Two More Threshing Photos

Filling out a family tree is more enjoyable with photographs to bring the names and dates to life. Ancestors are more than an entry on a chart; their lives have stories to tell. Photos help us to know more about those by-gone days.

Threshing

In farming, threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of grain from the straw to which it is attached. Machinery makes the process so much easier.

This first photo was the subject of a blog post a few months ago.

Hesse Threshing Rig – Combine¹Hesse Threshing Rig. LaMoure (ND) County Museum. As of September 2, 2025, the museum does not maintain a website, but can be found on Facebook. The physical address of the museum is 7496 106th Ave SE, Lamoure, ND 58458. With permission of the Museum, Karrie Blees made photographic copies of the Threshing photo in June 1987 and again on July 8, 2022.

Another Threshing Photo

Last month my cousin, Chuck, showed me another threshing photo from his mother’s collection.

Hesse’s Threshing Rig, LaMoure N.D., September 27, 1913²Postcard. Hesse’s Threshing Rig. Original owned by Alice Gentzkow Humphrey (19109-2000). Digital copy made by Karrie Blees August 2025.

Details

Looking at the photo, there are:

• 3 adult men, wearing brimmed hats, standing on wagons
• 3 young people in front of the large tractor
• a team of 4 horses
• wagons full of grain and a huge pile
• AND a caption, applied to the upper margin!

More details in this Real Photo Postcard

This photograph is a “real photo postcard.” Beginning in 1907, Kodak offered a service to make a postcard from any photo.³To learn more about Real Photo Postcards: Stephanie Michaels. Exploring Old Photographs: Real Photo Postcards. https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/6098. accessed September 2, 2025. Therefore, scenes from everyday life could be shared.

Even though there is no no writing on the back of this real photo postcard, there are more details to glean:

• The photograph is a “full-bleed” extending all the way to the edge of the paper (common until about 1915).⁴Britannic Auctions. Real Photo Postcards: An In-Depth Guide to RPPC Postcards. https://www.britannicauctions.com/blog/rppc-postcards/ accessed September 2, 2025.
• The stamp box on the back of the card indicates that is was printed on AZO paper (a Kodak product).⁵David Playle. How to Identify and Date Real Photo Vintage Postcards. https://www.playle.com/realphoto/ accessed September 2, 2025.

Yet Another Threshing Photo

In June of 1987, I visited with my great uncle Edward G. Gentzkow (1914-1992) at his home in LaMoure, ND. He allowed me to to make black & white photographic prints of his family photos. Uncle Ed told me that this scene was on the Hesse Farm, east of the barn; he did not identify any of the people.

Hesse’s Threshing Rig, LaMoure N.D., September 27, 1913⁶Postcard. Hesse’s Threshing Rig. Original owned by Edward G. Gentzkow (1914-1992). Photographic copy made by Karrie Blees, June 1987.

Details

Looking at the photo, and comparing it to the previous postcard, there are:

• adults wearing brimmed hats, in/near wagons
• perhaps a young person sitting atop a light-colored horse
• teams of horses
• wagons full of grain and a huge pile
• AND a caption with the same date & location and the same handwriting as the previous photo

I did not made a photographic copy of the back of Uncle Ed’s real photo threshing postcard. However, I believe that the photos were take on the same day.

SOURCES

• 1
  Hesse Threshing Rig. LaMoure (ND) County Museum. As of September 2, 2025, the museum does not maintain a website, but can be found on Facebook. The physical address of the museum is 7496 106th Ave SE, Lamoure, ND 58458. With permission of the Museum, Karrie Blees made photographic copies of the Threshing photo in June 1987 and again on July 8, 2022.
• 2
  Postcard. Hesse’s Threshing Rig. Original owned by Alice Gentzkow Humphrey (19109-2000). Digital copy made by Karrie Blees August 2025.
• 3
  To learn more about Real Photo Postcards: Stephanie Michaels. Exploring Old Photographs: Real Photo Postcards. https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/6098. accessed September 2, 2025.
• 4
  Britannic Auctions. Real Photo Postcards: An In-Depth Guide to RPPC Postcards. https://www.britannicauctions.com/blog/rppc-postcards/ accessed September 2, 2025.
• 5
  David Playle. How to Identify and Date Real Photo Vintage Postcards. https://www.playle.com/realphoto/ accessed September 2, 2025.
• 6
  Postcard. Hesse’s Threshing Rig. Original owned by Edward G. Gentzkow (1914-1992). Photographic copy made by Karrie Blees, June 1987.