10

Wheat was the main crop. Watermelons grew bountifully during the summer. The following picture shows a harvest crew stacking the wheat for threshing.

• WHAT: Picture of an Oklahoma harvest crew at work
• WHEN: Circa 1907 – another harvest picture was labeled as 1907.
• WHERE: Goodwin, Oklahoma – probably on the William and Martha Kirmse farm.
• SOURCE: Shared by Helen (Kirmse) Hacker October 2003.
• NOTES: This photograph was labeled “Okla. Harvest”on the back.

There are four elements of the picture – a horse powered reaper, two hay wagons, three haystacks and a dog in the foreground.

The mechanical hay reaper with a team of six horses and driver was a “pusher” reaper with the driver riding the machine and the team of six horses and rigging arranged to push the hay reaper. There is a conveyor on the side to lift the wheat and drop it in a hay wagon being driven along side.

To right, the mule drawn wagons have an interesting construct. The left side is taller than the right side. The driver drove the wagon along side the reaper and the helper distributed the wheat as it is being dropped onto the wagon from the reaper.

Then there is the dog lying on the ground. This element of the image is consistent with a picture taken of the William Kirmse farm house in 1910  (See Chapter: New Kirmse Home). Grandfather Kirmse had a liking for dogs. He would make sure that each of his children had a dog on their farm place so that his grandchildren had a pet. Generally the dog was a large, well mannered animal that was good with children.

• WHAT: A picture of harvesting wheat. In addition to the small hay stacks there are two teams of horses/mules and their drivers as well as a car with two men sitting on the front fenders.
• WHO: On the left and right sides of the picture are teams of four horses/mules and a drivers. In the center, there are two young men with white shirts and ties sitting on the front fenders of an automobile. These two young men are obviously not part of the field crew. They were Joseph Kirmse and his brother, Louis Kirmse who are viewing the harvest of their Oklahoma property.
• WHEN: Circa 1910 – An accompanying photograph with the title,”Joe Kirmse Shattuck Farm”, was labeled as being 1907. However, the Case car as shown in the picture was not produced until 1910.
• WHERE: Near Goodwin, Oklahoma -Joe and Louis Kirmse’s properties were about 5 miles east of the homestead of Martha and William Kirmse.
• SOURCE: Shared by Judy (Kirmse) Yordi, April 26, 2015
• NOTES: From the note on the back of the photograph, this is a picture of harvesting on the Joe and Louis Kirmse Shattuck farm. The grain stalks have probably been cut with a binder and bound into sheaves that were manually stacked.