Member Stories
Members of the Wilson County Old Iron Club bring a variety of personal experiences and interests to the club and to the Old Iron Days show. This section is dedicated to telling you more about those interests. Enjoy learning more about some of the members.
Byron & Marty VanFossenOpen Fire Cooking and Blacksmithing with the VanFossen Family --story submitted by Marty VanFossen
The first time I remember being around open fire cooking was when I was about 6 years old and visiting my grandparents in the back woods of Missouri. My grandma was a true 100% German Lady. To this day I don't think she still owns a pair of pants. My grandma was fixing squirrel over the open fire, and as I got older I couldn't help but want to do it myself. My husband Byron and I have 7 kids between us and 6 of the 7 kids also enjoy open fire cooking. One of our sons has even gone so far as to design and make his own skillet. We believe the old saying that “the family that plays together stays together”. I have fixed everything under the sun on our open fire. I have done cakes, breads, and all kinds of meats. Vegetables are always fun. There is no end to what you can do as long as you have a fire and cast iron. My husband is learning the arts of Blacksmithing. (It never hurts to know a Blacksmith). He makes a lot of my other stuff that I use like my tripods and spits. My mom collects butter churns and enjoys teaching kids the history of making butter. The Dazie butter churn that the kids make butter with at Old Iron Days, has been in my family for over 6 generations now and is still used. My favorite piece of cast iron is my spider. This skillet is over 100 years old and it has 3 legs that sit over the small bed of coals. The legs are what give it the name, Spider. If you read the Little House on the Prairie books, you will hear of Ma using one. Most of my cast iron is over 100 years old. My favorite cookbooks are ... The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker and Country Goodness by the ladies of The Wilson County Old Iron Club. If you are just starting out, a must have is Camp Dutch Oven Cooking 101 from Backyards to Backwoods. This helps pick out the best cast iron to use for what foods, as well as some great ways to cook them. |
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One thing I have become known for is rabbit stew. I've even had kids introduce me to their parents as "The Rabbit Stew Lady" at my son's football games. Another favorite is Fried Apples and Onions. This recipe comes from The Little House Cookbook, (page 127). This recipe is mentioned in the book Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Fried apples and onions were Almanzo's favorite thing in the world!
Fried Apples & Onions 1/2 pound of bacon or salt pork, sliced 6 onions sliced 6-8 tart apples sliced 2 TB brown sugar Fry bacon or salt pork and set aside. Then add sliced onions to the grease. Cook till they are clear. Then add sliced apples. I then add brown sugar (Splenda Brown Sugar also works well) and crumble the bacon or salt pork back into it. Cook till apples are tender. Enjoy. |
I love cooking for the kids at the show. It's fun to see them try new things. Stop by and try a bite and talk to us at the show. We always have time for new friends and old friends.
Byron Githens has loved tractors (particularly the John Deere brand) since he was a little boy. Byron’s grandpa & grandma Githens had a 240 acre farm in central Missouri that they farmed with horses. They raised chickens, hogs, and milked 7 cows by hand. The hay was put up in loose stacks. In those days, there were crews that came around to stack the hay. Byron fondly remembers his childhood visits to the Githens farm.
Byron’s maternal grandfather, BY Hess, owned farm ground west of Fredonia. Over the years, Byron watched the renter’s success with wheat, soybeans, milo, and barley and oats in the old days. The oats were used to feed his grandma’s chickens. The river-bottom land has proved fertile for many years. When Byron was about 14, he went to work for Delmont Sierman, a local farmer, driving a Massey Harris 44 and a M&M U. Byron did farm work for him for several years, in addition to hauling hay. Quite often a day’s work hauling hay would mean hauling 1,000 to 1,100 bales (2 guys hauling them on a truck and barning the hay). Wages at that time (in the 1960‘s) were 2 cents a bale. Rollin Vandever was one of the farmers that he hauled hay for. Sometime in the mid ‘60s, Byron started buying A and B John Deere tractors, cleaning them up, painting them, and then selling them. Periodically he would have an A that he would mount a buzzsaw on to cut firewood. In 1968, Byron began working almost every day for Rollin Vandever, in addition to working a printing job at night. The work involved working ground, planting, and harvesting milo, corn, soybeans, and wheat. In the wintertime he helped take care of the cattle. Byron continued to work for Rollin until about 1973. Now, collecting and restoring JD tractors is a passion for him. He very rarely sells one, and just loves to hear them run. He enjoys rescuing old iron from the “scrappers” and being able to bring it to a working demonstration at the Old Iron Days show. 
