An insight into the early days of my parents' marriage
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (343523)
Rockingham, Australia
January 29, 2018 8:16am CST
I have been transcribing my father’s diary which was started in April 1937 when he bought his first farm. He was 23. He married in July of that year and I’ve written about Mum having all her teeth removed before the wedding. They didn’t have a honeymoon.
Here are the entries for the first three days of their married life. The first is July 31st which was their wedding day. The writing on that day is Mum’s:
Saturday July 31st: Odd jobs, etc. A day we will never forget.
Sunday August 1st: Walked round home crop. Drove to far paddock in afternoon. Crop looking well.
Monday August 2nd: Made 8 lbs butter. Cut tree off fence and got cart load of wood. Took butter over home at night.
The ‘made butter’ entries are interesting – at least to me. Mum and Dad had a mixed farm and had a number of dairy cows but I don’t know how many at this time of their lives. I know they milked by hand in the beginning. The milk would have been put through a separator and the cream then churned by hand in a butter churn until it became butter.
Clean water was added, mixed through the butter and poured off several times. Then some salt would have added and the butter ‘patted’ into, probably, one pound blocks. Making the butter was Mum’s job.
Mum’s mother’s farm supplied milk and butter for the town of Narrogin and as all the butter Mum makes is taken over to her old home I gather the butter was sold in the town. In the diary, the amount of butter made is mentioned every few days.
So in August a total of 63 pounds of butter was delivered, 99 pounds in September, 48 in October and 171 pounds in November. That is an awful lot of butter to make by hand. After that, it seems the cream was taken in cream cans to the creamery in Narrogin. The diary is providing a fascinating glimpse into the early married life of my parents. The photo is of one of their dairy cows. She had a huge udder and was a great producer.
27 people like this
25 responses
@Dena91 (16779)
• United States
29 Jan 18
I have always respected the old ways of doing things. The work ethic of the earlier generations ought to make us stop and be thankful for what they did for the generations that followed after.
We take for granted too much the conveniences of today. I have wanted to make some homemade butter and perhaps one of these days I will make it. But I assure you it won't be 63, 99, 48 or even 171 pounds!!!!!!
3 people like this
@snowy22315 (183606)
• United States
29 Jan 18
My grandparents were dairy farmers. My grandmother didn't get too involved in the nuts and bolts of the farm though. She was mostly involved in meal prep..She did cut the grass, planted flowers and did other domestic work though.
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@snowy22315 (183606)
• United States
30 Jan 18
@JudyEv yes every Fall we went to the farm to can corn. It was half our winter veggie supply.
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@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
8 Jan 20
oh this's wonderful! to've such a diary 'f the life they led, triumphs'n trials must be most fascinatin'. yes ma'am, that'd be a whole lot'ta butter! one did what 'twas needed though to survive, i'm sure that butter 'twas a welcome to the household income.
she (the cow) reminds me 'f one papaw used to've. she nursed 2 babes 'n still 'd more 'n plenty fer our family 'n the neighbors, too. used to sit'n the porch 'fore the sun rose churnin' butter. hard work, but 'lso a tad relaxin'?
uncertain why she'd all her teeth pulled prior to marriage?
thanks so much fer sharin' this peek 'nto yer folks lives, 'n fer tellin' me where to find such :)
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@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
9 Jan 20
@JudyEv really? how terrifyin'! 'tis true that many didn't 've good teeth. i fear i'd been single fer life, lol. i reckon 'twas a guy thingy? not wishin' the lil women to cost him more'n he'd bargained? most barbaric when ya think 'f such, eh?
they look a mighty smart couple. yes ma'am, ya can tell she'd no teeth, bless her.
ya know, that spinnin' thingy 'tis somethin' i ne'er learnt. 'f course we'd nothin' to spin but tales. 'tis somethin' i'd love to learn though. such jest might come'n handy some day, that knowledge 'n skill.
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 20
@crazyhorseladycx I was horrified when I first learnt about the teeth.
I had a spinning wheel at one stage but it affected my neck and back a bit much so eventually sold the wheel. But it was relaxing.
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Jan 20
Apparently, it was a custom for a bride-to-be to have all her teeth extracted prior to marriage to save the groom the expense. In those days very few people kept many of their teeth throughout their lives. Here is a photo from their wedding day. Mum was married in a brown suit and she does look to have a 'sunken' mouth as though she had no teeth.
And yes, churning butter was quite rhythmic and relaxing, as was spinning wool in much later days.
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@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Jan 18
To think they did these things by hand or traditionally are beyond amazing! Not to mention have the time to write about it. I've always wondered what life on a farm was like. In the islands where I'm from, our little farm only had free range chooks, a couple of goats and a cow which was raised more for meat than milk. Sometimes we just got them so we have something which would graze on grass.
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@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
31 Jan 18
@JudyEv I see. I know so little about proper farming having only experienced a life in a very small farm. How amazing would it be to live in a farm for a month or two and truly experience farm work. I'd probably struggle but it will be worth it in the end.
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
31 Jan 18
@Theresaaiza I don't know how old you are but this was a very long time ago which would make a big difference between what happened then and what you might have experienced. 
I always liked farm life and was sorry to leave that type of environment when I got married.
I always liked farm life and was sorry to leave that type of environment when I got married.
@allknowing (138889)
• India
30 Jan 18
That cow certainly gave plenty (lol) We too churned butter manually atleast my mother did but not I. We just heat the cream and produce ghee but not butter. This is the churner that belonged to my husband's grand mother
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@allknowing (138889)
• India
30 Jan 18
@JudyEv That must have been easier. You know I am in India (lol)
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Jan 18
@allknowing Yes, I did know that. I guess each country has its own way of making butter.
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@Letranknight2015 (52210)
• Philippines
29 Jan 18
I hope that it's okay with Dad if you mention about his diary. And look at that cow, theyre probably more healthy back then.
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@Letranknight2015 (52210)
• Philippines
30 Jan 18
@JudyEv oh okay. sorry I misunderstood.
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@DaddyEvil (138952)
• United States
2 Feb 18
We made our own butter just like that, too, Judy.
Sometimes mom would hand me a quart jar of cream and tell me to shake it until she said stop. She didn't want butter, she wanted over-churned butter. She used it in a lot of desserts.
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@DaddyEvil (138952)
• United States
8 Feb 18
@JudyEv LOL! No, that is true! But by the time the butter breaks back down and you end up with over-churned buttery cream (I don't know what it is called when you keep shaking until that happens.), my arms were really hurting!
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Feb 18
@DaddyEvil I wouldn't have thought it would return to buttery cream. I've never had that happen.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
29 Jan 18
That is a great, healthy looking cow.
That is so awesome. I too, cannot imagine making all that butter by hand.
What a fascinating glimpse into the early days of your parents marriage
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
30 Jan 18
@JudyEv I hope they got to vacation / honeymoon later in their marriage
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@BelleStarr (61101)
• United States
31 Jan 18
When I was a child I remember standing at the separator with my aunt who milked the cows and then the can went out to the road to be picked up
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@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
31 Jan 18
First a start they took the cans to the town. Later I remember a truck picking them up from the gate but that was from a different farm. I found a photo of the stamp they used to put an image on the butter.
@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Jan 18
Their udders would get so hard it was difficult to get started when you sat down to milk. You can catch up on Mum's teeth here: It needs a long explanation so, if it's okay, best to read the post.
This discussion was first published in Bubblews and I've added to it. My parents would have been very poor when they married. Mum wore a brown suit and I...
@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Jan 18
I know they export a lot of dairy cows to other countries.
@andriaperry (117559)
• Anniston, Alabama
30 Jan 18
I want to try and make my own, one day.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (343523)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Jan 18
It's easy enough. Just whip the cream and keep whipping and it eventually it turns to butter.
