Mt Pleasant IA Midwest Old Threshers 2024 Events

Old Abe was the inspiration for the Case agricultural/tractor company at Midwest Old Threshers.

What Is Old Threshers?

Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is a very unique event in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. There are other “reunions” where people bring steam traction engines, tractors, and small engines to show them off and have a good excuse to get them out and play with them. However, Mt. Pleasant’s event has a broad array of different events and interests gathered in one place. Besides the machinery listed above there are groups for old cars, old trucks, antiques, horse teams, an active printers hall, demonstration of equipment like a veneer saw, a threshing machine, and cooking down sorghum, an antique restored steam carousel, quilts, antique dolls, button collectors, a big craft show, trains (you can ride in), trolley cars still on their track (you can ride in), a group demonstrating life in the 1840s in the log cabin village fairly seriously and a group demonstrating life in the late 19th century not so seriously (desperadoes who steal candy & dance hall girls who stay fully dressed), a children’s game area including the chance to drive an actual tractor through an obstacle course and pony rides, fair food, big country music shows, and a theater museum mostly devoted to the traveling shows of the mid-19th to early 20th century. Come visit every year on an expanded Labor Day Weekend. This year it’s August 29 – September 2, 2024.

If you’re going to Midwest Old Threshers, take a listen to my touring plan. There are a couple of events on here I couldn’t get firm answers for in 2024. They are italicized.

Events Keep Coming All Year

With all this going on the reunion continues to burst at the seams, but that’s only one week a year. They have a whole bunch of other events through the year. This isn’t their full schedule, but these are the ones I think you might find interesting and ones worth searching for. They don’t have this full list on their flyer or on their website.

Steam School : April 27-28 and May 4-5, 2024

How to drive a steam engine like those used to work threshing machines. They are only offering one class this year.

Greater Iowa Swap Meet and Flea Market: May 24-25, 2024

Theatre Seminar: None This Year

One of the departments of the organization is a traveling theater museum. It covers things like tent rep, opera houses, showboats, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows.

Trolley School: June 1, 2024

Learn how to drive a trolley. Call 319-385-8937 if you want to be on the waiting list for 2024.

The Bussey Doll Event:

I don’t think Bussey is going to have an event this year. Their link to the Threshers website is down and their Facebook page was unavailable when they tried.

The event is for doll collectors and those interested in dolls. There are speakers on various topics, everyone gets a gift doll, and there are vendor tables. My post about the year they did a Laura Ingalls Wilder theme is one of my most read.

Doll on Display at Old Threshers

Henry County Fair: July 17 – 22, 2024

A county fair like the one the James Wilder family attended in Malone, New York.

Summer Theater Neil and Caroline Schaffner play, TBD

Every summer they once again put on one of the plays once popular with traveling theaters to give you a taste of late 19th/early 20th century entertainment.

Reunion Event: August 29 – September 2, 2024

Annual Midwest and Great Northern Printer’s Fair:  September 12 – 14, 2024

It is specifically geared to people practicing or curious about letterpress printing for letterpress printers, from beginners to professionals. They use the extensive collection of printing equipment gathered in the printing part of Museum B. If you want to know about how they ran the paper in De Smet or how Carrie helped run a newspaper this would be a great event to plan for.

Holiday Events

They also run events every year for Halloween when the Midwest Haunted Rails shows you a ghost of a good time and for Christmas when you can take the North Pole Express to visit Santa Claus.

Trashers House of Terror – October 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, 31, 2024

Midwest Haunted Rails – October 11-12, 18-19, 25-26, 2024

Midwest Central Railroad North Pole Express – December 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 2024

I hope you come and visit Mt. Pleasant for the best reunion anywhere or any of their other great events.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help?  Attend one of her programs,  schedule one  yourself,  watch her videos,  listen to her podcast,   look at her photos, and find her  on   Facebook ,   Twitter ,     LinkedIn ,     SlideShare,   and  Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

July 2023 Presentations

Sarah and Derek Throwback Photo – Washing Demonstration at Ushers Ferry Historic Village

July is always a big month for Laura Ingalls Wilder events and this year is no different. I’m publishing this a little early this month because my first event is the 50th Anniversary of Ushers Ferry Historic Village. I mention Ushers Ferry a lot because it’s where I got to apply a lot of things I knew and learn more. It’s where I learned woodstove cooking so I’m happy to go back for the celebration and if you live anywhere near Cedar Rapids, Iowa I hope to see you there!

