In recent years I have been exploring the Viking Era. You can see lots of posts on my blog about finances and technology of the time. After looking at descriptions of life on the farm during the 1930s and in particular the economic activity we can see in my grandfather’s probate document I’ve been wondering […]
Casting my CPA eye on the 1946 probate document for my grandfather’s estate led to a series of previous posts describing what we can learn about farming in the 1940s from a legal filing. Those posts have been combined into one section of my newest book: An Ulvog Journey. The book also provides recollections of […]
One source of cash on my grandparent’s farm was raising watermelons, going to town, then selling them for cash. That provided a bit of money for groceries. Many years ago my dad and his siblings wrote down many of their recollections of growing up on the farm. Hopefully very soon I will republish their remembrances. […]
Been thinking more on what life was like on the farm after my grandfather passed away. Consider the cash expenses again – notice there are no bills for electricity, telephone, water, or sewer. Such things weren’t in place. I’ll guess seed and other critical farm supplies were purchased on credit from Yankton Production Credit. The […]
Life was hard after my grandfather passed from this vale of tears. Any way you look at the income and expenses it is obvious life was hard. Must have been really difficult for my dear paternal grandmother to raise the four kids still at home. The narratives from my aunts and uncles make that very […]
The values assigned to my grandfather’s estate when it was probated are listed here. My determination of a adjustment factor of 13 to bring 1946 prices forward to today is shown here. The extended string of assumptions I’ve made shows a rough guess of the estate: 1946- worth $8,085 gross, with $7,785 after the […]
For an indicator of the changes in prices from the World War 2 era through today I pulled CPI information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This info will roll into my comments on the probate document for my grandfather’s estate. It is also useful for general information. The furthest into the table I can […]
In 1945 my paternal grandfather departed this vail of tears. The probate document filed for his estate the next year provides a financial glimpse of life on a South Dakota farm in the mid-1940s. This was a time of low productivity with all the members of a large family working all day every day to […]