The horse barn of the Warp Family’s homestead was deemed no place to host a barn dance. Strangely, the haymow floors were too rough; the wood faced opposite the typical side used for traditional barn floors. However, the rest of the barn is structured correctly. One can see the smooth wood on the beams supporting the haymow, the place where hay is stored, but the haymow itself is coarse. This odd structure begs the question:

What could possibly be the reason behind this unique design?

Background

This traditional pioneer barn was built by Mr. Harold Warp’s father and a family friend, Mike Olsen, 9 miles southeast of Minden, Nebraska in 1888. It held horses for 80 years, but after being untouched for nearly 20 years, the barn was moved and has resided at the museum since 1962.

Horse barns in these times were usually built to provide shelter and protection for food, animals, and other important family possessions. They are typically the first building a pioneer family would construct, as it is much more tolerable to live in a barn with animals while a house is being built, than having animals inside the home. They are also a signal of ownership of the land. Constructing a barn is an extremely labor-intensive process.

Ever wonder why barns are always painted red? American farmers discovered that painting a barn was necessary to protect the wood from the elements. They mixed skimmed milk, lime, and red iron earth pigments to create a durable coating. The oxide pigments in the mixture causes the red color and protects the wood from mold and decay. In the late 1800’s, paint companies started selling paint made specifically for barns, and red paint was still cheaper than other colors.

The History of Barn Dances

Dances many are still familiar with today in the U.S. – line dances, square dances, and circle dances – can be traced back to lavish ballroom dances hosted by wealthy landowners. Barn dancing started in England and Scotland in the 1860’s, where peasants mimicked the sumptuous dances of their superiors inside barns. The barn was used to celebrate special community events like holidays, as well as weddings and the construction of the barn. European immigrants brought these traditions to the United States, where it has evolved to what we see today. At the time of the Warp Family’s horse barn’s construction, these traditions were becoming more widely accepted and practiced by pioneers, and barn dancing did not face a decline until the 1950’s.

The Reason

The reason for the rough haymow floors goes beyond basic knowledge of barns or dancing. The story is a lot more personal. Before the barn was finished, one of Harold’s older brothers had asked his father if he could host a barn dance following the completion of the construction. However, this barn was not only built physically, but also built on the family’s traditional Christian values. Harold’s father and Mr. Olson, firmly believing activities like card playing and barn dancing were sinful, knew just how to prevent such a dance to occur.

They purposefully placed the boards upside down, so the rough side faced upwards.
Harold never realized that this was a sly tactic by the adults to curb dances. He believed all haymows were rough until he moved out and realized that the floors of others were smooth.

References:

Haymow – https://www.dictionary.com/browse/haymow
Horse Barns https://www.columbiatribune.com/article/20121011/Lifestyle/310119902
Red https://www.almanac.com/extra/evolution-american-barn
Barn Dancing https://ourpastimes.com/the-history-of-barn-dancing-12329592.html

The Amphibious car, also known as the Amphicar, that is displayed at Harold Warp Pioneer Village is one out of only 300-600 cars remaining in the United States. Designed by Hans Trippel, its production began in 1961 in Germany. Military variations of the Amphicar had already existed, but this was the first of its kind for solely made for everyday use. It developed the name Amphicar 770 because it could go about 70 miles per hour on land and 7 miles per hour on water. It was built with a 4-cylinder Triumph motor in the rear, along with two nylon propellers in the back. It had doors that were double sealed to prevent leakage, and it used its wheels as rudders to steer, and oars were provided. A sea-worthy car, it notably traveled across the English Channel in 1962, from San Diego to Catalina Island, and from Africa to Spain. It sold for a price of $2,800, or about $20,000 in today’s dollars.

“The Car Nebraskans Need Right Now”

This phrase was printed in a newspaper in 1962, citing the numerous damaged bridges from historic flooding in the area at the time. Many different marketing tactics were used to try to gain attraction. The Amphicar was marketed as a sports car that was perfect for a sportsman and his entire family, with one ad showing a picture of a man fishing from his car, and also marketed as a great vehicle for emergency responders.

