Historic Skills Classes

Want to know more about something you saw at Living History Farms, interested in learning a new skill, or just want to have fun with friends and family? Historic Skills Classes let you work in small groups to learn a specific skill or trade that was common in centuries past, like blacksmithing or baking in a wood-burning oven. With a small class size, you are guaranteed individualized instruction and plenty of opportunity to participate.

At a Glance

FOODWAYS

TEXTILES

TRADES

Date	Time	Class	Location
Sat Jan 10	9 a.m.-noon	Introduction to Embroidery	Cultivation Center
Sat Jan 24	9-11 a.m.	Doughnuts & Coffee	Tangen Home
Sat Jan 24	12:30-3:30 p.m.	19th-Century Bread Baking	Tangen Home
Sat Jan 31	9-11 a.m.	Sausage, Biscuits & Gravy	Tangen Home
Sat Jan 31	12:30-3:30 p.m.	Soups & Sides on a Wood-Burning Stove	Tangen Home
Sat Feb 7	10 a.m.-noon	Introduction to Embroidery	Cultivation Center
Sat Feb 7	1-4 p.m.	Introduction to Crochet	Cultivation Center
Sat Feb 21	10 a.m.-noon	Introduction to Knitting	Cultivation Center
Sat Feb 21	1-4 p.m.	Spinning with a Drop Spindle	Cultivation Center
Sat Feb 28	9 a.m.-noon	Exploring Old Cookbooks	Murray Conf Center
Sat Feb 28	1-3:30 p.m.	Modern Cast-Iron Cooking	Murray Conf Center
Wed Mar 25	5:30-7:30 p.m.	Letterpress Printing: Calling Cards SOLD OUT	Print Shop
Sat Mar 28	9a.m.-noon	Blacksmithing Basics SOLD OUT	Blacksmith
Sat Mar 28	1-4 p.m.	Advanced Blacksmithing: Items for the Home	Blacksmith
Sat Apr 11	9 a.m.-noon	Blacksmithing Basics SOLD OUT	Blacksmith
Sat Apr 11	1-4 p.m.	Broom Making: Child & Whisk Brooms	Broom Works
Sat Apr 15	5:30-7:30 p.m.	Quick Rolls &Butter	Tangen Home
Sat Apr 25	9 a.m.-1 p.m.	Basics of Pioneer Hearth Cooking	1850 Pioneer Farm
Sun Apr 26	1-4 p.m.	Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!	Tangen Home

Important notes

Registration fees include the cost of supplies.
Members receive a 10% discount.
Ages vary. Please check age ranges for each class.
Classes require a minimum number of participants or they may be canceled or rescheduled.

Foodways Classes

Please bring these items: apron, water bottle, containers/baggies to take home possible leftovers.
Cooking classes use historic recipes, so substitutions for food allergies may not be possible.

Hosting Sponsor

Quick Rolls and Butter

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Tangen Home (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$75.00 per person ($67.50 member)
Ages 16 and up

Cozy up to the woodstove in the 1876-era Tangen Home kitchen for an evening of baking, tastes, and smells. Mix and knead a fast-rising yeast roll recipe. Bake your rolls in the wood oven and churn cream into butter while you wait!

Basics of Pioneer Hearth Cooking

Saturday, April 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
1850 Pioneer Farm (Meet at Murray Conference Center, 12234 Douglas Parkway)
$175 per person ($157.50 member)
Ages 16 and up

Learn the basics of hearth cooking, while exploring how new settlers in Iowa produced, prepared, and preserved food. You will use 1850s-era recipes to make your lunch. While your meal is cooking, tour the 1850 Pioneer Farm. After eating your meal and cleaning up, everyone will go home with copies of recipes, and information on how to care for cast-iron cooking utensils. Note: You will eat your meal around 12:30, so plan accordingly.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Sunday, April 26, 1 to 4 p.m.
Tangen Home (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$140 per person ($126 member)
Ages 16 and up

Expand your cooking skills with a skillet-fried chicken meal on the wood-burning stove. Learn to control the stovetop temperatures by adding just the right amount of wood for frying—without burning the dessert in the oven. You will brine, bread, and fry chicken on the stovetop and make two veggie side dishes, along with a sweet fruit dessert.

Textiles Classes

Concluded for the season!

Trades Classes

Dress for weather. Shops are heated with wood-burning stoves.
Dress for a work environment. Your clothes will probably get dirty!
Footwear: You must wear closed-toe shoes or boots.
Bring a refillable water bottle.
Blacksmith classes only: Bring heavy-duty gloves and eye protection.

Letterpress Printing: Calling Cards SOLD OUT

Wednesday, March 25, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Print Shop (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$75 per person ($67.50 for members)
Ages 16 and up

Get up-close and hands-on with the job printing machinery in the 1876 Advocate Newspaper Print Shop! Learn basic hand-setting of moveable type and see if you can proofread backward. Design calling cards with your name and print on 19th-century hand- and foot-powered proof presses.

Blacksmithing Basics SOLD OUT

(Choose one session)

Saturday, March 28, 9 a.m. to noon OR Saturday, April 11, 9 a.m. to noon
Blacksmith (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$125 per person ($112.50 for members)
Ages 18 and up

Interested in blacksmithing but never tried it? This class is for you! You will get a hands-on, fun, “be a blacksmith for a day” experience. Explore the basics of forge work in a blacksmith shop while making a decorative iron project to take home. Topics include safety, tools, equipment, and beginning techniques for shaping metal. Small class size guarantees lots of one-on-one instruction and lots of time at the forge!

Advanced Blacksmithing: Items for the Home

Saturday, March 28, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Blacksmith (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$125 per person ($112.50 for members)
Ages 18 and up
Participants should have taken Blacksmithing Basics or have other previous knowledge of blacksmithing

You will make at least two of the following decorative projects for the home: candleholder, napkin ring, hook, decorative paper towel holder, letter opener. Participants will learn and practice these skills: drawing out metal, making decorative bends, twists, and more.

Broom Making: Child and Whisk Brooms

Saturday, April 11, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Broom Shop (Meet at Kemin Cultivation Center, 11121 Hickman)
$140 per person ($126 member)
Ages 18 and up

Get swept up in our broommaking class! Use 19th-century broommaking equipment to craft a small round cake tester on the foot-powered binding machines. Then apply those techniques to make a child broom and a whisk broom.