The Next Newest Thing

Pulleys, Old Style Harvester, The Old Depot, Village Of Lewisburg, OH  © Doug Hickok


It was not so very long ago that farmers had to harvest crops by manually removing the grain from the rest of the plant. By the 19th century, machines were invented to do this mechanically, but they were ponderously drawn by horses or mules. By the early 20th century, self-propelled harvesters like this one made the work much easier and efficient. Now antiques, they are put aside to rust in weedy patches of fields, all but forgotten. These relics of by gone eras are reminders of man's ability to constantly improve upon an idea.

 Today, technology advances with such speed that new inventions are rapidly replaced by the next newest thing, in seemingly just a matter of months.