HeyJaredPaul Locher
- Indexed articles, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 25, 2026
- Outlet visibility, for Farm and Dairy
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- Jul 20, 2026
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Flax braking and scutching: Pioneer methods for making linen - Farm and Dairy (opens the original)
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Get caught up: How flax became the forgotten cash crop of 19th-century Ohio The grueling history of growing flax in early America In the previous column, the discussion had turned to Major Gen. David Sloane Stanley and his pioneer-era recollections of the laborious process of harvesting and preparing flax for use. Stanley wrote about spreading the bundles of harvested flax in a newly mown meadow to begin the process of rotting the stems which contained the sought-after fibers. Next, Stanley wrot
Flax made its firstappearance in theAmerican Colonies in 1619 - Farm and Dairy (opens the original)
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This tripod-style spinning wheel crafted in the 1830s by Daniel Danner of Manheim, Pa., is commonly known as a “castle wheel,” but that is a misnomer. This type of wheel was developed by an Irishman named Cassel. The corruption of his name into castle occurred over many years. (Locher collection photo)These twisted knots of combed flax are known as stricks or hanks. After being combed they are braided for storage before being spun into thread. (Locher collection photo) Even if you’re a fairly se
How flax became the forgotten cash crop of 19th-century Ohio - Farm and Dairy (opens the original)
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In the Buckeye Agricultural Museum and Education Center in Wooster, Ohio, where I’m the curator, we have a large display related to the cultivation and production flax. When visitors walk up to the exhibit, they almost invariably look quizzical, scratch their heads and ask, “What’s flax? Never heard of it.” So, it’s time for some educating here about what was arguably once the single most important crop during much of the 19th century across the Ohio Country — a crop that has now apparently been
Pressing clothes was an onerous chore for pioneer women - Farm and Dairy (opens the original)
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So, the filthy, smelly clothes worn during the past week have been washed using the best primitive technology available, and hung out to dry. What’s next? Ironing, of course. And in a time when the electric iron wasn’t even envisioned in the most remote of dreams, pressing clothing was a chore beyond onerous. For this task women relied on the use of the sad iron, made all the sadder, perhaps, by the level of toil it entailed. Actually, the term sad iron has nothing to do with its association wit
How the 1833 washboard patent changed early American laundry - Farm and Dairy (opens the original)
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The patenting of the first washboard in 1833 caused a stir across the Ohio country’s artisan community. Suddenly, every tinsmith, wood turner, potter and cabinetmaker had a better idea of how to make one of the newfangled devices that every housewife seemed to need and want. For the tinsmiths, making a washboard would have been a piece of cake — almost. Most country tinsmiths already possessed the machinery to crimp a sheet of tin or sheet iron in a manner similar to the newly introduced product
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