Before the REA strung electric lines to connect rural homes, a few farmers bought battery systems to run lights, crude appliances and, most important, a radio.And to get lights before electric lines were connected, some houses had a carbide gas light system with a buried tank of water and pellets to create gas to burn. -- by Claudia Reinhardt, Wessels Living History Farm, York, NE
Before the government hooked up farmhouses to electricity, light came from kerosene lamps that were so dim "you almost had to use a flashlight to see if they were on," says Stan Jensen.
Families heated water on the stove to take baths and wash clothes. Women pressed clothes with a wedge of iron heated on the stove.
The outhouse was cold and unwelcoming during the cold winter months so family often kept a Betsy in the house, usually in each bedroom. The Betsy was emptied the next day into the outhouse privy.