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Demonstrating the Lloyd Shingle Mill at the show is lots of fun for Byron.
Byron is a charter member of the Old Iron Club and was President from its inception through 2017. |
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What a history of farming!
Leanne’s love of all things rural comes from her family history of farming and rural life. Both sets of grandparents were farmers and she loved to hear the stories of how things used to be.
Leanne’s love of all things rural comes from her family history of farming and rural life. Both sets of grandparents were farmers and she loved to hear the stories of how things used to be.
Leanne’s father, Elmer H. Voth, often would tell about his Dust Bowl experiences, threshing & binding wheat, milking cows before the modern pasteurization methods existed, and life when electricity was new to the farm. As an adult, Leanne’s parents were dairy and grain farmers, so she got in on all of the chores and other fun.
Leanne’s mother, Josephine Nikkel Voth, worked hard as a partner in the farming. Summer harvest time would find her hauling the wheat to the grain elevators, fixing meals for the harvest workers, going to town for tractor and combine parts, taking care of the large amount of garden produce, raising children, being a 4-H leader, handling church responsibilities, etc., etc., etc.
There is just nothing like a childhood on the farm! And that childhood feeds Leanne’s passion for educating young people about that life.
Leanne’s mother, Josephine Nikkel Voth, worked hard as a partner in the farming. Summer harvest time would find her hauling the wheat to the grain elevators, fixing meals for the harvest workers, going to town for tractor and combine parts, taking care of the large amount of garden produce, raising children, being a 4-H leader, handling church responsibilities, etc., etc., etc.
There is just nothing like a childhood on the farm! And that childhood feeds Leanne’s passion for educating young people about that life.
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This is Leanne’s father, Elmer H. Voth’s account of the early farming:
THE HARVEST AS ELMER RELATES: Farmers living in an approximately three section area participated. The total crop harvested most seasons was probably about a section. The work was accomplished by a threshing gang of six or seven farmers and some extra help. They would thresh grain at each place one day and then move to the next farmer’s place. This was done so each would have at least some grain threshed in case the rains came. Then they rotated back to each farmer’s field. Those return days might be only partial days but hours were figured accordingly. Those were long days—seven a.m. to seven p.m. Women prepared a break at nine, the noon meal that was served in the home of the one for whom they were harvesting, and another break at four out in the field. With partial days the women would work out the meal serving. By seven p.m. everyone needed to go home, feed their horses and other farm animals, milk, etc. At first the threshing machine and tractor were owned by several farmers. Later P.S. Voth (Elmer’s father) and his brother Herman owned the outfit for some years. Brother-in-law Tom Reimer also had a share for a time. Herman was the first to own a combine, so Peter S. bought his share and became the sole owner of the outfit for quite a few years. He and his sons continued to thresh wheat from the fields for farmers in the area, and later the wheat that had been stacked. When threshing, each one in the gang would have his job to do. Rudy (Elmer’s brother) drove the tractor until he was old enough to drive a rack and horses. Then Elmer drove the tractor. When the outfit was set up, he also helped with shoveling the wheat in the wagon or truck. Two farmers had trucks for grain. All wheat was stored at home, scooped into the granary. The Voth granary held a thousand bushels on each side. One year the alley in the granary had a thousand bushels on the floor. The Voth family hauled their wheat to the Zimmerdale elevator with the truck that the elevator leased to them. The boys scooped the wheat into the truck and drove into town. (The boys learned to drive a vehicle with the Model T touring car the Voth family had.) (When Elmer brought his sister Evelyn to Maple Hill her first year of teaching, he drove a Willeys coupe they had. The coupe was a novelty at the time, but it wasn’t used for ‘fun’ trips and not very practical as Elmer remembers. It certainly was not used as a ‘high school’ car.) For threshing, six racks with horses and drivers were needed. Three racks rotated on each side of the machine to unload, ‘pitch in’ the bundles into the machine. Two field pitchers stayed in the field to help load the three racks that kept rotating to the field. Farmers sometimes hired extra help. Elmer’s dad drove the