6/14/2023 0 Comments Prongs on a forkIn any harvest season across North America, pitchforks lifted every bundle of wheat or other grain. In the threshing era, it rained pitchforks, in the sense that every general store carried a full line of them. Many, however, will recognize the phrase to rain pitchforks, which refers to a heavy shower. The shelled corn would drop through and could be gathered later for chicken feed.įew readers will know that the word pitchfork can function as a verb. They were useful in shoveling out ear corn. Incidentally, there were also silage scoops which were true scoops but with slatted bottoms. Their short handles ended in a loop of wood for the user to grasp. Silage forks looked like a grain scoop in size and general shape, but the ‘scoop’ consisted of a dozen or more tines. Such adherence was desirable in lifting hay. The greater the curve to the handle and tines, the more likely hay or other loose material would stick to the fork. There were forks having four, five, or six tines. I want to get the best one.’ Then, while the boss’s back was turned, the man broke their handles against the spokes of a wagon wheel.’ One man said, ‘Let me see them new forks. A straw fork would hold twice what a regular fork could hold. The men were using regular forks and had about all they could lift. They were cleaning out the straw which had over wintered on a straw shed for cattle. Rhode relates this anecdote: ‘I heard of a man who brought new straw forks to his crew. If the tines were spread widely apart, the fork was known as a barley fork or straw fork. They were called simply forks or manure forks. Forks with four or more tines were not designed to pitch bundles and, technically speaking, were not pitchforks. The pitchfork got its name from its use in pitching bundles. Oftentimes, paint was allowed to come down partway on the tines.’ Rhode says, ‘The metal shank on a new pitchfork was painted silver or gilt usually, though sometimes, especially later, the tines were painted blue or red or any color. Although it made the handle stronger, such a deep cylindrical shank unfortunately added to the tool’s weight. A tall, strapless shank characterized later pitchforks. I’ve seen a few people with forks where the handle was perfectly straight, although the tines were curved slightly.’Įarlier pitchforks featured a metal strap up the front and a corresponding strap up the back of the handle, and the socket (called a shank) just above the tines was only a couple of inches deep. They would tend to stick on the tines if the handle had too much curve. Rhode of Pine Village, Indiana, ‘the advantage in a straighter handle was that the bundles would slip off the tines more readily. Pitchforks had relatively straight handles. The long handles ran between four and a half and five and a half feet. The short handles were approximately four feet in length. The bundle loader standing on the wagon used a pitchfork with a short handle. The pitcher standing on the ground beside the bundle wagon used a pitchfork with a long handle. Certain three-pronged pitchforks were made of wood, but most had iron or steel tines. Workers with less skill could use three-tined pitchforks more conveniently. The handles continued to be made of wood, preferably hickory or ash.Ī two-tined pitchfork would lift bundles (also called sheaves) or loose hay, but only an expert could prevent material from falling through between the tines. Before long, manufacturers fashioned the tines from iron. In the early days of harvest, pitchforks were made entirely of wood and had two prongs. Grant Wood’s famous painting American Gothic depicts a pitchfork in the hand of an unsmiling farmer, but little has been said to commemorate the implement which lifted the wheat bundles of yesteryear. Such testimonials to the past also show a most important but largely overlooked tool the pitchfork. Old-time photographs of threshing scenes capture such details as engines belted to threshing machines, teams pulling wagons, and crews wearing broad-brimmed hats. 3982 Bollard Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45209-1716
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |