 PM

Already have, Delmonico's Cowboy Cheese Steaks, ya put the stuff on a sourdough biscuit. I eat them all the time.

Ozark Tracker · September 16, 2006, 09:20:03 PM

Quote from: Delmonico on September 16, 2006, 09:12:41 PM
Already have, Delmonico's Cowboy Cheese Steaks, ya put the stuff on a sourdough biscuit. I eat them all the time.

coupla of them sourdough biscuit's with the cheese steaks wouldn't be bad right now.

Delmonico · October 17, 2006, 10:43:51 AM

Well it was a great event for a small local event. I'm going to add some pictures the next few days, I don't have a lot of the food, but I think Oscar got a bunch and will add them when he gets them to me.

The first on is the fire about 11 pm Sat. night.

Two dutch ovens cooking away.

And my cupboard.

You might notice if you look close I forgot the spray bottle in the dark that I use to sanitize the cupboard workspace.

Delmonico · October 17, 2006, 11:09:47 AM

OK, here are some friends of mine making sorgum mollases. The first shows the horse powered mill to squeeze the juice out of the sorgum stalks, the leaves and the seed heads are removed and the mill has rollers like an old time washing machine. The juice is caught in a bucket.

The juice is green looking till it is boiled and skimmed. It is boiled in a large flat pan over a wood fire in the small stove.

When it is done and has cooled it is strained and bottled.

Delmonico · October 17, 2006, 02:19:54 PM

Down to Filley they were running a threashing machine. This is the link between threashing by hand and the modern self propeled combine, although in between were the combines that atached to a tractor. The wheat or in this case, oats had to be cut and hauled to the machine to seperate the straw and the chaf from the grain. Early ones were powered by horses or mules, but by the 1880's a lot of them were powered by steam traction engines and the owner and a crew would travel from farm to far. Some of these were in use till the late 1940's. This one was powered by a late 40's John Deere Model M. The long belt is attached to the power unit on the tractor and drives the threasher.

The stalks were fed into the machine by a man with a picth fork.

And a closer shot of the whole machine.

Delmonico · October 19, 2006, 12:54:34 PM

I'm one who you really can't call me a farm kid, but it fit's me more than calling me a city boy, even though I've lived in town since I was less than a year old. Some of this stuff was weekends with Grandparents and other realatives and this is the area my folks are from so there were a lot of folks I met who knew uncles and aunts and cousins of mine.

I mentioned corn cobs, todays harvest machinery just chop them up and spit them out. Corn used to be picked by hand and when they picked it, the corn was tossed in a wagon with a normal sideboard on the side toward the picker and a higher side called a bang board (from the noise the corn hitting it made) so the picker wouldn't toss the corn over the other side. A metal prong on a lether strap was worn on one hand, this was used to rip the husk open and remove the ear of corn from it.

The corn was stored in a crib, a building with open sides till it was shelled.

If a small amount was needed at a time it could be shelled by hand with your thumb, but was often shelled in a hand cranked sheller like these two that these folks are trying out.

Or a better view of one, this one rigged up to a "Hit and Miss" engine of maybe 1-2 hp.

This is a close up of another "Hit and Miss: engine, they are called this because they only take in fuel and fire when needed to keep the rpm's up. The run around 200 rpm. These engines date mostly from the turn of the century to the 1930's or so.

Or this set up where the convyer takes it out of the crib, this was powered by a belt and tractor, the conveyer takes it to the sheller, powered by another belt and tractor. The small spout sends the shelled corn to a wagon, the large spout, blows the chaff onto the ground and the conveyer takes the cobs to another wagon.

Delmonico · October 19, 2006, 01:02:35 PM

When Oscar gets the pictures he took, I'll add more. For now I'll post this last one, it kind of sums up the event, the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

And the barn itself, built in 1874.

Silver Creek Slim · October 19, 2006, 04:41:16 PM

Great pictures, Del.

Slim

Steel Horse Bailey · October 21, 2006, 09:32:44 AM

I'll second whut Slim said! Thanks fer postin' these VERY int'restin' pitchers.

River City John · October 21, 2006, 12:08:38 PM

Del,
do you know if the source of the stone for that barn local?

Delmonico · October 21, 2006, 01:33:12 PM

Yes, the quarry for it was about 5 miles south-east of the barn as I understand. That area is just below the terminal moraine of the last glacier. You get 4-5 miles north of that area and the limestome is 200-500 feet below the surface because of what was drug down from up north.