02x03 - Ox-Cart Man

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ ...just by sitting
where you are ♪

♪ You're traveling in time ♪

♪ You're a sh**ting star ♪

♪ Traveling in time ♪

♪ Here u are today ♪

♪ Yesterday is passed ♪

♪ Soon in tomorrow ♪

♪ And even that won't last ♪

♪ You may not even feel it ♪

♪ But you're moving fast ♪

♪ Traveling in time,
traveling ♪

♪ Traveling in time ♪

♪ Traveling in time,
traveling... ♪♪

[Engine cranking]

Hi there.

Would you believe it?

I've come all this way

To old sturbridge village,
massachusetts,

And my car dies
outside the gate.

Inside there's
a different world

From the one we know.

Once you cross that line,

You step out
of the present

And into the past.

This book
got me started.

It's the story of a family
who lived in new england

Around the time
your great, great,

Great, great,
great-grandparents were alive.

Life was simpler then,
maybe better.

Or was it?

I came to
old sturbridge village

To find out.

I bet the ox-cart man
never had to check his ox-plugs.

These wires look like
spaghetti to me.

[Horn honks]

Maybe this car's
going meatballs.

I'll have a mechanic
look at this.

But how to get
to sturbridge?

There's no time
like the present

To remember how
things were once done.

Whoa!

Need some help?

Yeah, I just lost
my horsepower.

Jump in.

His wheels
may not burn rubber,

But he's got twin engines,
each as strong as an ox.

It looks like
double or nothing.

One ox-cart man to take us
forward into the village,

Another to take us back
where this journey began.

In october, he backed
his ox into his cart.

He and his family
filled it

With everything they made
or grew all year long

That was left over.

He packed a bag of wool

He sheared
from the sheep in april.

He packed a shawl
his wife wove on a loom,

From yarn
spun at the spinning wheel

From sheep
sheared in april.

He packed five pairs
of mittens his daughter knit

From yarn spun
at the spinning wheel

From sheep
sheared in april.

He packed candles
the family made.

He packed linen made from
flax they grew.

He packed shingles
he split himself.

He packed birch brooms
his son carved

With a borrowed
kitchen Kn*fe.

He packed potatoes
they dug from their garden,

But first
he counted out potatoes

Enough to eat all winter

And potatoes
for seed next spring.

He packed a barrel of apples,
honey, and honeycombs.

Turnips and cabbages,

A wooden box
of maple sugar

From the maples
they'd tapped in march,

When they boiled
and boiled the sap away.

He packed a bag
of goose feathers

His children collected
from the barnyard geese.

When his cart was full,
he waved good-bye to his wife,

His daughter, and his son,

And he walked
at his ox's head

Ten days over hills,
through valleys, by streams,

Past farms and villages,

Until he came
to portsmouth,

And portsmouth market.

He sold the shawl
his wife made.

He sold the bag of wool.

He sold
five pairs of mittens.

He sold candles and shingles.

He sold maple sugar.

He sold
a bag of goose feathers.

He sold birch brooms.

He sold potatoes.

He sold apples.

He sold honey and honeycombs,
turnips and cabbages.

Then he sold the barrel
he carried the apples in.

Then he sold
the wooden box

He carried
the maple sugar in.

Then he sold the bag
he carried the potatoes in.

Then he sold his ox cart.

Then he sold his ox

And kissed him good-bye
on his nose.

Then he sold
his ox's yoke and harness.

With his pockets
full of coins,

He walked
through portsmouth market.

He bought an iron kettle

To hang over
the fire at home.

For his daughter, he bought
an embroidery needle

From a boat in the harbor

That had sailed
from england.

For his son he bought
a barlow Kn*fe,

For carving
birch brooms with.

For the whole family,

He bought two pounds of
wintergreen peppermint candies.

Then he walked home

With the needle
and the Kn*fe

And the wintergreen
peppermint candies

Tucked into the kettle,

And a stick over his shoulder

Stuck through
the kettle's handle,

And coins
still in his pockets,

Past farms and villages,

Over hills, through valleys,
by streams,

Until he came to his farm.

And his son,
his daughter, and his wife

Were waiting for him.

And his daughter
took her needle

And began stitching,

And his son
took his barlow Kn*fe

And started whittling.

And they cooked dinner
in their new kettle.

And afterward,
everyone ate

A wintergreen
peppermint candy.

And that night the ox-cart man
sat in front of his fire,

Stitching a new harness
for the young ox in the barn.

