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sink in the Flynn Mansion

Science of Flynn, Part II: Indoor Plumbing

Posted on September 30, 2014

September 30, 2014 In our last post, we mentioned an Iowa State Register article from 1871 that spoke of the modern comforts and conveniences Martin Flynn used to create his ideal country home. One of…

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A Light In the Country; The Science of Flynn, Part I: Gas Lights

Posted on September 26, 2014

September 26, 2014 While the Flynn Mansion was being constructed between 1870 and 1871, newspapers eagerly covered its progress, as well as its style and amenities. On August 15, 1871, an article appeared in the…

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Beyond Sauerkraut: A Brief History of Fermented Foods

Posted on March 3, 2014

In January of this year, I had the opportunity to attend the Practical Farmers of Iowa annual conference in Ames, Iowa. While the focus of most of the workshops was decidedly modern, one of the…

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Rails Across Iowa

Posted on September 18, 2013

September 18, 2013 To continue our story of rail roads in Iowa, this post will explore the rails that took goods and passengers across Iowa. We began this series by looking at the first bridge…

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New Arrivals!

Posted on August 30, 2013

August 30, 2013 The 1900 farm welcomed a new litter of pigs to the farm late this morning. The mother was a Duroc sow and the father was Harvey, our Berkshire boar. Read more about…

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Bridging A Great River By Rail

Posted on August 5, 2013

August 5, 2013 There is a dramatic change in lifestyle between the 1850 Pioneer Farm at Living History Farms and the 1900 Farm. People often comment on how dramatically life changed in just one to…

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Lady Beetle: Friend or Foe?

Posted on July 5, 2013

July 5, 2013 As the weather has been warming up (quite rapidly!) this spring and early summer, have you noticed any ladybugs waking up inside your house? Have you vacuumed what seems like thousands of…

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Wonders of Baking Soda

Posted on June 4, 2013

June 4, 2013 Recently we noticed that the green walls of the back kitchen of the 1900 house had started to tint black due to the smoke and soot of the wood burning stove. As…

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