• Historic Cooking – Ushers Ferry Historic Village – July 1, 2023 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa – 12pm
• In the Kitchen with Laura – Indianola Public Library – Indianola, Iowa – July 21, 2023

That’s it for this month so far, but it’s not too late. If you’d like me to come present near you make sure to tell your local library, museum or civic group.   Learn more here:

How to Book a Program

Program Descriptions

And I also do programs online!

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast,    look at her photos, and find her on    Facebook ,    Twitter ,   LinkedIn ,   SlideShare,   and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum Natural Monuments

Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum, Burr Oak IA

Travel company Aqua Expeditions recently surveyed more than 2,000 Americans about their favorite natural landmarks and came up with a ranking of 250. Now the article specifically says it’s talking about NATURAL monuments, NOT NATIONAL monuments making the list (which includes historic sites a little harder to understand). At least 5 of the locations chosen were in the state of Iowa. Pikes Peak State Park, Iowa (not the one you’ve heard about in Colorado) came in at #8.

The one we Laura fans care about is #110 the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum. That is Burr Oak, Iowa. Aqua Expeditions is mostly about cruises so I’m not sure what made them do this survey except to get them publicity. I’m glad it’s getting some for Burr Oak homesite, too.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help?  Attend one of her programs,  schedule one  yourself,  watch her videos,  listen to her podcast,   look at  her photos, and find her  on   Facebook ,   Twitter ,     LinkedIn ,     SlideShare,   and  Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

With Curly Eyes And Laughing Hair

Hair Display in Burr Oak, Iowa with a heated hair curler (you can’t see it clearly, but the bottom of a second set of tongs is visible in the kerosene lamp chimney) 

One thing people today really don’t understand about the past is how hair worked. Before today’s effective shampoos and conditioners, hair care usually involved transferring and moving “grease” around. (See note 1) In fact even today’s conditioners are basically putting a different type of “grease” back in your hair after shampoo strips it out. That’s why you need a conditioner or at least a conditioning shampoo.

In earlier times the “grease” you use could be the natural oils in your hair (See NOTE 1) moving from one part to another with a brush, it could be hair oils of various kinds adding external “grease.” Remember they didn’t have hair spray or hair gel and they wanted hair to stay where it looked fashionable as much as we do. What we see as dirty hair today would be just normal hair in the past.

Fashion changed a lot over time and one of the things that changed was how you wear your hair to look stylish. At this article link they talk about how you used to get curls when your hair was straight.

There are a couple of ways of curling hair. One is to put hair into a curl or a wave and let it air dry. Those small rags used to tie hair up and pin curls are ways to do this, but they both normally meant sleeping on hard lumpy or pokey hair. My personal favorite way is to braid hair wet and then let it dry. I’d done it to my niece’s hair when it was wet once and it curled when she was took it out of the braid. A couple of visits later she came over and insisted I braid her dry hair to make it curl again. I had to explain it only worked when wet. My brother got a regular job braiding her hair wet after that.

The way you see hair curled at most museums is hair tongs. Although this article talks about heating them up in a fire, what I always heard about was putting them down the glass chimneys of oil or kerosene lamps. The are precisely the right size to fit down most chimneys. I’ve only had one personal experience with using the hair tongs. That was a single curl to see how it worked.

However, my much more memorial experience happened at a living history event. (I’ll leave it unnamed to avoid people guessing who the girl was.) At this particular event I was just a visitor and my family and I walked through one of the log cabins there. There were two girls there, teenagers in beautiful period dresses. However, I think they had been left there to oversee the house and decided they should be demonstrating something interesting. I would not think a reasonable adult had OKed this procedure and then left and from their talk I’m thinking it was their idea.