model T Ford touring car that served as the pick-up, carrying extra gas for the tractor. The gang ate their breaks in the shade the vehicle provided! Sometimes Elmer’s dad had some checking of the machine to do in the evening but the machine had had a thorough going over in spring, checking belts etc. to bring it to good working order. There were very few times that the threshing stopped - it was only for rain. (When Elmer was too young to handle the tractor or rack it was his job at quitting time, noon and evening, to fill the grease cups at the bearings. Machines had cups before zerks were used.) Before the harvest season started, a meeting was held to decide on the rotation to be used, etc. At the end of the season Peter S and daughter Hilda figured the hours and who would have to pay whom for the extra hours that had been done at their farm. This meeting culminated with a homemade ice cream social. Youngsters in the families always looked forward to this gathering. THE WHEAT BINDING STORY Elmer’s dad cut wheat with an eight-foot binder. In the early years we had a hired hand from Arkansas who would shock bundles as fast as dad could bind. He came several years. He would write to ask when would be ‘binding time’. Dad would write ‘when’ and he was prompt, coming several days before time, living with us for the wheat harvest season. There were times when the whole family went to the field to set the bundles in shocks. (The girls wore overalls! In those days girls didn’t wear slacks, only dresses.) Four horses were used in front of the binder. In later years we cut with two binders, one with tractor and one with horses. Elmer remembers a white lead horse that was very alert and would notice whenever the whip was reached for, and ‘take off’, urging the four to pick up speed! p.s. Elmer remembers the following neighbors being in the threshing gang when P.S.Voth owned the machine and tractor: George Abrahams, George Klassen, John Unruh, Ferd Funk, Adolf Klassen ‘slow’ brother of George also worked some, Albert Schmidt, Paul Buller. George Abrahams and Paul Buller managed the wheat hauling - they owned trucks. The black and white photos below are from Leanne’s father’s farming days in the 1920s, 1930s, and later. |
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Knitting Socks with Connie Vail |
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Circular Sock Knitting Machine
Most people these days have never heard of a Circular Sock Machine. These hand cranked machines have a long history. They are also called CSM’s (Circular Sock Machines) because they knit a circular tube. By learning to use a CSM machine you can make heels and toes by maneuvering the yarns and needles to create socks. Scarves, mittens and other items can also be made on a sock knitting machine. Most of these machines are antiques and are 80 to 100 years old, some are even older. Each machine has it’s own history and was owned by someone in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Until the CSM came along socks could only be made by hand knitting and this was a slow process. Nearly all girls and women learned to hand knit in early days.
By the end of the Civil War Sock Knitting Machines were widely advertised and sold door-to-door by peddlers as a method for women to earn income at home. However, the economy and even the speed of machine-made socks could not win the hearts of experienced hand knitters.
But, the CSM gained in popularity during World War I. In 1917, a special commission of the Red Cross cabled National Headquarters from the war zone in France, requesting hospital supplies and knitted goods.
When America entered the war, Mabel Boardman, the only woman member of the Red Cross Central Commission, realized that hand knitters were facing an enormous task. To speed up the making of knitted items novice knitters were encouraged to master the CSMs at Red Cross headquarters, and knit a perfect pair of socks in as few as 40 minutes.
"Knit for Sammie!" became the rallying cry of American Red Cross knitters. American soldiers were called Sammies, short for Uncle Sam, or doughboys.
Sammie needed wool helmets and vests, chest covers and fingerless mitts to allow trigger access. Knitters also produced so-called stump socks to cover amputated limbs.
The Red Cross issued patterns and yarn. Knitting rooms were supplied with sock-making machines and wool. Places to knit were established in large homes, such as John D. Rockefeller's Fifth Avenue mansion, and Red Cross Centers. Almost everyone knitted, almost everywhere. Knitting teas and speed knitting contests swept the country. As months passed, and wool became scarce, the emphasis shifted to making just socks. New quotas of 55,000 pairs of socks within three months for each Red Cross Division made the sock knitting machine a prized possession. The Red Cross collected finished goods, and shipped them to Europe.
