Source: Wikimedia Commons
Towns used to form societies for the express purpose of arguing in public, and they met all winter.
Literary societies, lyceums and debating clubs gathered weekly or fortnightly…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A hole in the road with bars across it, and the cows will not cross.
A fence stops an animal and also stops a vehicle. A gate…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Formal visiting ran on printed cards, and the surprising part is that you did not need to see anybody.
A caller handed in a small card bearing her…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A common fruit bush became illegal, and crews came and removed it.
Gooseberry and currant bushes grew at the edge of the garden on an enormous number…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Spring was the hungry season, and the first food out of it grew by itself.
The cellar was spent, the garden was bare ground, and nothing planted that…
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Farmers built their own halls, with their own money, and held the deed.
A plain frame building with a meeting room, a kitchen and a stage, put…