They had a pair of hair tongs, dutifully heated up in their kerosene lamp. And one of the girls was trying it to curl the other’s hair. Now I’ve had a lot of experience with seeing these tongs around at various museums and events. I have never once heard of paper being wrapped around them to protect the hair like they talk about in the article linked above – I wondered how often it was done in real life – and apparently these girls had never heard of it either. The girl with the bare tongs in her hands was trying to soothe the other girl into staying put while she curled away. The second girl was getting less sure about this by the minute as the scent of burnt hair filled the cabin. Not wanting to disrupt the accurate reenactment – no seriously it probably was an honest reenactment I could see two 19th century girls pulling the same kind of stunt – we quietly walked by. We didn’t try to break them up. As the second girl was quickly finding out there is only so much you can do when someone has a piece of hot metal that close to your face unless they unwrap it and we didn’t want to startle or distract the girl with the tongs. The second girl’s face was well within a potential burn zone.

If you are a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan be sure to check out the box showing the store-bought curls at the post linked to above. These might be similar to what Mary Powers was wearing although a switch is usually used within the body of the hair. Also, see the hair combs like Ma’s.

Notes

NOTE 1: I’m using the word “grease” in quotes throughout this post because although it was made up of many different substances and different types they are in general something that is a grease, oil, or wax. “Grease” was the closest one word term to describe it I could think of, but be aware other similar substances might also be used.

NOTE 2: In the past, part of taking care of your hair was rearranging where the oil was instead of stripping the “grease” off. You might have heard about giving your hair 100 brush strokes everyday. Rearranging the “grease” to condition the hair is where the idea came from. You would do well to brush your hair 100 times when you were rearranging oil, but you shouldn’t do it today. Modern hair products make the hair far more likely to break under intense or long term brushing.

NOTE 3: Finally I should mention where I got the title for this article. It’s from the song “Polly, Wolly, Doodle.” It popped into my mind when I saw the article I linked to. Although it appeared all through my own childhood, readers might like to be reminded it appeared in These Happy Golden Years.

“Oh, my Sal, she is A maiden fair
Sing Polly wolly doodle all the day
With curly eyes And laughing hair
Sing Polly wolly doodle all the day”

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help?  Attend one of her programs,  schedule one  yourself,  watch her videos,  listen to her podcast,   look at  her photos, and find her  on   Facebook ,   Twitter ,     LinkedIn ,     SlideShare,   and  Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Around the Bend in the Road at Hoover

(Link to program at bottom of the post)

Back to the Beginning

My association with the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum AND Laura Ingalls Wilder goes back a long way. Their history of events goes all the way back to 1994. I found out that they were having a special event at Hoover that year. They were having WILLIAM T. ANDERSON come and speak at a 2 day event (3 if you got in for the teacher event day – which I DID!). And Roger Lea MacBride was also coming. In fact MacBride was really the reason they were having a event. He had just published Little House on Rocky Ridge the year before and was there to promote this new series of books. That was the first time I met Bill Anderson, although I’m pretty sure he doesn’t remember it.

I was glad to hear MacBride’s talk. He had some artifacts of Rose’s and Laura’s that he brought with him. I also learned 2 things. First, about a minute into his speech I realized he was a Rose person, NOT a Laura person. Which is important if you’re going to understand anything he ever wrote. Second, that the character of Alva who features prominently in the book was completely made up.

Sarah Presenting Around the Next Bend

Other Hoover Laura Events

In 1998 they had a conference which Laura fans came to from all over the country. A good group of people who had been on the Laura Ingalls Wilder listserv came. Hoover later published a book with the papers from the conference which you can still get in their giftshop.

After that a small event roughly arranged around Laura Ingalls Wilder was planned for Labor Day. I contacted them and offered to help and that started a long successful series of annual programs. The Marengo Civil War Band also performed and they worked up an impressive set of songs with tie-ins to the books.

The event changed over the years and eventually they brought in other speakers, including Bill Anderson again. This is only the second year they haven’t held the event since it started.

The Third Thursday

There are actually several Hoover related organizations located on the Hoover museum grounds in West Branch, Iowa. There is the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, and the Hoover Presidential Foundation. The Foundation has been hosting a series of events on the Third Thursday of every month. When they started they were done in the Hoover Auditorium. With the COVID shutdown (all National Archives facilities are still closed 12/3/2020), they moved the programs online.