Why were socks so important during the war? The trench warfare conditions under which the war was fought meant that soldiers spent weeks, even months in wet and in winter freezing conditions. For American soldiers in the trenches or on the march in France, warm socks made all the difference. Boots worn by the soldiers were made of heavy retanned cowhide with thick soles. Although in theory they should be water-repellant, the boots ripped out at the seams fairly quickly. They had iron heels and five rows of hobnails (to prevent slipping) hammered into the soles. These hobnails conducted the cold from the frozen ground directly to the soldiers’ feet. Being able to change socks often to keep their feet dry and warm helped prevent a disease called trench foot. Trench foot was a hard to control fungus and could easily cost a soldier the loss of a foot or feet by amputation.
Most people these days have never heard of a Circular Sock Machine. These hand cranked machines have a long history. They are also called CSM’s (Circular Sock Machines) because they knit a circular tube. By learning to use a CSM machine you can make heels and toes by maneuvering the yarns and needles to create socks. Scarves, mittens and other items can also be made on a sock knitting machine. Most of these machines are antiques and are 80 to 100 years old, some are even older. Each machine has it’s own history and was owned by someone in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Until the CSM came along socks could only be made by hand knitting and this was a slow process. Nearly all girls and women learned to hand knit in early days.
By the end of the Civil War Sock Knitting Machines were widely advertised and sold door-to-door by peddlers as a method for women to earn income at home. However, the economy and even the speed of machine-made socks could not win the hearts of experienced hand knitters.
But, the CSM gained in popularity during World War I. In 1917, a special commission of the Red Cross cabled National Headquarters from the war zone in France, requesting hospital supplies and knitted goods.
When America entered the war, Mabel Boardman, the only woman member of the Red Cross Central Commission, realized that hand knitters were facing an enormous task. To speed up the making of knitted items novice knitters were encouraged to master the CSMs at Red Cross headquarters, and knit a perfect pair of socks in as few as 40 minutes.
"Knit for Sammie!" became the rallying cry of American Red Cross knitters. American soldiers were called Sammies, short for Uncle Sam, or doughboys.
Sammie needed wool helmets and vests, chest covers and fingerless mitts to allow trigger access. Knitters also produced so-called stump socks to cover amputated limbs.
The Red Cross issued patterns and yarn. Knitting rooms were supplied with sock-making machines and wool. Places to knit were established in large homes, such as John D. Rockefeller's Fifth Avenue mansion, and Red Cross Centers. Almost everyone knitted, almost everywhere. Knitting teas and speed knitting contests swept the country. As months passed, and wool became scarce, the emphasis shifted to making just socks. New quotas of 55,000 pairs of socks within three months for each Red Cross Division made the sock knitting machine a prized possession. The Red Cross collected finished goods, and shipped them to Europe.
Why were socks so important during the war? The trench warfare conditions under which the war was fought meant that soldiers spent weeks, even months in wet and in winter freezing conditions. For American soldiers in the trenches or on the march in France, warm socks made all the difference. Boots worn by the soldiers were made of heavy retanned cowhide with thick soles. Although in theory they should be water-repellant, the boots ripped out at the seams fairly quickly. They had iron heels and five rows of hobnails (to prevent slipping) hammered into the soles. These hobnails conducted the cold from the frozen ground directly to the soldiers’ feet. Being able to change socks often to keep their feet dry and warm helped prevent a disease called trench foot. Trench foot was a hard to control fungus and could easily cost a soldier the loss of a foot or feet by amputation.
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When the armistice was signed in 1919 the demand for socks changed. The thousands of pairs of socks for the war effort were no longer needed. A change in usage came about for the CSM’s. Women wanted more economic independence and the sock-knitting machine was the answer for many. Peddlers again went door to door, especially to rural homes, to sell the sock knitting machines to women who wanted to contribute to the earnings of the family. Some CSM companies offered to supply wool and buy the finished knitted socks in order for the home knitter to earn money. These companies were however very particular and only the best made socks were accepted by them for re-sale.
