Remember the farming life of the past and learn from it…
HORSE-DRAWN DAYS:
A CENTURY OF FARMING WITH HORSES
Jerry Apps
Wisconsin Historical Society Press
$24.95 Trade Paperback
Color and B&W photos and illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-87020-445-6
June 2010
Midwest rural heritage and farming history
Featured on our Twin Cities Live WHAT TO READ NEXT book segment on June 7!
“When an old tractor dies, no one grieved its going. But when an old horse died, the family shed many tears, for the animal had been a part of the family, and a friend.”
– from the Introduction“Horse-Drawn Days adds to Jerry Apps’s credentials as the ‘dean’ of Midwest regional writers. The book deftly combines personal narrative, folk culture, mechanical knowledge, and loving tribute to the large horses that long powered rural America. Jerry has produced an excellent history and field guide that will delight those who remember those times and those ways and will intrigue and inform those who missed out. This book belongs on every shelf devoted to rural culture and country living.”
– Dennis Boyer, former draft horse logger and author of Listen to the Land“Jerry Apps is a master storyteller…. The book offers information about work horses that might otherwise be lost if it wasn’t written down. It was an important time in our history, and there aren’t that many people who can remember those days. And there especially aren’t many people who can tell the story as well as Apps.”
– Jim Massey, editor, The Country Today
Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
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Meet Jerry Apps at your local MBA bookstore:
Saturday and Sunday, September 18-19, 2010
Time: 12pm to 3:00pm (each day)
Location: Creekside Books, W62 N596 Washington Avenue, Cedarburg,WI 53012
For more information, please call 262-387-1959
Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting HORSE-DRAWN DAYS!
Midwest Connections rebate form for HORSE-DRAWN DAYS (PDF) – available now!
HORSE-DRAWN DAYS is available from Wisconsin Historical Society Press or from your preferred wholesaler. Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title.
If you are interested in scheduling a bookstore or community event with author Jerry Apps, please contact Melanie Roth, Marketing Coordinator at Wisconsin Historical Society Press, phone 608-264-6465, melanie.roth@wisconsinhistory.org .
MBA and Wisconsin Historical Society Press would love to have your comments and reviews for this book. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!
(Thiensville Horses photo credit: WHi Image ID 8289)
DOWNLOADS
- Full-color sign/flyer (PDF) — coming soon!
- Full-color shelf-talker (PDF) — coming soon!
- Author photo (JPG)
- Book cover photo (JPG)
- photo credits information (DOC)
– please credit photos if you use them! - Historical photo - Thiensville Horses (JPG)
- Photo - Plowing Horses (JPG)
- Historical illustration – McCormick Horses (JPG)
- Photo – Wade House Horses (JPG)
- Midwest Connections rebate form for HORSE-DRAWN DAYS (PDF)
- Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials
ABOUT THE B
OOK
“An appealing narrative…not only showing the value of the horse as a result of its contributions to the survival of rural farmers, but also underlining its valuable role as a member of the farm family.”
– J. Liv Sandberg, Equine Extension Specialist, Dept. of Animal Sciences, UW-Madison”Jerry once again gives his readers a fencerow view of farming practices in the early half of the 20th century…. a wonderful history lesson that goes beyond the ‘seasons’ of working the soil and tending livestock.”
– Joan Sanstadt, News Editor, Agri-View
Before tractors or steam engines arrived on the farm, horses did all the heavy work. From spring plowing to the fall harvest, the mighty draft horse powered farms across the Midwest. Relied upon to complete a multitude of tasks, including towing threshing machines and plows, hauling milk to the local cheese factory, and pulling the family buggy to church each Sunday, these animals were at the center of farm life, cementing the bond between human and horse.
Horse-Drawn Days: A Century of Farming with Horses captures stories of rural life at a time when a team of horses was a vital part of the farm family. Author Jerry Apps pairs lively historic narrative with reminiscences about his boyhood on the family farm in Wisconsin to paint a vivid picture of a bygone time. Featuring fascinating historic photos, ads, and posters, plus contemporary color photos of working horses today, Horse-Drawn Days evokes the majesty of these animals and illuminates the horse’s role in our country’s early history and our rural heritage.
(McCormick illustration credit: WHi Image ID 3600)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Apps is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of many books on rural history and country life. His nonfiction books include Old Farm, Every Farm Tells a Story, and Living a Country Year. He received the Council for Wisconsin Writers’ 2007 Major Achievement Award and the Wisconsin Library Association’s 2007 Notable Wisconsin Author Award. Jerry was born and raised on a small farm in Waushara County, Wisconsin, where he grew up driving horses. (Author photo: Steve Apps)
