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What a strange sight to see a submarine crossing the prairies! This is an HA. 19, a Type A Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine touring through Watertown on a World War II War Bond drive. 
The submarine had made its way to the entrance of Pearl Harbor during the main attack but was became grounded on a reef. It was discovered by the USS Helm and fired on the sub dislodging it from the reef.

• Throwback Thursday

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, resources became scarce all over the country, hitting rural areas hard. People lost livelihoods and homes. To survive, people became creative—they recycled, made-over and made things last. Many have memories of wearing clothing that mother made from feed sacks. 

• Throwback Thursday

A reaping machine is a tool used during harvest that cuts and gathers ripened grain crops. Prior to Cyrus McCormick’s invention of his 1834 reaper, a Scottish clergyman working on his father’s farm invented one of the first practical mechanical reaping machines. Patrick Bell (1799-1869) invented his reaping machine in 1826 and publicly demonstrated it in 1828. Bell’s reaper used a 12-vane revolving reel that pulled the crop over the cutting knife. The knife was triangular reciprocating blades over fixed triangular blades. The canvas conveyor moved the grain and stalks into windrows. Two horses pushed the machine through the field. Bell never sought a patent for his reaping machine. He believed that his invention should benefit all humankind.

• Throwback Thursday

Feed sacks, the ever-useful piece of fabric. Not only can you make clothing, curtains and dish towels from them, you can make a shelter for your flock of chickens! Building a simple A-frame poultry shelter like this one requires 2x4 lumber and muslin chicken feed bags nailed over the frame.

• Throwback Thursday

This interesting home belonged to Edward W. and Mae A. Laisy. They constructed their home from local stone and their entry archway appears to be made with petrified wood. The house was also very modern. The South Dakota Extension Service recognized Mae as one of the Eminent Homemakers of 1936.

• Throwback Thursday

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

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

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

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

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