What the well dressed 1950's farmer might wear to most any meeting with the exception of Church and funerals. Roy Borton, in his bib overall with the `Sunday- go-to-meeting' dress coat and fine overcoat, along with the farmers' cap, is ready to go in this late winter shot at the Borton farmstead in the very late fifties or early sixties. He probably had a Crow's Seed Corn cap; but the fact he's wearing a heavier cap and overcoat indicates the weather is cooler than the bright sunshine indicates. Note the pen in the bib front pocket which means that this is a business meeting.
Occasionally a fellow would dress like this and would also wear a dress shirt with a tie. That might mean a visit with the banker or perhaps one of his church's officials. Roy, like many of the men who farmed in this era, possessed massive weathered hands from picking corn by hand, milking cows by hand, using a pitchfork, handling bundles, and a hundred other tasks. Many men prided themselves in rarely wearing gloves.
Roy and his family lived two miles east and one and a half north of the School on the NE corner of Sec 11. by Dale Hughes
In Dec of 1951 Richard Sorem, shown here with Girls President Marlene Anderson of Gilbert, was selected to serve as President of the Story County Boys 4-H for the year of 1952. He lived in the very NE corner of the township and graduated from Milford in 1950. Ames Tribune photo courtesy of Ames Historical Society. Sorem Family page 225.
Above: Dorothy Tendall `47 in the summer of 1946 landed a friend's, Dick Hall, airplane at the farm just to the north of their home. She says her Dad really- "Laid down the law" to her for this incident. She did not possess a pilot's license and did not pursue that goal. See page 222.
On 12 January 1945, eight ladies met at the home of Pearl Wilson to organize a Milford Township club. They voted to name the group "Happy Hour Club" and to meet every two weeks. These were the last months of WWII and many felt the need to help in someway. At the first meeting they decided to contact the Red Cross to find something they could do. Soon they were making bed pads and handkerchiefs. These were probably for hospitals. In Feb of that year they seemed to start serving lunch at "Harper Sales". These were purebred Duroc hog sales held by Harlan Harper. The grocery bill for the first sale was; potatoes $1.06, bread 88 cents, seven pounds of "Hamburger" $1.82, one pound coffee 30 cents, and five cans of corn at 40 cents for a total of $4.46 plus nine cents tax. They served 40 people at 40 cents each. They had earned $12.30. In June they sent $10 to the Red Cross.
In 1946, they sent 17 boxes of clothing to families in the Netherlands. Five dollars was given to the Moose Lodge in Ames for a fund to buy an iron lung. Over the years money and supplies were given to the Red Cross, hospitals, the Salvation Army, Crippled Children and to families in need.
In 2009, the Club still meets on a regular basis.
Other Womens' Clubs: The Milford Social Hour Club, was organized in 1910 and disolved in 1998; Country Club page 284; and The Thimble Club page 315.