Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life
by Walter Boomsma
Climb into the Time Machine
Sometimes the idea of traveling back in time seems like a great idea, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be fun to travel back 106 years to attend the Installation Ceremonies held at Ocean View Grange? Before you say “Yes,” when Larry Bailey, current Master of Ocean View Grange, sent this photo, he commented, “It must have been very cold in January 1916. These folks had stamina as there was little heat and no running water but in those days the indoor ‘outhouses’ we had were still functioning.”
Since Valley Grange had one of those until just a few years ago, I remembered a January meeting when one of our “old-time” members returned from a trip to the indoor outhouse rubbing her arms to get warm and saying, “Well, that was a trip down memory lane.” Maybe a trip isn’t such a bad idea.
Before we leave for another time, what was life like for our Grange Brothers and Sisters in 1916? For starters, only 8% of them had telephones, so they didn’t call each other to find out who was going. As Larry points out, there was no running water and probably not much heat. They probably had some hot coffee–it only cost $0.15 per pound–but they most likely pumped the water by hand and heated it on the woodstove.
It’s interesting to note that the scheduled start time was 8:00 pm, a bit late by today’s standards. A reasonable guess is that this was done to accommodate completing chores on the farm. There’s no mention of refreshments; people truly came for the installation and not the food.
They probably hadn’t watched the second-ever Rose Bowl on January 1st, but they may have talked about it before and after the ceremony. (Washington State beat Brown University 14-0.) According to at least one major newspaper, the biggest threats to America in 1916 were the number of unmarried men and women (17 million), an increase in divorces, a declining birth rate due to “birth restriction” by parents, an excessive infant life waste (due to illness and disease), a large number of “defectives” in schools and “increasing idiocy and insanity.” The next problem on the list was “Enormous number of drug and alcohol victims.” Are we really describing life 100 years ago?
We can guess it was a “younger crowd” making its way to the Grange Hall on that day than it might be today. The average life expectancy for men was 49 and for women 54. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know the average age of Grangers then versus now?
So after completing the farm chores, harnessing the horses or cranking their Model Ts, these Patrons arrived at the hall hoping someone got there early enough to start the wood stoves and put the coffee on. Our time machine has allowed us to join them. We arrived during a light snowfall and parked between the buggies and Model Ts unnoticed.
We feel a bit like guests and remain in the background even though we are, by definition, fraternal brothers and sisters. Conversation ceases as we find our seats in the upstairs hall. Then we hear the words, “We have met on this occasion to install the officers of this Grange; let us first invoke the blessing of God.” We are not startled by the three raps calling us to stand; we expected that. We notice it’s a bit difficult because we are still wearing our heavy winter coats as we listen to the Chaplain’s invocation. The installing master starts things in earnest with the familiar words, “Since God placed man on earth, agriculture has existed. There is no occupation that proceeds it, no order or association that can rank with the tillers of the soil….”
We notice that many in attendance are nodding their heads in agreement. They know that truth first hand. They are part of it, and it is part of them. We can hear the children downstairs playing. Some of those who have joined us upstairs pretend to smoke because they can see their breath until the hall warms up.
We are in is a strange time and yet not. We find comfort in hearing familiar words. “The Order of Patrons of Husbandry is the only association whose teachings accompany its members in their daily pursuits…” They are more than words. Our attention drifts to look around the room and consider how true that is for our brothers and sisters over 100 years ago. The tired looks and calloused hands offer us an explanation. The faint “earthy” smell is not objectionable. They brought the earth with them in much the same way the teachings accompany them as they work the earth.
Caught up in another time, we realize how well it all fits. We might just as easily have visited their farms and homes to experience the meaning of the Grange. Yet after a long day of work, they left the comfort of those homes and farms. The first to arrive saw a cold and dark Grange Hall. But they came not out of obligation. They came for a reason. They knew the hall would light up and warm not only from the crackling wood stoves and kerosene lamps but also from the Grange Ritual and teaching and the bond it creates.
Hopefully, on the return trip, we’ll consider how true it is for us 100 years later. Some of us want to stay in this time, perhaps because life seems simpler. How long would we need to stay before we realize that it is not simpler; it’s just different? Will our halls not be brighter and warmer thanks to the comforts we now have? What have we gained, and what have we lost?
Some of us are anxious to return to the present time where things are familiar and more comfortable. We are grateful to our ancestors and our visit in time for the reality we experienced and shared with them. And we are more deeply committed to the Grange way of life with its teachings that accompany us not only through time but also, if we choose, to wherever and whenever we travel.
“The Order of Patrons of Husbandry is the only association whose teachings accompany its members in their daily pursuits…”
Some resources used for this post:
https://dailygenius.com/facts-about-the-year-1916/
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/america-1916-what-happening-100-years
https://mashable.com/article/american-perils-1916 is the source of the biggest threats to America in 1916. It does an interesting comparison to 2016, one hundred years later
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-sixth edition of the 2013 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.