Farmers Developed Tools For Handling Hay

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy,” says the old song. This is a sentiment which provokes strong disagreement from any farmer, however. One of the end-of-the-summer tasks that has always been anything but easy is haying.

Many of the old haying implements have become popular collectibles. Among these are the hay forks and rakes. In pre-tractor days, hay was cut with a mower and sickle-bar and then gathered by horse-drawn rakes. The hay forks were used both to turn the hay so that underneath could dry and to pitch it into the wagon.

A hay rake consisted of a long wooden handle with a crosspiece about two feet long. Into this were fitted a number of peg teeth. The earliest ones were handmade. Later factory-made rakes often had a metal or wire brace where the handle and crosspiece met.

The earliest forks had just two tines, Later ones had anywhere from three to eight. All had long handles, ranging from six to eight feet.

A later development, although now obsolete, was the hay hook. it was used to lift and position baled hay. The hook was a simple dependable piece of equipment, six to fourteen inches long. The base was made of wood or metal; the shaft and large curving tip were of either iron or steel. They were strong enough to lift and move 75 to 100-pound bales.

After being taken to the barn, hay had to be lifted into the hayloft or haymow. A haymow fork could be used to unload loose hay from the wagon. One type resembled a harpoon. Another looked like a giant claw, and was known as a grapple fork. They were fairly light-weight (under 20 pounds.) There were some variations on these two basic types.

Some farmers had a hay carrier, a piece of equipment built into the barn. It was like a small trolley that ran on a track attached to the roof of the barn. When it was at the end of its track, it would extend just beyond the open barn doors. Then the hay-lift fork would descend scoop up several hundred pounds of hay and by means of a rope pulley, carry it into the barn and drop it in the mow where it was wanted.

There were several versions of hay knives which were used to break apart the tightly packed hay when it was ready to be used for feed. The hook, or “crook,” was a harpoon-like piece that could pull loads of hay down into the feed bins. Scythe-like knives with strong, short handles, curved sawtooth blades with side handles, and chisel-bladed tools with triangular notches in the blade were all variations of the knives used to cut or chop large bunches of hay.

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Ties ‘Clasped’ In 1900

The tie clasp was first used in the early 1900s. Prior to that time, round pins or brooches were used to hold the cravat of the era in place. As styles changed and modified into neckties as we know them today, the tie clasp (or tie bar) became more practical. By the 1920s it was a standard piece of jewelry for men, and was often sold with a matching set of cuff links.

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Finding Way To Bed Was Bigger Problem In Time Before Electricity

Chambersticks were once an essential item if a person was to find his way up the stairs to bed at night. In the days before electricity, a group might be found on a small table at the foot of the stairs each evening. Each member of the family could pick up a chamberstick, light it from the master taper left burning for this purpose on the side table, and use it to light his way to his bed chamber. A supply of candles would be kept in a candlebox hanging nearby or placed at the back of the table.

The short candle socket was set on a wide shallow dish or saucer-like base, to protect hands from hot, dripping wax or tallow. Attached to one side was a handle, shaped like a scroll or a ring. (The earliest ones, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, had flat handles.) Sometimes a cone extinguisher was attached by a fine chain and sometimes a matching snuffer hung from a hook on the candle socket.

Chambersticks, which were also known as bedroom candlesticks or hand candlesticks, were made of brass, silver, pewter, silverplate, tin and pottery.

Silver chambersticks often had a quite ornate drip tray or saucer, although the candle socket itself was usually left plain. The earliest ones were lightweight and made from thin metal with no ornamentation. Later ones were the more elaborately decorated; they sometimes also had small feet.

Silver chambersticks were made in matched sets of two, four, six and sometimes even a dozen. Occasionally, one will find a double chamber stick, which has two sockets on a single drip tray. There is also an occasional silver chamberstick with a rectangular tray to be found. Some of the most elegant silver ones had the socket enclosed in an outer cylinder of silver, with rows of pierced air vents.

Potters, too, could not resist turning clay into chambersticks. They were made in a variety of heights, and of both soft-paste and hard-paste porcelain. In France, earthenware pieces were made by Quimper and in England they were made of jasper by Wedgwood. In the United States during the 19th century, there were some made in Rockingham and yellow ware.

Brass chambersticks were often no more than 2 1/2 inches high, and the basic  design of a saucer with a ring handle was repeated over and over from about 1750 to 1850. An occasional feature of the brass holders was a knob that could be raised upward in a slot, to dislodge the candle. Those made of tin might also have this feature.

In pewter, the styles tended to follow those of silver, and a pewter chamberstick can be as attractive as its silver counterpart. Those made in America tended to be left unengraved, while those of England and Europe were more decorated.

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