An advertisement in a 1920 Good Housekeeping Magazine gives the message that you can work right at home and that the Auto Knitter Sock Machine is better than a hundred hands for knitting socks. It says "Write Today for Our Liberal Wage Offer". Their ad says you need not know how to knit or how to sew. The Auto Knitter does all the work. Again in December 1941 knitters were called upon to "Knit for Victory" for WW II. Eventually modern factory knitting machines were developed and socks could be produced commercially. The need for home produced handmade socks was no longer needed. Many of the CSMs have been hidden away in attics and barns and are beginning to find their way back into usefulness by interested persons trying to revive this lost art. |
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About my sock machine:
I purchased my circa 1920's Canadian Auto Knitter Sock Machine from Ebay from a man back East that restores machines in October 2009. I did a lot of online research and asked lots of questions from other sock machine owners before I bought my machine. I had determined the brand of machine I wanted for ease of finding parts for it. I emailed the gentleman several times about the machine I bought before bidding on it and even then was taking him at his word. Sock machines are a lot like buying a used car, it might not be as good as it looks. They are antique machines. It’s best to purchase a machine from someone that restores machines and knows what they are doing. They have many working parts with gears, tensions and can be rusty, dirty and grimy from years of sitting in an attic or barn. Most of the antique machines in use today have had to be taken apart piece by piece cleaned thoroughly, oiled and put back together. Over the years and depending on the storage area they have been kept in the metals they are made of may have swelled, cracked or deteriorated. Because they are a precise running machine any of these flaws can make them unusable.
There is a huge learning curve for using these machines and patience is a must! I started by making tubes. These tubes were made into scarves as Christmas gifts. Next after some practice and getting where the machine was not dropping stitches I started making heels and toes. After I had those mastered I made my first sock using a mock ribbing and a hem top. The next big step was learning to use the ribber. Now I can make socks!
-Story submitted by Connie Vail
I purchased my circa 1920's Canadian Auto Knitter Sock Machine from Ebay from a man back East that restores machines in October 2009. I did a lot of online research and asked lots of questions from other sock machine owners before I bought my machine. I had determined the brand of machine I wanted for ease of finding parts for it. I emailed the gentleman several times about the machine I bought before bidding on it and even then was taking him at his word. Sock machines are a lot like buying a used car, it might not be as good as it looks. They are antique machines. It’s best to purchase a machine from someone that restores machines and knows what they are doing. They have many working parts with gears, tensions and can be rusty, dirty and grimy from years of sitting in an attic or barn. Most of the antique machines in use today have had to be taken apart piece by piece cleaned thoroughly, oiled and put back together. Over the years and depending on the storage area they have been kept in the metals they are made of may have swelled, cracked or deteriorated. Because they are a precise running machine any of these flaws can make them unusable.
There is a huge learning curve for using these machines and patience is a must! I started by making tubes. These tubes were made into scarves as Christmas gifts. Next after some practice and getting where the machine was not dropping stitches I started making heels and toes. After I had those mastered I made my first sock using a mock ribbing and a hem top. The next big step was learning to use the ribber. Now I can make socks!
