UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's Pasto Agricultural Museum will feature "Winter on the Farm" during Ag Progress Days, Aug. 17-19.

According to the museum's volunteer curator, Darwin Braund, wintertime farm life was a rugged experience in years past. The exhibit covers the days before electricity, refrigeration and centralized house heating. More than 50 items from the museum's collection plus several on personal loan are displayed in the following categories: Farm House Heating, Farm House Activities, Outdoor Recreation, Transportation and Ice Harvesting.

Before centralized heating was installed in farmhouses, living rooms were heated with wood-burning "parlor" stoves or smaller cast iron stoves. Kitchens were often the warmest rooms in the house because of large wood-burning cast iron cook stoves. Bedrooms were not heated, so bed warmers or foot warmers heated on stoves were placed under the bed covers to reduce the shock of getting into a cold bed.

Some winter indoor activities were required for survival. These included candle making, spinning, sewing and quilt making. All family members participated in indoor recreation, which included board games, checkers and various card games. A rocking chair by the stove was a favorite place for old and young. Ice cream making (and eating!) was a common and enjoyable activity. Winter outdoor recreation revolved around whatever nature offered. Snow-covered hillsides and frozen ponds provided skiing, sledding, tobogganing, snowshoeing, skating and ice sliding. Horses pulling a variety of specialized vehicles equipped with runners transported people and produce. Cutters or sleighs provided faster transportation for people, while heavy-duty double bobsleds or box sleds hauled produce, firewood, ice and other products.

In the United States, harvesting ice for shipment to other areas began in the early 1800s. Huge fortunes were made shipping ice taken from lakes and rivers in the northeastern states to India and other hot-weather areas of the world.

Methods of cutting ice for storage were standardized and revolutionized in the United States about 1825. In 1829 the horse-drawn ice cutter was invented. This tool, supplemented by other devices, was the primary reason for the growth and development of the ice industry in America. In addition to the horse-drawn ice scorer and ice plows, a variety of hand tools are exhibited. These include axes, saws, tongs, breaking bars, picks, pikes and sleds. Ice was shipped to cities for use in cooling iceboxes and drinks, and for refrigerated railroad cars. Usage of natural ice in 1880 for the total United States exceeded 5 million tons. Harvesting ice was a big-time winter activity in northern Pennsylvania, New York and the New England states. It provided extra winter work for rural people.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, as the dairy industry began to develop in the late 1880s, the commercial sale of milk gave a higher return than cream. Milk was transported to towns and cities. In the process, dairy farmers were required to cool the evening milk, especially in summer. A block of ice from the farm icehouse was placed in a trough of water with cans of milk for overnight cooling. The morning milk was shipped warm. Blocks of ice were stored in the icehouse and insulated with straw or sawdust. The icehouses were made of wood with double walls. The space between was filled with sawdust for insulation. With careful management, ice could be stored indefinitely.

A model icehouse will be shown at the Pasto Museum during Ag Progress Days, complete with double walls filled with sawdust for insulation, and containing blocks of "ice" to demonstrate storage practices.

In addition to the "Winter on the Farm" exhibit, a complete set of Penn State Creamery milk bottles celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first creamery bottle in 1904 is on display in the museum.

The Pasto Agricultural Museum collection has nearly 1,000 antique implements used for farming and rural life. Visitors can tour the museum during Ag Progress Days and by appointment. Groups of 10 or more can schedule tours from April 15 through October 15 by calling 814-863-1383, by sending an e-mail to pasto.cas.psu.edu.

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Editors: Contact Darwin Braund at 814-863-1383 or by e-mail at dgb12@psu.edu

Writer/Editor: Jeff Mulhollem Office 814-863-2719