Around the Next Bend in the Road

They asked me to do the program for the third Thursday in November 2020. I decided to do Around the Next Bend in the Road. I had created this program back when I was doing the Labor Day Laura Ingalls Wilder Remembered program at Hoover every year. When I have an annual booking I try to create a new program each time. This was one of them and it focused more on historic documents and on the land around each one of the homesites. Now I’ve done it again I’ll have to get serious about some further additions to it.

The night of the event we had a couple of tech issues, but we triumphed. It was partially sponsored by libraries around Iowa. It had the highest number of live watchs any of  the Third Thursday programs have had and the largest number of questions were asked. (Don’t worry we don’t go through all of them.) I hope they have me back again. Enjoy my latest program!

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos,   listen to her podcast,    look at her photos, and find her on Facebook ,   Twitter ,   LinkedIn ,   SlideShare,   and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Christmas at Hoover

Every year the historic campus (The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and The Herbert Hoover National Historic site) and the town of West Branch celebrate Christmas in a BIG way! The big Christmas event in person is always the first weekend of December. I’ve been several times and I recommend it. However, if you’re only able to visit West Branch online there are several videos to watch!

Sarah and the display she helped curate as part of the Hoover Christmas Tree exhibit.

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

Back in 2010, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum did a special Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas exhibit. Their normal schedule is big summer exhibit through October, Christmas tree exhibit from November through the beginning of January and then a winter exhibit from January through April or May. Each year they try for a different theme. The 2010 exhibit was A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas. I consulted and loaned them some of my material, photographs, etc. for the display.

Take a look!

NOTE: I actually have more footage of this on an old computer and I may edit it and get it up someday. Also, be aware that the Christmas ornaments in the gift shop were a limited supply and when they’re gone they’re gone. The Laura ones are a long time gone. Check with them for this year’s holiday exhibit themed ornaments.

I put together a special program about Christmas. This is a shortened, original version of my Christmas with Laura program which I still present.

Readers Theater “A Christmas Carol”

Another non-Laura Christmas entry is their Readers Theater production of A Christmas Carol. Admittedly as they are reading it’s not the most exciting thing to watch, but this shortened edition is an excellent show to have on while wrapping presents or otherwise getting ready for the holiday.

Christmas in Iowa

Their third and final – for now – Christmas video is Michael Zahs, a popular Iowan historic speaker, presents historic tales of Christmas in Iowa.

Bonus!

And if you’re a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan be sure to check out my latest program video – again a special version of – A Long Way Home.

But an older Laura video is a tour of their Laura Ingalls Wilder exhibit. It’s still their most visited winter exhibit ever.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos,  listen to her podcast,   look at her photos, and find her on Facebook ,  Twitter ,  LinkedIn ,   SlideShare,   and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

 

Hoover Takes the Quilt

Sarah and the display she helped curate as part of the Hoover Christmas Tree exhibit.

This year the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is adding a special feature to its annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Remembered event Labor Day weekend. This year they’re going to sew a quilt and they want YOUR help!

Quilt Square and Fair

The Hoover Presidential Library is asking Laura groups and individual fans to create quilt squares that they will put together during a quilting bee the day of the Laura Ingalls Wilder event. They want each square done in a version of the Bear’s Paw they have selected. Contact them and get sent a piece of the fabric to use that will help visually tie the finished quilt together as a whole.

You may add your signature to the block – the only restriction is that it can’t have advertising or anything political.

Other than the focal point fabric they are leaving the fabric choice up to you!

Hoover Quilt Press Release

Press Release with image:

The Hoover Museum is collecting 12-inch Bear Paw quilt blocks for our quilting bee. We are seeking persons interested in donating a block or multiple blocks to us by August 13, 2019. We will have the blocks assembled into a quilt top by the Cotton Creek Mill Quilt Shop in West Branch, Iowa. We will have the quilt top available for an old-fashioned Quilting Bee on Sunday, September 1, 2019.

The Quilting Bee will be followed by a program about Laura Ingalls Wilder presented by Sarah S. Uthoff at 2pm in the auditorium.