-Story submitted by Connie Vail
Corn Processing: Keeping it all in the family
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Johnny Eck & Family
John & Alice Eck, Children Brent & Annette Eck Cranmer, Mitch Eck Grandchildren Ki-Lane Cranmer Hulse, Gage Cranmer, Logan Eck Great-grandchild Carver Hulse In 2004 the Eck’s and Cranmer’s were asked to take charge of the Corn display. Previously having been several separate displays, this would become a complete display operated by 3 generations of one family. The original hammer mill was donated to the club by Don and Jean Robertson. Don had acquired it from his Uncle Faye Ward and wanted to see it put to good use. We hook it up to a Farmall H owned by John and Alice Eck. The belt-driven McCormick Deering Ensilage Chopper also belongs to the club and was donated by Byron and Leanne Githens. I’m told Byron and John Relph took a trip to the Dirksen family farm up north of Goessel, KS to pick up several pieces of equipment. We hook it to our mighty McCormick W9 and the display is a very loud favorite with the show goers. Both of these pieces of equipment fit right in with the Eck-Cranmer section as we are true Red and Black International Harvester Collectors. On display every year after all the field work is done, is the 1930’s McCormick Deering Corn Binder. Just a little TLC and this piece of equipment made bundling easy. Donated to the club by Byron and Leanne, it also came from Leanne’s Uncle Mel Dirksen, north of Goessel, KS. For the 2008 show at the new grounds, we added several truly unique pieces to our display. First, from Frank Baughn, Johnny was given a wooden corn cracker. We believe it is from the IHC family and have painted it Farmall Red. Johnny’s Farmall Super C runs this piece with just the right amount of speed to keep it from throwing corn at the spectators. It is from the early 1900’s and cracks corn to a consistency great for feeding farm animals but not quite fine enough for corn bread. The challenge has been keeping the school children from sampling this display. In the late winter, Johnny got a call from Greg Myers who knew we were looking for corn display equipment. From him we bought an International Harvester 4-row Spring Corn Sheller dated in the early 1900’s. This collector’s item is by far the most fascinating piece added to our display. As we feed the corn into the 4 row conveyer it travels into the huge covered husker, sheller, separator and from three different exits we get husk, cob and corn. Of course the husk quietly falls out of the bottom - no big show there. The cob is fed out of a conveyer on the other end and makes quite a dramatic display when it tosses the cob off the top. The corn comes out of a spout in the center of the machine but from a tall spout and the display of corn tumbling down is a crowd pleaser. We operate the sheller with Mitch’s IH Farmall C. At show opening 2008, Dad, Brent and I found ourselves long on equipment and short on operators. What a site we were with Dad tractor-hopping to run each display, Brent feeding each display and me out front talking to the kids and offering “unique” items for the kids to haul back to the classroom. Once the weekend came, things really leveled out for us up on the northwest corner. Gage came home from college, Mitch and Logan came down from Derby, and Ki-Lane, Jason and Carver came out to help. Now, we had 4 generations available to put on the show. My daughter, Ki-Lane Hulse, calls one of the biggest tractors in our display her spot. The clutch has to be let our real slow or the belt is thrown, so her gentle touch is appreciated by all of us. Not to mention, a blond haired-blue eyed girl setting on a red tractor is just the look we are going for. Watching Gage climb off the H and onto the C was a family favorite. Even Grandpa got tired just watching him. Mitch of course, is everywhere and Logan could usually be found under the tent. Within yelling distance, the “we got some” shout brought everyone to attention. We discovered the bigger your staff, the more relaxed things are. We even had time to get away and take some pictures of the other demonstrations. For 2009, Johnny and Mitch have acquired a hand powered ensilage chopper and corn sheller. And with Carver reaching the walking stage, we intend to be fully operational with 4 generations working at the display. We are not sure what Carver will be doing, but we are sure he can say “tractor” and his driving skills will be perfected by show time! --Story submitted by Annette Eck Cranmer |
Kelley Starbuck - Still playing with tractors!
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Kelley’s collection started when he was a boy on the farm. His father was the original Minneapolis Moline guy in the family.
The MM Z that sits at the Starbuck Pavilion on the Old Iron Club show grounds was originally purchased by Kelley’s wife’s grandfather, who sold it to Kelley’s dad. Kelley and his dad farmed with it for many years on their dairy east of Altoona. This dairy was called Starbuck Milking Shorthorns, and they raised, milked, and showed registered Milking Shorthorns. In Kelley’s early years, he attended a one room school, Newland School, east of Altoona. He graduated from Altoona Rural High school in ’63. Along with rural and farm kids of the day, he was a member of Lucky Beginner’s 4-H Club, and Altoona FFA, serving as an officer in both. 1964 brought his enlistment into the Air National Guard and he was deployed to Korea and Japan during the Pueblo Conflict. After Kelley started tractor pulling in the mid 90’s, the tractors seemed to multiply in the pasture! The MM U and MM G6 have traveled to tractor pulls all over the country. The commitment to FFA that began in high school for Kelley, remains strong. At the FFA alumni association tractor pull, which he runs, he donates 100% of his labor and “hook fees” to the FFA Alumni’s scholarship fund. This is just one example of the many adults whose volunteerism helps the young people in our community. Kelley and his wife, Phyllis, have 2 children, Kevin and Karen, and 3 grandchildren. Kelley and Phyllis celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016. 
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