More Spartans

I really wish SOMEBODY would write something about their Spartan trailer(s). This is such a cool part of harvesting history and material culture. I saw one with dual wheels in Colby, KS one summer. There are still a lot of them around. Where did you find yours? I lived in one for a lot of summers. We had no air conditioning, but we did have a swamp cooler on the roof. And the big Spartan had a bigger swamp cooler on the front. It was a huge swamp cooler, let me tell you. I'm pretty sure the ones we had were Mobile Royal Mansions. Kevin used to call the "The Silverton" and "The Silver Slug." Read more about the Spartans at http://www.spartantrailer.com/.

I found one!

I found one of the guys from South Africa I worked with in 2003! I found him on Facebook. Yes, Facebook is a time sucker, but I like its potential to find more of the guys I worked with. I just hope he stays in touch with me! This is an opportunity to connect with this fascinating group of workers from all over the U.S. and the world. They each have a personal migration and work story to tell, and I would like this to be a place where they tell it.

Harvest Labor History

So I've been writing an article about the history of harvest labor, with a focus on the history of government policy, private employment agencies, and custom harvesting. It begins in the early 20th century with tens of thousands of harvest hands showing up in the Wheat Belt every summer in a chaotic environment of farmers trying to get enough help to get their wheat crop in and transient harvest workers from all over the country trying to find work. The confusion and chaos came because the harvest hands had to get there by rail and didn't always know where to start. There were often places that had too many workers (thereby driving down wages) and places that had too few workers (thereby driving wages up in those parts). The Kansas Free Employment Bureau was created in 1901 to try to remedy the many problems associated with recruiting harvest labor and moving it to the appropriate places once harvest began. This is a very abbreviated account of the early problems of harvest labor. World War I, the 1920s, the 1930s, WWII, and post-WWII each has a story of its own.

I was motivated to write about this because I recently rediscovered something I had written in 2003 after working on harvest with a few guys from South Africa. First of all, I had forgotten I even wrote this down, so it was nice to rediscover it. I wrote down some things about one man in particular because he such a fascinating personal migration history. The previous year he had worked on rice harvest in the U.S. South. Before that he had worked in Australia and at a Kibbutz in Israel! I think his regular profession in South Africa was working as a technician on movie sets. Does anybody know this guy? I have his full name written down somewhere. Perhaps I can find him on Facebook? The obvious point of this is that we now have a relatively new group of international seasonal harvest workers, each with his or her own personal story.

Oral History Interviews

It's been a little over a year since I last wrote something on this blog, which means it hasn't really been a blog. I am on an excursion right now to record oral histories of current and retired custom harvesters in the Great Plains. Heather is traveling with me on this trip. We're in Sisseton, South Dakota this morning after an oral history interview last night in the area. I got some great insight and things to think about. One person thinks the southern Plains is twenty years ahead (or we might say behind) parts of North Dakota and western Minnesota in economic/business decline in the small towns. But such a comparison doesn't include eastern Montana. I was also told that weather patterns have changed over a period of years in that they get more rain in the southern Plains, meaning there is a lot more sitting and less long runs of cutting days upon end. Oh, and finding help is still a big problem.

H2-A Visas

Having just returned from the USCHI Convention, I can only say that this situation is a mess. What are the problems you are having? I heard many people say it is a major problem.

Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle Irrigation

Does anybody else know farmers who have stopped irrigating in the panhandles because they are running out of water? We harvested near Texhoma and I know one of our former clients has stopped irrigating for that reason. Also, have you or anyone you know lost a job because of the water situation?

The Spartan

Ahh, the old Spartan trailers. Check out this web site dedicated to the Spartan. I am sure you are all familiar with the Spartan. I lived in one or another for many summers. I still see these all over where harvesters congregate. Last summer I learned a bit about the history of harvesters and the Spartans, but I'd be interested in how you started using these and where you found them. At one point we had a monster Spartan (don't recall which model) that required an oversized load sign.