Neil Chandler

A Look Back Neil Chandler

Farm operations of today differ greatly from those of the early twentieth century. This book details the efforts required to produce successful farm results before the gasoline engine was available to ease the manual labor required for each daily task. The contents of this book looks back some sixty-five years in the life of a man who died in 1980, but recalls in detail what his life was like growing up on a 120 acre farm in the rolling hills of northeastern Missouri during his formative years between 1908 and 1918. In some 20,000 words he captures life in a period he called "The Last Decade of the Horse and Buggy Era." This is not a scholarly treatise carefully researched by historians, but rather a well written description of life as experienced by one who lived each day during each season of a farming cycle. He also details the social and holiday celebrations observed in the relatively small inward-looking community. If a reader ever wondered what living without central heating and cooling would be like, come along as this boy lives and works each day regardless of climate conditions--a day often beginning before sun-up and ending in the glow of moonlight. But it was not all work, there was time for formal schooling and quiet hours for simple game-playing and exploring the magic of books and magazines giving insight into the wonders of a world far beyond the twenty-five mile radius where he lived. The boy grew into an intelligent man who married and survived the Great Depression while supporting a family of five. Near the end of his life he spent hours recalling and writing those memories of early farm life as well as creating poetry and fictional short stories. He captured the love of his life at age 25 and many of those memories are detailed in letters between the two. His life was not spectacular or newsworthy, but his detailing of those early farm days expresses well to a reader how life has changed--not in a manner to make the nightly news but to softly show that life at that time was good.