Tape 1, Side 1, Part 1 - Introduction. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 2 - Grandparents immigrated 1856. Bought land in Lincoln. Land then cost $.50 per acre and each family was allowed 80 acres. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 3 - Bartering system. Hogs and flour were used instead of money to pay for school and religious education. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 4 - Schooling. Did not know English since everyone spoke Belgian at home and in the neighborhood. Learned English at school. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 5 - Layout of School House. School House was in one room with a stove used as the heater. Hours were in the afternoon, 1-4 p.m. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 6 - Reciting in front of class. Each class or grade would stand up to recite. Spell-downs were very popular. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 7 - Working in candy factory. Left school after 8th grade and worked in the candy factory 60 hours per week for a total of $4.00. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 8 - Overalls in winter. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 9 - Parochial vs. public records. Teachers were lay teachers in the country schools. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 10 - The churches would take a census, which then was invaluable since people could return to that church and locate a copy of their birth certificate. A copy of their birth certificate was necessary for employment. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 11 - Teachers. Some of the teachers were pre-med students. The teachers received a salary of $20 to $30 per month. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 12 - Lunch. Students took their lunch to school since it was too far to walk home at noon. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 13 - Folk medicine. Medical treatment for a gash in the leg was filling the wound with lard and tying a handkerchief over it. This was done by a person at the scene of the accident. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 14 - Walking to school. The distance to school was about 1.5 miles, so when there was lots of snow, they walked over the snow across fences to school. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 15 - Treating wet shoes. The children did not have overshoes or boots, but rather greased their shoes with lard to make them waterproof. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 16 - Wooden shoes. To help keep out the snow and mud his father had a sock made of denim up to his knee. He wore this with his wooden shoes. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 17 - Time off school for farm work. Children stayed at home and picked potatoes or helped during the harvest periods. This was expected of them. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 18 - Learning to speak English. His parents could speak English as well as Belgian. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 19 - Nuns were employed in some of the Eden schools, since the properties were adjoining. They received a salary of $1.00 per day. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 20 - First year at school. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 21 - Belgian band in Rosiere composed mostly of the Andrei family. They played waltzes and two-step dances. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 22 - Events where the band played. Dances were held about three times a year. The times were Pentecost, Easter and for three days at the fall Kermis. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 23 - Bread and pies were baked in the outdoor oven in preparation for the Kermis celebration. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 24 - In the place where the celebrations took place, the home and store were on the first floor, and the dances were held on the second floor. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 25 - Relatives came to the Kermis held at Rosiere, and the Noel family went to other towns at their Kermis celebration. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 26 - Many pies were made for the Kermis as each person was expecting ho have a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 27 - Riding home from Kermis during the fire of 1871. The fire occurred at Kermis time. His grandfather was returning home from Rosiere when the fire came. They used milk cans full of water to douse themselves. The animals were set free to run to the swamps. The rains came and quenched the first fire. The fire burnt mostly Brussels and Rosiere and stopped before it reached the farm. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 28 - Fresh meat at Kermis. At Kermis time people ate and drank. It was the only time they had fresh meat. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 29 - His father was a cheese maker and later worked on the farm. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 30 - Hay was exported to upper Michigan to use in the logging camps for the horses. Kerosene lamps were used at home. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 31 - The type of meat used at Kermis was that of a freshly killed cow, which was divided into chunks for the family and relatives. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 32 - Field work. Hay was bound and make into shocks. Shocks were also made of grain. There were 10 bundles in each shock. The word "decia" meant 10 bundles, the number for each shock. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 33 - Farm prices today vs. early 1900's. Farms now cost $500 per acre as opposed to the original $.50 per acre. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 34 - Field work. Hay was bound and made into shocks. Shocks were also made of grain. There were 10 bundles in each shock. The work "decia" meant 10 bundles, the number for each shock. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 35 - Land was passed on to the sons. Boys were always favored. The parents lived on the farm with the son to whom it had been passed onto. He paid their expenses. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 36 - Buying land from those moving to the city. As people left the farms and moved to the city, their farms were left and sold, so people could then acquire more than the original 80 acres. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 37 - Children's work on the farm. All children on the farm worked as soon as they could walk. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 38 - Milk prices. Milk was $.40 a hundred weight. Mild was not picked up on Sundays, so it was kept in crocks and the cream was made into butter. Some butter was sold. Tape 1, Side 1, Part 39 - Butter making and selling. The price of butter was 11 cents and eggs 8 cents a dozen. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 1 - Butter and egg selling (cont.). Tape 1, Side 2, Part 2 - Churning butter. Butter was made in a churn. The process took a long time. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 3 - Boy's clothing. His mother was a seamstress and sewed for the neighborhood. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 4 - As a boy he wore knitted stockings to above his knees, which his mother had knitted. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 5 - Danish people in Denmark, WI. They settled in Denmark where Danes were. They would spin yarn and knit mittens. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 6 - The Danish people were extremely polite in requesting item from the store. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 7 - Wooden shoes were worn for farm work and taken off before entering the house. The were painted black. Later leather shoes came into style. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 8 - Keeping warm on the wagon box in winter. To keep warm while driving in the winter in a wagon meant putting hay in with hot stones or a jug of hot water and covering up with a smelly horse blanket. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 9 - To dry out wet shoes, oats were heated in the oven and put into the shoes. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 10 - Beer making. Beer was made in a cedar tub over a vat. Boiling water was poured over the hops. The process took at least a day. The beer barrels were rosin. The beer barrels were sometimes borrowed from the bars until fall. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 11 - Drinking beer at harvest time. A lot of beer was consumed during the harvesting season. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 12 - Shingle making. Shingles were made from pieces of cut cedar. They were cut with the grain and therefore more water resistant that the milled crosscut ones. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 13 - Some shingles were taken to the bay and sold. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 14 - Layout of the farmyard. A few barns near Rosiere might still have the old hand made shingles. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 15 - The buildings on the farm land formed a square. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 16 - The area contained a summer kitchen, since using the regular iron stove would also heat up the house. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 17 - The log barn was used to store hay and keep the horses and cows. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 18 - Folk medicine. On the spot treatment for an axe cut consisted of covering the wound with cobwebs to stop the bleeding. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 19 - Fever in the leg was treated by wrapping the foot with crushed onions and bandaging tightly. This took down the swelling. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 20 - More about farmyard buildings and threshing. The frame barn was used to store bundles of grain and hay. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 21 - Some crops were threshed to keep the seeds. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 22 - There were several different types of threshing machines on the farm from the one run with team of horses to the gas powered engine. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 23 - Vegetables were stored right on the ground floor since the houses did not have furnaces. Carrots were put into sand. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 24 - Various vegetable dishes they ate. Many vegetables, as they appeared in season, were cooked with the staple potatoes and a suitable type of gravy. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 25 - Picking berries and preserving fruit. Fruit was of the wild variety such as strawberries and raspberries. Apples were sliced and dried, and later used in applesauce. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 26 - Lighting (log peeling, candles, and kerosene). One form of room lighting was using a log peel spiral attached above the stove and ended inside of the stove, which was allowed to burn upwards. Tallow was later used in candles and eventually kerosene lamps appeared. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 27 - Stoves were of the wood burning type. They were used for cooking, heating and also heating a tank of water that was attached to the back of the stove. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 28 - After he was married his home was outfitted with gas lights. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 29 - His father worked at a furniture shop for $1.25 per day for six day week. Tape 1, Side 2, Part 30 - During the summers the children would ride out into the pea field and pick peas for the Larsen canning company for $.15 a bushel.
Tape 2, Side 1, Part 1 - Crucifix music box. Description of the crucifix music box, which came from Belgium. Grandmother had only music box and zither for making music. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 2 - Christmas tree. Description of how Christmas was celebrated in his family when he was growing up. His father cut down a tree the day before Christmas. His parents decorated the tree with candles after the children had gone to bed. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 3 - Gifts. A few inexpensive gifts were placed under the tree. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 4 - Foods at Christmas. A special pointed bread was made for the holidays, which contained few raisins. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 5 - Outdoor ovens (Fore). Most people had outdoor ovens, which were made of stone and had a layer of brick for the floor. These were used to bake the bread, rolls, and pies at Kermis time. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 6 - Bouillon 'Boo Yah' Booyah was made from fresh beef for the Kermis. Rice was also added. A speck of strong, dry mustard was added to each soup plate. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 7 - Oven (cont). The outdoor ovens were class "Fore". Tape 2, Side 1, Part 8 - Apple peeler. A special type of apple peeler was used which made apple peeling fun. This gadget would core and peel the apple at the same time. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 9 - A cabbage dish made form "Savoy" cabbage to which onion and nutmeg was added was called "Jut". This was eaten with potatoes. Tape 2, Side 1, Part 10 - Belgian "trip" was made from pork shoulder, onion with nutmeg added. The meat markets now spell it "Trippe".
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