Highlights Archives
Animals and Machines Power the Farms
Old World Wisconsin will put its farm animals to work on Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23, as the outdoor museum of rural life showcases how animals and machines eased the burden of human toil on 19th- and early 20th-century Wisconsin farms. During Animals and Machines: A Power Exposition, teams of horses and oxen will work the fields of the sprawling 576-acre historic site. A small sheep-powered treadmill, used for such household tasks as churning butter, will be on display at Caldwell Farmers' Club Hall. With 10 ethnic farmsteads and an 1870s crossroads village, Old World Wisconsin provides a pristine and authentic setting for demonstrations that illustrate how farmers' ingenuity in applying the technology of their day to the tasks at hand lightened their work load.
In the 1870s crossroads village, horses will drive an antique threshing machine while, on one of the museum's three German farms, a team of oxen will perform tasks such as hauling logs and plowing fields. Other activities will include demonstrations of horse-powered transportation by members of the Dairyland Driving Club. Demonstrations of other 19th-century work will include making horseshoes in the village blacksmith shop and demonstrations by a farrier shoeing horses.
If watching or taking part in all that work makes you hungry or thirsty, Old World Wisconsin's Clausing Barn Restaurant offers cafeteria-style food service and cool refreshments. To get a broader look at all that Old World Wisconsin has to offer, take a virtual tour of the outdoor museum.
:: Posted July 17, 2006
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