When I was a Boy with a Head Like Tow

In the Archives yesterday, Dusty D discovered a poem, hidden in the Michigan Pioneer Historical Society annals. The poem is kind of a RUMPETY RUMPETY RUMPETY RUMP bit of doggerel...BUT...it is chock full of old forgotten vocabulary for old Michigan ways of life and packed with customs and objects and habits that have long faded from contemporary Michigan experience. Plus, it's an affectionate reminiscence, and it touched the squishy sentimental sector of Dusty D's heart, which is normally well-hidden under a protective cynical crust. I'm gonna serialize it here over the next bit of time and invite you to chat about the stuff in it. Here we go.

WHEN I WAS A BOY WITH A HEAD LIKE TOW
by U. B. Webster, 1893; written for the Farmer's Institute in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Things are not now as they used to be
For progress is making us wise you see,
For a day of progress is over the land
And we see its results on every hand.

Yes, the things of our youth have passed away,
For "Every dog must have his day,"
So the tallow dip has yielded to gas,
And that old fire-place has gone, alas!

The "old oaken bucket" and well sweep, too,
At the old red farmhouse no more we view,
That threshing machine that piled the chaff
Today would make all the people laugh,

For a traction engine has come this way
That knocks out two thousand bushels a day.
And a sulky plow on which to ride,
On all modern farms is the farmer's pride...[tbc]

tallow dip: "The wick -- a few
threads of flax, hemp, or cotton, lightly twisted or plaited -- was dipped
in melted tallow and allowed to cool, again and again, until the candle
had a desired thickness. During colonial times in this country, every housewife made a supply of candles in autumn. Candle rods, each with a row of wicks, were
repeatedly dipped in big iron kettles of boiling water and melted tallow,
That was an all-day back-breaking job. Neater results were obtained by
pouring the tallow into pewter molds made for from 6 to 24 candles."

old oaken bucket: Reference to a wooden well bucket, and also to a well-known 1818 song: "...e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well./The old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket,/The moss covered bucket that hung in the well [and gave us all cholera --ed.]."

well sweep: "A well sweep is a device used to bring water up from a well. The term, "sweep" refers to the long pole which is lowered until the bucket on the end goes down into the well and fills with water." Dates back to Egyptian times if not further.

traction engine: Steam engine tractor. Yes, running on steam power!

sulky plow: Plow that you sit on, basically.