I took these video's to show school kids a piece of history. But I thought you guys would find them interesting as well. Since we are a technology based group:
Mount Pleasant Iowa Old Threshers - 2014
Old Thresher shows are about showing American history. The technology is mostly from the 1800's through early 1900's.
Most people take for granted their current household and lifestyle conveniences. In that era it was common to see human operated, or belt driven appliances. There was almost no household electricity. And certainly nothing like we have today. For example you either washed your clothes by hand, or you had to connect a small steam or gas engine to drive the wash machine.
Places of business would have drive shafts that were belt drive run across the ceiling, or under the floor. These were spun by large steam or hit-n-miss engines. Each person running a step in that companies manufacturing process would have a work station. These machines would all be driven by one or more giant engines. There was no electricity in the way we know it today. There was no safety protocols. There was no stopping your work station since all were driven from one power source. You worked based on their terms, or you didn't get paid. If you got injured on the job, you would simply be replaced. If you got tired, or stopped production you were replaced. Long work hours for crappy pay, and work place injuries and deaths were the way things were done.
All of this (and more) was normal for that era. These videos show some of the various technology that was the daily life for people of that long gone era.
Thank you for watching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psvf3GiCGnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXTT9PKVX5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXTT9PKVX5g