Our tool shed, named “A Simpler Time”, gives you a close-up look at the items most people used  to make their lives easier – without electricity!
 

In days gone by, tools were mechanical and powered by human hand, since electric and even gas-powered equipment had not yet arrived. One such machine was for making shakes, or thin wooden panels to protect structures from the elements. These shakes were cut with a tool like you see here, making it easier than trying to trim boards to minimal thickness by hand.
 

Knives had to be sharpened by laying the edge of the blade against a rotating stone wheel, known as a whetstone. Corn kernels were removed from cobs using a corn sheller like the one here.

Hand-made barrels were yesteryear’s Tupperware, only much bigger. These barrels were used for storing everything from sugar or flour, to pickles and even nails.
 

Women sewed clothing for themselves and their families on treadle machines like this old Singer model. By rocking the treadle with her foot, the seamstress rotated the wheel which made the sewing needle go up and down through the fabric.
 

Take a look at all the various farm implements throughout the tool shed and see if you can guess how they were used.