The Iowa town of Postville

Postville has been in the news a lot lately. In one of its articles, The Des Moines Register mentioned Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen G. Bloom. The Waterloo Public Library owns a copy.

Author Stephen G. Bloom had never stepped foot in Iowa until he was accepted for a teaching post at the University of Iowa. As a practicing Jew, he wanted to connect with other Jewish families. He was quite surprised at how different Iowa is compared to San Francisco, where he previously lived. In his attempt to meet other Jews, he began traveling beyond Iowa City. His travels led him to the northeast Iowa town of Postville. He was amazed to find that in a small town, with a population of about 2,000 would have a relatively large Jewish population.

According to the 2000 census, Postville has a population of 2,273. 1,809 are classified as white and 469 or Hispanic. In the "other race" category, there are 387. Many of the "other race" are Ukranian and Russian immigrants. That's quite a switch from the almost German/Norwegian heritage of years ago.

Bloom explores the history of the town and while doing that interviews many of the residents from the Hasidic Jews to those of German descent. Agriprocessors, the kosher meat plant, was formed in 1987 when a group of Jews came in. Postville went through a lot of economic hardship before the plant came in.

The Hasidic Jews are much stricter with their routine and tradition than the author. This created problems once the book came out. Many of the Jews were upset over how the book was written. In fact, the paperback copy that we own has an afterward where Bloom talks about how the book has brought him a lot of grief. Be sure to read it.

Postville by Stephen G. Bloom is on the second floor under the call number 977.733 BLO.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Tornadoes in Iowa

On May 15, one of the local TV stations mentioned the 40th anniversary of the devastating tornado that hit Charles City.

I was talking to my father about this newscast, and that brought up the discussion about another tornado that tore through northeast Iowa. Dad still remembers looking out his door when a tornado destroyed a church that was between Dunkerton and Waterloo. It made both of us wonder just how often tornadoes did hit Iowa in the past.

The library has a book to answer questions like that called Tornado: Accounts of Tornadoes in Iowa by John L. Stanford (977.703 STA). There is one chapter that covers the memorable tornadoes chronologically from 1803 - 1986.

When Dad and I checked May 15, 1968, we were given much more information on what happened that day in Iowa. We remembered only the tornado that hit Charles City, but tornadoes hit Oelwein and Maynard as well as other communities in Iowa. Author John L. Stanford does a good job of writing about the events; it's not dry. Plus, the book is filled with black and white pictures of the tornadoes and the destruction they left.

In the chapter called "Tornado origins and characteristics," the author mentions that tornadoes can occur any time of the year. It includes a chart showing tornado activity from 1959-1971. This chart shows activity every month of the year except February and December. But in the text, it mentions that there have been a few reports of tornadoes in December and February in the twentieth century. Because there have been so few in those months, the chart does not show them.

The book also clarifies a disagreement that I have with my dad. He calls them cyclones as well as tornadoes. I told him that they are called tornadoes in Iowa. I was surprised to find out that they are indeed cyclones according to the definition given by meteorologists. According to the author, Iowans called cyclones until rather recently.

Now, you'll have to excuse me. I have to apologize to my father for arguing with him about what to call these storms.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

History of the International Harvester

As you might expect from a retired farmer, my dad's favorite pastime is visiting about the good old days of farming. A few weeks ago, I took him information on John Deere's history, which he enjoyed.

Now he and I have moved on to the International Harvester Company. Because he didn't farm with them, Dad's not as familiar with it. Although the title is a real downer - A Corporate Tragedy (338.7 MAR) - author Barbara Marsh does a thorough job of explaining the history.

The author begins the story in 1831, when Cyrus McCormick developed and patented a plow. This is the same guy who is well-known for his reaper, which he developed a few years later. In 1902, several companies merged to form the company the International Harvester Company, the world's largest farm machinery conglomerate. The two major companies were McCormick and Deering, an earlier competitor with overseas operations. Harvester had sales of $101.2 million in 1910. The company was already into tractor selling. They had an agreement with another company to manufacture one-cylinder tractors for them. The Famous Farmall tractor first came off their assembly line in 1924. In fact the first Farmall tractor was sold to an Iowa farmer. It was manufactured to compete against Ford, who was the leader in tractor sales at the time. In the 1950s, there was increased competition with Deere and Massey-Ferguson for the farmers' money. The company fell on hard times during the 1970s and '80s. Trying to stay out of bankruptcy was a real challenge for a company. Several of the executives during this time blamed the financial problems on the union. The author also makes the claim that the company had overextended its product line, trying to be involved in too many projects at one time.

If you're thinking of checking out A Corporate Tragedy right now, you'll have to wait. Dad and I are still using the book to discuss the International Harvester Company, a company that's heavily involved with the history of farming.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The history of the Amana Colonies

Diane L. Barthel has written a fascinating book on the history of an Iowa tourist attraction: the Amana Colonies.

In Amana: From Pietist Sect to American Community (335 BAR), Barthel takes the reader back to 18th century southern Germany where a group of Christians was dissatisfied with the Lutheran tradition. They called themselves the Society of True Inspiration. In 1843, they arrived in America. From New York, they made their way into the heartland by the mid 1800s.

The author compares the early Iowa settlers of this society to the Amish. Both wore simple clothing, and discouraged new technology.

Those in the Amana settlement believed in communal living. Everything was done for the whole of the group. They were self supporting.

Because of the influence of surrounding towns, they loosened up their rules. More modern clothing was accepted. Drinking alcohol was allowed. Instead of German, English became the language they used. Part of this was to get the tourist dollars in, especially after good roads were built and people began owning cars.

Diane Barthel's Amana continues through the 1970s when more and more private businesses were allowed into the community, and the Amana Society created a museum for the tourists, detailing their heritage.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The life of a sportscaster

Anyone who knows me, knows that today's selection is very atypical: I'd Love to but I Have a Game by Marv Albert (070.4497 ALB in the Biography section). I grew up in a household where watching sports was not a productive way to use your time. And ... my worst subject (is it a subject?) in school was gym class where you had to play football, soccer, and all of those other games that got you sweaty.

As far as sports reporters go, I knew little. I didn't know who Frank Gifford was until I saw Kathy Lee on "Live with Regis and Kathy Lee" talk about her husband. Of course I did know Howard Cosell. (With that voice, who didn't?) So, I did know two sportscasters when I was younger.

I didn't begin to appreciate sports until I had my first roommate who was a HUGE sports fan. That's when I found out about more of the sports announcers. But, I still didn't know of Marv Albert. Or maybe I did, but didn't pay any attention.

As far as understanding anyone in that field, I knew nothing; I was rather naive. But with the help of Marv Albert's humorous autobiography, I know that it's much more hectic hobnobbing with the rich and famous than I realized.

If his on air banter is as funny as his writing, I wish that I had paid attention to him throughout his long career. I'll have to ask my sports-loving friends if he's still employed.

Note: If you want to read about his 1997 sexual assault charges, don't read this book. I'd Love to But I Have a Game is copyrighted in 1993.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008