Shock Oats

I have been wanting to blog some stories from the 1940's. Well, it just so happens that I came upon some stories in the archives Miss Mary Griffin wrote about WWII. This blog is about a local farmer getting help with their farming as many people were gone fighting in WWII.

This article is posted as it appeared in the Rich Hill Review.
"Farmers had difficulty getting help to harvest their crops. An example of how this was handled appeared in a copy of the Rich Hill Daily Review July 1943.
Rich Hillians responded to the call for farm help Wednesday afternoon when quite a number reported at the James Bradley farm north of Papinville.
Confronted with the urgent need for help to shock oats, James Bradley appealed to Mrs. Ed (Bert) Montgomery, local representative for Missouri Employment Service. Mrs.Montgomery began contacting local men and soon had 22 ready to help save Bates County's crops.
The men reported at the Montgomery Feed Store at 6:30 p.m. and by 7:00 o'clock the men were at the Bradley Farm ready to go to work. From 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. eighty acres of oats had been shocked.
It was a new experience for a number of the volunteers, but those familiar with the work formed a coaching staff. The men thoroughly enjoyed the work and came home with a deep appreciation of the daily problems of our farmers and the importance of cooperating during such abnormal times.
The following men worked at the Bradley farm Earl Leavitt, Ed Montgomery, Delmar McCombs, Orville McCoy, Harland Swope, Charles Rhodes, Shirley Booth, Ed Kenny, Orben Smith, George Crab, Ed Mead, Charles Starr, Loren McCarroll, Donald Brown, William Feugate, Gilbert Hood, Junior Manchester, Delmar Moreland, John Moore, Vernon Bolser and Bill Satterley."