Corn picking in MN about 1951

I've enjoyed reading posts on this forum the past few years. Only have posted myself a couple of times.

Thought I would share some back.

A few weeks ago I was able to get a cache of old family photo negatives. Some of the pictures I had prints for, others not. So, some new surprises to be had.

In the stash were these 2 photos from I think 1951 (but possible 1952) of corn picking at my late Dad's uncles farm near Wabasso, MN. The man with the tractor was Dad's cousin. Neither Dad or the cousin are around anymore to ask about that fall. But, looks like it was a late harvest or early winter! Seems to be one of those overcast cold days with snow flurries.

Picking%20Corn%20circa%201951%20A_zpshlbnztd6.jpg



Picking%20Corn%20circa%201951%20B_zps0s4kvr9l.jpg


The JD tractor is a "late styled" "B". I believe the picker is a Case "PR".

I think the truck towing the wagon is a Dodge.

From what I remember, the uncle sold that farm and moved his family to Colorado in 1953 or so. That puts a end date on these. Also, the camera using the 620 roll film (square pictures like these) was bought in 1951 so far I know. Puts a bracket on the date.
 
Looks like one of those days when you wished you could be sitting in the house with your feet towards the wood stove soaking up some heat.
 
He looks cold, but creative enough to make a cab to keep the wind away, and collect some engine heat. About the same time, Dad made a wood frame enclosure with masonite, on the WC. Front window was from Grandpa"s Chrysler car...too short to go all the way across, so some was masonite there as well.
 
Interesting that the elevator goes into the lower portion, while it looks like the cupola has a door on it, if the elevator was long enough. (OK- short elev- cupola still has a door on it! LOL) Dad had the local blacksmith build a 36 foot elevator in about 1953...ear corn was elevated into the top of the shallow roofed corn cribs, and my job was to push ears away, by hand. to the nether regions of the long, narrow cribs. Worse than hard to keep up with the shoveler! I was 12-14 years old. Not a pleasant memory, like so many others...no, for many reasons, not the good old days.
 
I witnessed, as a young kid, the last years of our family farm using a picker. My dad and grandfather ran a New Idea mounted picker on a 350 Farmall, then moved up to a 450 Farmall on that machine. It also had a corn shelling attachment. I don't recall the 350 being on the mounted picker. Dad talks about the first thing that happened when the picker was used on the 450, they had gearbox failures. Fall was a long and slow progression, especially when using the corn shelling attachment. When we switched from 38 inch rows to 30 inch rows, a combine with a 3 row corn head was purchased. I cannot help but think some of the respiratory problems my grandfather had, along with some of the "congestion" my dad has to this day were aggravated by running a mounted picker in all that dust and in cold weather conditions during every long, drawn out fall. Not finishing fall corn harvest until Thanksgiving was not so uncommon prior to my earliest memories from about 1970.
 
I wonder if the cupolas are for looks, and it's a drive through crib?

As far as the original post......it looks like they are picking corn on a day that today's modern combines would be sidelined. That much snow would freeze the sieves.
 
I am sure that did add to your Grandpa's health problems, especially if there was any smut on the ears. My dad had a 2 row New Idea, but a pull type. For what ever reason no comfort cover on the M, I can remember how cold it was when he picked corn, as cold as a well digger's lunch box.
 
The cupola was never intended for filling the crib as far as i know, but corn cribs, were on the way out when i started farming! I think the idea was for the hot air, to rise up there and get it out of the building that way, when the wind blew!
 
(quoted from post at 04:22:47 05/18/17) The cupola was never intended for filling the crib as far as i know, but corn cribs, were on the way out when i started farming! I think the idea was for the hot air, to rise up there and get it out of the building that way, when the wind blew!

Thanks all for the comments.

RE: was it a drive-through crib? I looked for other pictures of that farm and did find one from 1941 with the crib building in the background. From that, I am pretty sure it was a "double" crib with a shed space between and roof w/cupolas over it all. Pretty common in that area of MN. Farm I grew up had one, although not as large and no cupolas and so did my material grandpa's place. The crib sections seem not to be more than maybe 7-8' wide so as there would be air infiltration. In the case of ours, it was barely wide enough for Dad to back his Gehl mixer/mill in one end and there was a 2 wheel utility trailer backed in from the other.

Dad's uncle bought that Wabasso farm sometime in the 30's and from what Dad used to talk about it was a lot nicer buildings than my own grandpa's farm. But, my grandparents were renter's and moved around in the 20s and 30s a few times before they were able to get their own place in '39 that was owned by a insurance co and had been rented out prior after the original owners lost it in the depression. It was in not as good of farm land area (lots of marsh/wet) but all they could afford. Nowadays the land there is a lot better with much drainage improvements.
 

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