And he carved a new yoke

And sawed planks
for a new cart

And split shingles
all winter,

While his wife made flax
into linen all winter.

And his daughter
embroidered linen all winter.

And his son
carved indian brooms

From birch all winter.

And everybody made candles.

And in march, they tapped
the sugar maple trees

And boiled the sap down.

And in april,
they sheared the sheep,

Spun yarn,
and wove and knitted.

And in may, they planted
potatoes, turnips, and cabbages

While apple blossoms
bloomed and fell,

While bees woke up,
starting to make new honey,

And geese squawked
in the barnyard,

Dropping feathers
as soft as clouds.

I feel like I've stepped
into the pages of ox-cart man.

Old sturbridge
is a living museum,

Where everything is as it was


The people in costumes
aren't actors.

They work here to learn
about history by living it.

Let's learn what it was like
in early america.

Thanks for the lift.

Old sturbridge villagers

Depend on muscle power
instead of machines.

What would life be like
without electricity or machines?

[Cock-a-doodle-doo]

There's your alarm clock.

Need milk?

That's where you get it.

Thirsty?

Draw water from the well.

In the early 1800s, everyone
pitched in just to get by.

Even animals had jobs.

Oxen were the sturdiest
of them all.

They were the engines
for pulling

And tractors for hauling.

It took them years
to learn their job.

Here's how
baby oxen train here.

Zeph,
come up.

Zeph.

Easy.

Easy.

This young pair of oxen...

We have zephania
here, the off ox

And redtop, the nigh ox.

Off's away from me
and nigh's next to me.

They were born this spring
a few weeks apart,

Which makes them around


They're just children,

So we have to have
patience with them.

They begin training
right after they're born.

We take them around

And get them
to do the commands,

Pulling them left,
saying, "come haw,"

Pushing them right,
saying, "go gee."

They've already
picked that up pretty well.

The ox-cart man in the book
kissed his oxen on the nose.

I don't do that.

Maybe if, uh...

I suppose I might,
but I've never done it.

They can toss their head around
and hit you with the horn.

But you do pet them
quite a bit.

They like to be scratched
under the chin

And rubbed around the ear.

Try and get them out
oh, at least...

Maybe not every day,
but two or three days a week

Taking them around
the roads of the village,

Getting them used
to the different places

And training them
to the different commands,

Periodically stopping them

And practicing the different
commands, "gee" and "haw."

Whoa!

Whoa, boys.

Zeph and red, back.
Back, gee.

Come on, zeph.
Come on, red.

Whoa, zeph and red,
back up, back up.

Back, back, zeph.

Zeph and red, come haw,
come on.

Zeph, come up.
Ok, come up.

Whoa.

Zeph and red, come haw.
Come up.

That's my boys.
That's it.

When I unhitch them,

I'll reverse
hooking them up.

So, red was
the last one in.

He'll be
first one out.

Pull the pin
and drop the bow.

I'm feeding them
because they're hungry.

I'll give them some hay
in the little hay rack.

This is for
their noon meal.

They'll eat their hay
pretty quickly.

Then as they
have time later on,

They'll keep working at it,
chewing their cud

Later in the afternoon.

No matter what century
you live in,

A warm kitchen's always
a treat on a cold day.

Oh, boy! This feels good.

Mmm.

Something smells delicious.

My favorite--
fresh baked bread,

Hot out of the oven.

And homemade butter,
straight from the churn.

Churning butter is like
pouring molasses in january,

Very, very slow.

Not exactly like
your kitchen, is it?

What do you think this is?

It's called a pothook,

You use it to pull
the crane away from the fire.

And what about this?

What do you think it is?

It's a weather vane.

You could stick it
on your house.

A potholder.

I'd spin this thing around
and use it for a lawnmower.

It's a cheese grinder.

Put cheese in there
and turn it.

I would use it for...

Well, to put bacon in

And just put it
straight in,

The bacon straight,

And just fry it.

There's no a*t*matic pop-up,

But with some help, it browns
both sides of the bread.

It's a toe-toaster.

If you're not careful,

It'll toast your toes
as well as breakfast.

There's nothing
like home cooking

Or the feeling you get making
something with your hands.

A blacksmith made
that toe-toaster.

He forged it
out of fire and iron.

Whoo!

I've got some door handles
I'm making for mr. Freeman.

Here's one I've finished.

This iron bar
will be another one.

This needs more heat,
and I'll need help.

I'd like you
to pump the bellows

So we get air in the fire
and get the metal hot.

You've got to hit it
while it's hot

Or it won't bend.