Beloved By President Lyndon B. Johnson

President Johnson, 36th President of the United States who held office from 1961 – 1969, was one of the most famous people to own an Amphicar. A favorite party trick of his was to take his guests for a ride in the car and suddenly head straight for the lake located on his Texas ranch, while yelling that his brakes were out. The guests would at first be terrified, and then relieved when they realized the car was still afloat. Other notable owners of the Amphicar include John Lennon and Madonna.

A Fleeting Moment in the Spotlight

The Amphicar was made from 1961-1965, and the last car was sold in 1968. The cars certainly caused buzz for a while. Overall, about 3,000 cars were imported into the U.S., with the nation being the largest market for the cars by far, importing 90 percent of the cars produced. Clubs like the International Amphicar Owners Club (which still exists today!) and the Amphicar Club of America developed as well. Nevertheless, the car failed to take off for multiple reasons. Practicality is a large factor. Most people don’t need both a car and a boat as one and finding bodies of water with structure that allowed the car to efficiently enter and exit the water was difficult. The Amphicar had very average performance as a car and as a boat, and it required extensive and regular maintenance. It also faced pressure competing with increasingly popular luxury and sports cars. Lastly, the Amphicar’s design was not able to meet the new standard vehicle emissions requirements that took effect in the United States in 1968, essentially finalizing the car’s downfall.

Although the Amphicar is now a collectible novelty, perhaps someday a new variation of the car will return.

The cotton gin is a widely known device and was once a staple of southern homes. But what does it do? And how has the invention of the device changed the course of our history?

What is a Cotton Gin?

The cotton gin, the word “gin” short for “engine,” works like a strainer. A contraption of hooks drags the cotton fibers through mesh, which filters out the sticky seeds in the cotton. The hooks then pull through the mesh containing the cotton fibers alone. On display at Harold Warp Pioneer Village is a hand-cranked gin from Greenville, Tennessee, but larger gins would be powered by horse or steam engine. A hand-held gin alone could prepare 50 pounds of cotton in a single day, a huge increase from the average amount of cotton cleaned in the past, at just one pound a day. It often sat near the fireplace and next to the spinning wheel, hanker, and hand loom, all used in combination to make yarn and weave it into a final product. 

Who Invented the Cotton Gin?

Eli Whitney, a Yale-graduate who moved from Massachusetts to Georgia in 1792, invented the cotton gin within months of moving, backed by the guidance and finances of his neighbors, Catherine Greene and Phineas Miller. He noticed that it was much more difficult to manually pull out the seeds in short-staple cotton. The easier-to-clean, long staple cotton could only be grown along the coast. Aiming to get rich with his invention, he succeeded in patenting the gin in 1794. His plans did not pan out as hoped. Most farmers copied his invention, and the lawsuits brought against thieves of his idea were to no avail. Eventually, him and his partners sold the rights to the patent to South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 

How has the Cotton Gin Changed History?

The cotton gin, while an extremely effective device, caused controversial effects that Whitney could not have possibly foreseen. It transformed the United States economy by causing cotton to become very profitable. Production doubled each decade after 1800, and it became America’s number one export; the U.S. supplied roughly 75 percent of the world’s cotton. The rise of cotton production created a double-edge-sword: with it came the rapid rise in slavery. Rising demand for cotton brought a rising demand for slaves. About 25 years after the invention of the gin, nations became increasingly divided between the northern and southern regions based on whether slavery was legal in the areas. Between 1790 and 1860, an additional eleven states became slave states in the nation, and about one in three Southerners was a slave. It is still thought by many today that the cotton gin was one of the most impactful inventions that contributed to the institutionalization of slavery and the following onset of Civil War.

Whitney’s Inventions Come Full Circle 

Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin led to the rise of King Cotton, where the South believed slavery was necessary as cotton was essentially the backbone of the southern economy.