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Oct. 29 is the last Little I Memory Collection Day at the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum. The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum and the ������Ƶ Little International Executive Committee are on the hunt for photographs, memorabilia and oral histories from past participants for an exhibit celebrating Little International’s centennial in 2023. People interested in scanning or donating photographs, recording their memories or checking with museum staff about a donation or loan of artifacts or other memorabilia, are encouraged to contact the museum.

• Throwback Thursday

Happy Halloween! This Halloween postcard promoted using U & I Sugar for creating sweet treats for Halloween. The postcard is copyrighted 1916. In 1920, U & I Sugar was the third largest sugar company in the US. The company, incorporated in 1889, was largely financed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). The company processed sugar from sugar beets grown in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and South Dakota. The sugar processing plant in Belle Fourche, SD was built in 1927, utilizing machinery moved from Delta, UT. Belle Fourche was chosen as a site for the new processing plant because of its proximity to the water supply from the Orman Dam and Reservoir. Competition from cane sugar production and beet leaf hopper blights led to tough times for sugar beet production in the American west. With more profitable crops to be grown, the company also had trouble getting enough farmers to grow sugar beets. The Belle Fourche factory was a marginal operation and closed in 1964.

• What's New Wednesday

South Dakota’s pheasant hunting season runs from Oct. 15, 2022 - Jan. 31, 2023. Many people enjoy the crisp autumn days spent walking corn fields and pastures with their dogs and fellow hunters searching for pheasants. This hunting party at the Emil Francoli farm, Stratford, was from northern Wisconsin. They are showing off “…their catch to take home.”

• Throwback Thursday

Leaves or cuttings of tobacco mixed with molasses, honey or other sticky sweeteners are pressed into cakes or plugs. Stores in the 19th and early 20th centuries selling plug tobacco often would have plug cutters on their counter to chop off an amount of tobacco to sell to a customer. Tobacco companies sent plug cutters to merchants to use and as advertisement for their brand. Sorg Spear Head was a popular brand. 

This cutter is from the P. J. Sorg Tobacco Company, a division of the American Tobacco Company in Middletown, Ohio. In 1870, Robert Wilson, George Jacoby, John Auer and Paul J. Sorg founded their tobacco company. In 1877, Sorg withdrew from the company and formed The P. J. Sorg Co. After 10 years, Sorg sold his company to the Continental Tobacco Company, later known as the American Tobacco Company.

• What's New Wednesday

The Garden Prairie Band playing at an event at the 40,000-bushel Farmers Elevator. The upside-down American flag may be a statement against large privately owned elevators charging unreasonable prices. The postcard was sent to professor N. E. Hansen, Brookings, May 29, 1908. The sender of the card wrote the message in Danish, Hansen’s native language.

• Throwback Thursday

Long, broad bladed knives like this one were common implements on late 19th and early 20th century farms. Farmers used these sharp blades to cut corn stalks. Sugar cane, bamboo, and rice are also cut with this kind of knife. The farmer using this machete-like knife will swing the blade at the base of the stalk. The stalks are bundled, waiting for the cobs to be removed. The 1897 Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog sold corn knives for 22 cents each or $2.40 per dozen.

• What's New Wednesday

Marshal Reeves began his agricultural implement business in Columbus, IN. He brought his father and uncle into the business in 1875 and changed the company name to Hoosier Boy Cultivator Company. In 1879, the company name changed again to Reeves and Company. Reeves and Company now designed and manufactured threshers, straw stackers, separators, corn shellers, and clover hullers. In 1895, Reeves started to build steam traction engines.

This postcard from White, SD shows the Polzin family proudly posing with a new Reeves Compound Separator No. 2663. In the 1913 Reeves Machinery catalog, they feature the belts. The first paragraph of the separator’s description stated that “the belts on Reeves machines are the best quality of oak-tanned, non-porous leather. The belt driving the separating parts from the cylinder shaft is six inches wide. The belt driving the fan, beater, and minor parts from the other end of the cylinder shaft is five- and one-half inches wide, making a total of eleven- and one-half inches of belt to drive the separating and cleaning mechanism. This great width of belting insures a positive drive and prevents slipping and stretching occasioned using too light belts.”

• Throwback Thursday

The types of crops grown in the upper Great Plains began shifting in the early 20th century from small grain crops to row crops like corn and soybeans. With the change in crop types, farmers needed equipment that could provide the necessary tillage work. Engineers employed by tractor companies came up with the idea for motor cultivators.

• What's New Wednesday

N. E. Hansen travelled across Russia, the Near East and Asia seeking plant species that would be compatible with South Dakota’s climate and soils. He spent a lot of time exploring in the modern countries of Ukraine, Russian Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Ever curious about the people and places he visited, Hansen sought out and met many interesting people. From this postcard image we see that Hansen (left) met with a falconer from the steppes to learn about this ancient hunting technique. The falconer is holding a juvenile Berkut Eagle. The Berkut is a subspecies of the Golden Eagle and is native to southern Russia and Central Asia. A fully grown Berkut Eagle has a wingspan of 7 to 9 feet These birds are used in falconry specifically to hunt deer and wolves.  In Central Asia, where sheep and goats are the main economy, hunters use the eagles to protect their flocks from wolf attacks. Kirghiz tribesmen use eagles to catch wolves, foxes, deer and wild goats.

• Throwback Thursday

Quilting requires lots of good light. Today, quilters work year round on their creations, but before electricity, quilting needed to be done during the spring and summer when there was a lot of sunlight.

One of the most recognizable quilt blocks is Sunbonnet Sue. Our Sunbonnet Sue is appliqued on unbleached muslin and the applique edges are with blanket stitched with yellow embroidery floss. The block measures 13” x 14 ½”.

The creator of Sunbonnet Sue is Bertha Corbett Melcher. In 1900, Bertha illustrated and published a book, Sunbonnet Babies, depicting girls with their faces hidden by large, brimmed bonnets. Ladies Art Patterns issued the first Sunbonnet Baby applique pattern in 1900. Throughout the early 20th century, other pattern companies and designers like McCall’s and Ruby McKim produced their variations of Sunbonnet Sue. Sunbonnet Sue’s popularity peaked in the 1930s. Whether you like her or hate her, Sunbonnet Sue is a quilting icon!

• What's New Wednesday