The 19th century was pretty rough. Medicine was primitive, farming was more of a challenge and there was no American Idol, so people just died young from abject boredom.
The biscuits were pretty good, though, and a blue ribbon for your apple butter meant you could look down on the other gals with a haughty sneer. Or maybe you looked like that anyway, what with the primitive dentistry and all.
The Germans came to Hermann around 1840, endowing the town with their yen for hearty work and hearty foods. Now that 169 years have crept by, it’s time to honor our forebears’ achievements with the opening of the wine-soaked burg’s newest attractions, the Hermann Farm Stables and Wagon Werks.
This recreation of old-timey culture features exhibits and displays of early rural-life skills of the German settlers. The Hermann Farm Country Fair grand opening party from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. on Sept. 12 means apple butter-making, beekeeping demos and a sampler menu of cast-iron-over-hot-coals cooked delicacies.
After you’ve stuffed yourself with whatever it was that sustained Laura Ingalls’ dependable German neighbors, check out the sweaty blacksmith, the early engines, the rusty farm equipment, the friendly broom-makers, the cheerful basket-weavers, the quaint buggies and wagons, and the animals in the petting zoo, which have been instructed to imitate farm animals from 100 years ago.
Children and adults are encouraged to come in costumes from the 1800s to1900s for a contest, so keep it demure and avoid the manure. Call 573.486.3276 for more information.
– Byron Kerman
Photo courtesy of hermannfarm.org
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2009.