If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact the Hoover Museum for a “focal piece of fabric” to be incorporated into your block. We can be reached by phone, 319-643-5301 (ask for Janlyn or Spencer), or by e-mail hoover.library@nara.gov. The fabric can be mailed to you.

Finished blocks should be returned to:

Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum
P.O. Box 488
West Branch IA 52358

Quilting Bee

Hopefully they’ll have enough for a lovely quilting bee. They’re not sure what they’ll do with the finished quilt(s). I think they’d be interested in your thoughts.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one  yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on  Facebook ,  Twitter , LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Mt Pleasant IA Midwest Old Threshers 2019 Events

Rhea petting horse in harness with owner’s permission – only touch animals after you ask

What Is Old Threshers?

Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is a very unique event in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. There are other “reunions” where people bring steam traction engines, tractors, and small engines to show them off and have a good excuse to get them out and play with them. However, Mt. Pleasant’s event has a broad array of different events and interests gathered in one place. Besides the machinery list above there are groups for old cars, old trucks, antiques, horse teams, an active printers hall, demonstration of equipment like a veneer saw, a threshing machine, and cooking down sorghum, an antique restored steam carousel, quilts, antique dolls, button collectors, a big craft show, trains (you can ride in), trolley cars still on their track (you can ride in), a group demonstrating life in the 1840s in the log cabin village fairly seriously and a group demonstrating life in the late 19th century not so seriously (desperadoes who steal candy & dance hall girls who stay fully dressed), a children’s game area including the chance to drive an actual tractor through an obstacle course and pony rides, fair food, big country music shows, and a theater museum mostly devoted to the traveling shows of the mid-19th to early 20th century. Come visit every year on an expanded Labor Day Weekend. This year it’s August 29 – September 2, 2019.

Events Keep Coming All Year

With all this going on the reunion continues to burst at the seams, but that’s only one week a year. They have a whole bunch of other events through the year.

This isn’t their full schedule, but these are the ones I think you might find interesting.

Theatre Seminar: April 12-14, 2019

One of the departments of the organization is a traveling theater museum. It covers things like tent rep, opera houses, show boats, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows.

Steam School : May 4 – 5, 2019

How to drive a steam engine like those used to work threshing machines. They are only offering one class this year.

Trolley School: June 8, 2019

Learn how to drive a trolley.

The Bussey Doll Event : June 22, 2019

The event is for doll collectors and those interested in dolls. There are speakers on various topics, everyone gets a gift doll, and there are vendor tables. My post about the year they did a Laura Ingalls Wilder theme is one of my most read.

Henry County Fair: July 17 – 22, 2019

A county fair like the one the James Wilder family attended in Malone, New York.

Summer Theater Neil and Caroline Schaffner play: “Three In A Bed”:

July 26-27, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. July 28th at 2:30 p.m.

August 2-3, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. and again during the 2019 Reunion

Every summer they once again put on one of the plays once popular with traveling theaters to give you a taste of late 19th/early 20th century entertainment.

Reunion Event: August 29 – September 2, 2019

Annual Midwest and Great Northern Printer’s Fair:  September 11 – 14, 2019

It is specifically geared to people practicing or curious about letterpress printing for letterpress printers, from beginners to professionals. They use the extensive collection of printing equipment gathered in the printing part of Museum B. If you want to know about how they ran the paper in De Smet or how Carrie helped run a newspaper this would be a great event to plan for.

Holiday Events

They also run events every year for Halloween when the Midwest Haunted Rails shows you a ghost of a good time and for Christmas when you can take the North Pole Express to visit Santa Claus. Dates are set later in the year.

I hope you come and visit Mt. Pleasant for the best reunion anywhere or any of their other great events.

Watching a Truck from the Trolley During the Reunion

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , Google+, LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Mt Pleasant IA Midwest Old Threshers 2018 Events

Watching a Truck from the Trolley During the Reunion

What Is Old Threshers?

Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is a very unique event in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. There are other “reunions” where people bring steam traction engines, tractors, and small engines to show them off and have a good excuse to get them out and play with them. However, Mt. Pleasant’s event has a broad array of different events and interests gathered in one place. Besides the machinery list above there are groups for old cars, old trucks, antiques, horse teams, an active printers hall, demonstration of equipment like a veneer saw, a threshing machine, and cooking down sorghum, an antique restored steam carousel, quilts, antique dolls, button collectors, a big craft show, trains (you can ride in), trolley cars still on their track (you can ride in), a group demonstrating life in the 1840s in the log cabin village fairly seriously and a group demonstrating life in the late 19th century not so seriously (desperadoes who steal candy & dance hall girls who stay fully dressed), a children’s game area including the chance to drive an actual tractor through an obstacle course and pony rides, fair food, big country music shows, and a theater museum mostly devoted to the traveling shows of the mid-19th to early 20th century. Come visit every year on an expanded Labor Day Weekend. This year it’s August 30 – September 3, 2018.

Events Keep Coming All Year

With all this going on the reunion continues to burst at the seams, but that’s only one week a year. They have a whole bunch of other events through the year.

This isn’t their full schedule, but these are the ones I think you might find interesting.

Steam School : April 28 – 29 and May 5 – 6, 2018

How to drive a steam engine like those used to work threshing machines. These are two separate classes, one in April and one in May.

Trolley School: May 5, 2018

Learn how to drive a trolley.

The Bussey Doll Event : June 9, 2018

The event is for doll collectors and those interested in dolls. There are speakers on various topics, everyone gets a gift doll, and there are vendor tables. My post about the year they did a Laura Ingalls Wilder theme is one of my most read.

Henry County Fair: July 18 – 23, 2018

A county fair like the one the James Wilder family attended in Malone, New York.

Summer Theater Happy Funny Are People:

July 20th & 21st at 7:30 p.m. July 22nd at 2:30 p.m.

July 27-28, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. and again during the 2018 Reunion

Every summer they once again put on one of the plays once popular with traveling theaters to give you a taste of late 19th/early 20th century entertainment.

Theatre Seminar: July 21 – 22, 2018

One of the departments of the organization is a traveling theater museum. It covers things like tent rep, opera houses, show boats, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows.

Reunion Event: August 30 – September 3, 2018

Annual Midwest and Great Northern Printer’s Fair:  September 12 – 15, 2018

It is specifically geared to people practicing or curious about letterpress printing for letterpress printers, from beginners to professionals. They use the extensive collection of printing equipment gathered in the printing part of Museum B. If you want to know about how they ran the paper in De Smet or how Carrie helped run a newspaper this would be a great event to plan for.

Holiday Events

They also run events every year for Halloween when the Midwest Haunted Rails shows you a ghost of a good time and for Christmas when you can take the North Pole Express to visit Santa Claus. Dates are set later in the year.

I hope you come and visit Mt. Pleasant for the best reunion anywhere or any of their other great events.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , Google+, LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Take Your Class to a Day in a One-Room School

Sarah at Teacher Desk in Stone Academy – Solon, Iowa

Every spring and fall I work with the Johnson County (IA) Historical Society to put together an opportunity for schools in the area to step back in time. Classes come on a field trip to take their students back to 1876.

One-Room School in Coralville, Iowa

Coralville’s one-room school is actually a two story brick structure. Coralville thought they were going to boom and so built a bigger two story building thinking they’d soon need more than one class. Unfortunately for them, instead Coralville faced several setbacks. It was decades before they needed to use the second floor as a classroom. By the time they built a graded elementary school – Coralville Central – in 1950, they were running one class on each floor plus one in the town hall (recently moved across the street from the school) and one in the old fire department.

Experience for Students

The elementary classes study the time period before they come and each is assigned a character. Most of these characters are based on actual students who attended the school that year, but some have been added to support current large class sizes.

Students dress up and act out their role as I lead them through a taste of what life was like in a late 19th century one-room school. I serve as a historical interpreter helping the students understand the what and the why as we go through some of the classes they’d have in a one-room school.

Learn more about the program, including the lesson plans and preparation handouts.

Whether You Live Close or Farther Away

Do you live locally? Suggest to your school they come.

Do you live some place else? Look for a one-room museum near you. Most have a school program of some kind.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , Google+, LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.