Days on the Family Farm: From the Golden Age through the Great Depression

by Carrie A. Meyer

From the beginning of the twentieth century to World War II, farm wife May Lyford Davis kept a daily chronicle that today offers a window into a way of life that has all but disappeared. May and her husband Elmo lived through two decades of prosperity, the Great Depression, and two World Wars in their Midwestern farming community. Like many women of her time, Davis kept diaries that captured the everyday events of the family farm; she also kept meticulous farming accounts. In doing so, she left an extraordinary record that reflects not only her own experiences but also the history of early twentieth-century American agriculture.

 

May and Elmo’s story, engagingly told by Carrie A. Meyer, showcases the large-scale evolution of agriculture from horses to automobile and tractors, a surprisingly vibrant family and community life, and the business of commercial farming. Details such as what items were bought and sold, what was planted and harvested, the temperature and rainfall, births and deaths, and the direction of the wind are gathered to reveal a rich picture of a world shared by many small farmers.

 

With sustainable and small-scale farming again on the rise in the United States, Days on the Family Farm resonates with both the profound and mundane aspects of rural life—past and present—in the Midwest.

 

Carrie A. Meyer is associate professor of economics at George Mason University.

Genres: Research

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Carrie A. Meyer is associate professor of economics at George Mason University.

Reviews

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty dated book, yet I had high hopes since it portrays life on a northern IL farm from 1890s-1940s. Local history and early 20th century Midwestern farming are both subjects I'm very interested in. But the reading turns out to be pretty dry. The author has taken diaries of her ancestors and tried turning them into a book. Most of the text reads like "Went to town to get supplies, then cultivated corn." This is not a typical family farm in that the husband and wife have no kids and the wife has a debilitating illness that robs her of the ability to walk. I did enjoy the chapter summaries where the author is attempting to let us know what's about to happen locally and worldwide in the upcoming decade, how that will impact Midwestern farming in general, and this particular farm family in particular. I actually wish there had been more of that and less of the "went to town, then cultivated" type of writing.

[Liam O'Shiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a wonderful book from every standpoint. The author tells the story of life on a Midwestern farm from around 1890 to 1950, using her own family's diaries and records as a starting point. The author is also a scholar and fills in the historical material with real assurance. The result is a work of history that looks from the inside out and is deeply personal - yet never without perspective. Anyone with an interest in either agricultural history or the history of the US in this period (consider the immense events of these decades!) will find this book a rewarding and absorbing read.

[Linda Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very statistics driven look at the farm economy at the turn of the last century taking the reader from prosperity and horse-drawn plows through the dust bowl and finally the tractor driven commercial farm. We follow one couple through the diaries of the farm wife. A bit dry but certainly a good look at the farmer's life at the time. A lot of HARD manual work for both the farmer and his family.

[Patricia]

So far very interesting.

[Bev Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained 2 of my favorite topics: history and biography. I really enjoyed reading about the life of this farming community during this time in history.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of life on a family farm in Cherry Valley, IL, during the early 1900's.