So that's what "strike
while the iron's hot" means.

Where does the word
blacksmith come from?

It comes from
the word "smite," to hit,

Goldsmiths hit gold.
Silversmiths hit silver.

In ancient times,
black metal was iron and steel,

So they naturally called the guy
the blacksmith.

I could use some help

In rounding
that handle portion up.

Act as my striker.

Give me short, quick hits.

Short,
quick ones, huh?

What are you doing?

I'm spreading the metal out
from that lump

Into the bean shape.

B-e-a-n?
Like chili bean?

That's a lima bean shape.

Will you help me
bend the handle?

Love to.

Ok.

Ok. Pull back.

Come back up.

Good.

I'm going to bend that
a little more.

There's
a finished door latch.

Absolutely beautiful.

I'd like to pay you something
for helping me out.

At sturbridge we have
a system called bartering,

Where we trade for items.

I'd like to give you
this cheese.

What a delicious way
to pay your bills.

Thanks very much.

Come again.

Thank you.

You need help?

These are terrific.
I'll take them.

Do you have
an account?

I have a credit card.

I don't leave
home without it.

Don't you have
something to barter?

Barter.

Oh, you mean trade!

How about this cheese?

It's a deal.

Beautiful, and handmade,

With love and pride
woven right in.

Most things
in the early 1800s

Were made by hand--

Forks, spoons, brooms,
shoes, even books.

This is what a children's book
looked like in the early 1800s.

This printer
is setting type.

What are you doing?

I've got
the type set on this.

I'm putting a border
around the edge.

Then we'll lock it up,
and it's ready to print.



Most books were printed
on machines like this.

A child would've been
lucky to own one.

It takes two people
to work it.

One puts paper in
and operates the press.

The other inks the type.

Give the type a few passes
with the roller.

I'll lower the frisket.

The hole enables
the type to print through.

I'll lower the paper
onto the type.

Roll the handle
under the platen.

You did this
faster back then.

Pull that lever.

Hang onto it when
you return it.

This is easier
than it looks.

It's a modern press.

You roll it out
and then reverse it.

Thanks to bookstores
and libraries,

You can have many books.

Here are some
you might enjoy.

But you don't have to
take my word for it.

My name's robin martin.

Hav you ever been alone
on a prairie at night

With nobody in sight?

Wagon wheels is about
three boys who do that.

The boys and their father
went west for free land.

They lived in a hole
for protection from snow.

Once, they ran out of food,

And indians
saved their lives.

It was most exciting

When the boys went
to meet their daddy.

They went 150 miles
in 22 days!

They ran into snakes,
coyotes, and panthers.

They were all alone, too.

This book shows that kids
can do things by themselves.

If you like adventure,
you'll love wagon wheels.

Do you have some place
special to go in winter?

I'll tell you
about mine later.

I want to tell you
about a winter place,

By ruth radin.

It's about a town
where people find

Wonderful things
to do in the winter.

The book's pictures
are really paintings.

They're filled with details
of mountains and hills,

Ice skating
and ice fishing,

And people
playing in the snow.

Some paintings
have signs you can read.

I felt like I was walking
in a small vermont town

Watching horse buggies go by.

My favorite winter place
is snuggled up on my bed

Reading a good book
like this one.

I'm ernie perez

Telling you about
round trip.

Most trips
are round trips.

You go some place
and you come back home.

This book
has a little twist.

The twist is, you read the book
to the last page.

Then you turn
the book around

And read it
the other way!

On the trip,
we pass small farms,

Fields of wheat, and trains.

Soon you get to a city.

My favorite picture
is when they stop

To look at fireworks.

When you turn
the book around,

It looks like
marshy inlets.

You should read
round trip.

It's almost as good
as having two books.

It's a very unusual book.

You'll think so, too.

People always
love to have fun.

Here at old sturbridge village,
joining in is a snap.

Maybe the olden days
were the golden days.

People lived
closer to the land.

The world
seemed more theirs

Because they crafted
so much of it by hand.

There are always
new frontiers,

But you have to find them.

You're the new pioneers.

Come join us.

See you next time.

Today's reading rainbow
books are--

Ox-cart man,
by donald hall,

Illustrated by barbara cooney,
published by viking/penguin.

Round trip, by ann jonas,

Published by greenwillow books.

A winter place,
by ruth yaffe radin,

Illustrated by
mattie lou o'kelly,

Published by
little, brown.

Wagon wheels,
by barbara brenner,

Illustrated by don bolognese,
published by harper & row.