A bit more from the Prairie Museum

The Prairie Museum featured the Cooper Barn, the largest barn in Kansas and called the "Eighth Architectural Wonder of Kansas."

The Cooper Barn

You can see why it's a wonder

Inside on the ground level was a display of farm equipment. Of particular interest to me was a Model-T Ford truck.

I worked on the Ogden farm as a fifteen-year-old boy in Anamosa, Iowa. I helped mainly with the hay and oats harvest. I loved it. I rode the oats binder, helped make shocks and then helped to toss them into the wagon. Helped make bales of hay and bring them into the barn. A favorite time was threshing when several families shared the threshing machine and it moved from farm to farm threshing the oats. Every day there was a huge noon meal, with all the wives bringing their favorite dishes. As a teenager with a hollow leg, this was heaven.

Riding the binder

But back to the Model-T. Every now and then, Parke Ogden, my boss,  would get out his Model-T Ford truck, which had a tank on the back, and go into Anamosa to the dairy to get buttermilk for his hogs. I would ride with him, and occasionally he let me drive. In the Model-T, you started it by cranking from the front, the gear shifts were foot pedals on the floor, the accelerator was a lever on the steering wheel, and the brake was another foot pedal - but it braked the transmission, not the wheels. There was a manually operated brake lever for emergencies. 

Model-T Ford Truck at Cooper Barn

Ah! Memories!