Homemade Fun: Games and Pastimes of the Early Prairies

W.J.C. Cherwinski is a professor of history at Memorial University of
Newfoundland and the co-author of Lectures in Canadian Labour and
Working-Class History.

Four volumes in what could be called the Romancing the Prairie Family
Farm series have appeared to grace the shelves of airport and museum
souvenir kiosks. Short and sweet, with ample illustrations, they present
a nostalgic portrait of prairie life for those too young to remember and
for those whose memories recall only “The Good Old Days.”

Settling In surveys the variety of domiciles that prairie
dwellers—First Nations peoples and Europeans alike—created to
protect themselves from the harsh climate. In all cases, their dwellings
reflect the cultural baggage newcomers brought with them, tempered and
modified by the materials available locally, the technical skills they
possessed, and their individual imaginations as they sought to
domesticate the environment. The result was tremendous variety, so that
between the “soddie” and the home packages sold through Eaton’s
catalogue, there is little one can point to as an example of a prairie
architectural style.

The same need to adapt to local circumstances, resources, and
imagination is reflected in Homemade Fun, which illustrates examples of
organized and unorganized play using devices of local origin as well as
those bought from afar. The emphasis is on children’s play; one hopes
that a subsequent volume will be devoted to adult recreation, so
necessary as respite from brutal working conditions and
reality-distorting isolation.

Threshing, which is based on superficial research and anecdotal
evidence, surveys the changes experienced in threshing technology on
North American farms from the days of sickles and flails to the
introduction of the combine in the late 1920s. While the period is
crucial to an understanding of the prairie economy, little is said about
the way threshing technology and methodology shaped the society and its
institutions. The book’s glossy pages, small format, large print, and
numerous full-color photographs are designed for quick perusal and
enjoyment.

Monarchs of the Fields takes up where Threshing left off. This tiny
volume will appeal to the many antiquarians able to recognize the unique
silhouette of every combine harvester from the distance of half a mile.
The emphasis is on technological development, which, as the cover blurb
says, “led to larger farms, smaller farm families, less reliance on a
neighbour’s help, and freedom from weeks of back-breaking and dirty
work.” No mention is made of the fact that the owner of one of these
monarchs of the fields traded dependence on manual labor for dependence
on a distant bank; satisfying that dependence meant sacrifices that
would signal the end of the family farm this series venerates.