Horseshoes/Leisure

Life on the farm wasn’t always work. There was time to spend playing outdoor games, going to dances in nearby Waunakee or Westport, or reading novels. For three years, the Schumacher family played host to Frank Rosa, a young Serbian man who learned how to farm from Henry Schumacher, and who delighted the family and neighbors with his accordion music. Even Marcella’s father Henry, a serious man not prone to fun, enjoyed playing horseshoes and croquet, as well as playing card games.

The game of horseshoes evolved from a game called quoits in which players threw rings made of metal, rope, or rubber, trying to get as near to a stake as possible. Pitching mule shoes was a popular sport among soldiers in the American Civil War. After the war players in America and England began to observe standardized rules governing scoring and acceptable horseshoe weight, as well as the height and distance between the spikes.

Today, although there are formal rules and a governing body over the game of horseshoes, there are still plenty of variations. This is especially appropriate on Marcella’s farm, where children made up many of the games they played at home and school. As Marcella later wrote: “We generated our own good time.”