Thursday, February 24, 2011

Changes

 I noted on my last trip to Iowa that this corn crib is gone now, and the entire farmstead is slicked off for row-cropping.  These drive through cribs were equipped with an elevator in the center of the building that took ear corn up into the cupola, where it was put down a chute into the bins on either side.  
 During the 1960's, most farmers made the switch to shelling corn in the field, and storing the shelled corn in bins equipped with a dryer.  The old buildings were handy for parking wagons and other implements, but they have gradually been disappearing from the landscape.  There aren't many left.
Back when cribs were still being used to store and dry corn, you could buy a Maid-Rite sandwich for 30 cents, and a cup of coffee for a dime.  I remember when the proprietor of the Maid-Rite shop in Washington, Iowa raised his price to 35 cents, and everyone in town was telling him he would go out of business.  They get a lot more for a Maid-Rite nowadays, and 35 cents is a dim memory.  The price didn't hurt his business, but a few years later a Hardees moved in nearby, and it snagged most of the lunch crowd from the high school and the downtown area.  That's what did in the Maid-Rite in Washington.

No comments:

Post a Comment