By the Light of the Oil Lamp

There was only a short time in my life that I lived in a home without electricity, but, for Mom and Dad, there were many more years as kids and as a young married couple. Dad worked as a hired hand for an older farm family for a number of years. That farmer was an influence and help to my parents in getting started with their own business of farming in the state of Iowa. They at first rented land with buildings which included a house for the family, barn for the cows and pigs, chicken coop for the chickens, and corn crib to store crops in that fed those animals. The pigs were fattened for market and some of the harvested crops were sold for income. My memory of that first farm home, we had electricity. At the age of 4, we moved to a larger rented farm of 160 acres with a larger house and buildings, AND NO electricity. The landlord agreed to have electricity wired into the buildings, but, we were there for a few months before it happened. In the meantime, these oil lamps were our source of light when the sun went down. The base of this lamp is an original one used during that time - the chimney is a replacement. This lamp comes in handy in my home today if there is an electrical failure !! It was during these early years of my life that Dad and Mom began to acquire their own land, building their empire, starting with a purchase of 40 acres.