Interpretive Toolbox: Verbal techniques, part 4

The fourth in the series of verbal techniques for use in Interpretative Programming, here are another twenty or so more ideas in alphabetical order that help give the interpreter more techniques and methods to work with for a better program. Since much of the material presented here contains more definitions and suggested uses and less exposition and analysis, and there are so many of them, these verbal techniques blog posts will come much more frequently than the usual one-a-month that is done from this blog. So for the month of October, here is the list:

Metaphor- A comparison between two usually unconnected or unrelated objects. A metaphor does not use 'like' or 'as' in using the comparison because then it would be a Simile. Metaphors are ordinarily stated plainly. Usually one of the objects being discussed is the object of interest to the Interpreter and the second object the first is being compared to should be somewhat of a surprise, something that helps make the first object more understandable. It has been suggested that the explanation of the metaphor should be left to the visitor since, in many times, the metaphor works on a subconscious level, and if we explain it fully, it robs the visitor of making their own connections; further, explaining a metaphor would insult their intelligence. Examples of metaphors: "Life is a highway", "The wheels of justice turn slowly", and "Waves of regret".

Metonymy- A figure of speech in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name but with close associations, like a nickname. For example, the leaders of an organization may have titles, but they can be grouped into a term like the 'Top Brass'. In the phrase "the book is moving along," the book refers to the writing process for the book, but not the physical book itself. "His involvement is a question mark," indicates that the person in this context is unknown or uncertain about something.

Mirroring- an adaptation of speaking manner and body language to reflect the communication style of the visitor. For example, if a visitor is shy in asking a question, the interpreter is shy in returning an answer. The point is to build rapport and not to ridicule the visitor, which would produce the opposite reaction to building rapport.

Multiple Points of View- Numerous accounts from which something is evaluated or considered. This technique is like Dialogue but with more than two, or Conversation. If resources have meanings, then those resources are going to have different meanings to different people and speak to diverse crowds.

Mythological Reference- "An allusion to a traditional story that serves to unfold part of the world view re explain practice, belief, or natural phenomenon." Greek myths are among the more popular, but Native American references are probably more usable in an American setting, despite being less well known.

Naming -  Properly identifying a noun: a person, place, thing, or concept. This gives the visitor something to use to identify points in your message. With children, introduce new, big, or complicated words sparingly, probably no more than 5 in a program. Then proceed like a teacher: sound out the word, get them to repeat it, define the meaning, and reinforce the concept every time it is mentioned in the course of the program.

Onomatopoeia- Words that imitate sounds. Because some people learn mainly by audio absorption, verbal communication and other sounds are going to be important to them. Verbal communication is a skill, and with some training and practice can be greatly impacting not because of content, but delivery. Onomatopoeia is an extension of the idea of delivery as being an important communicator, like cacophony and euphony from previous parts of this category, onomatopoeia is using the delivery of words to paint pictures with their own names and the sounds they make.

Totally not my image, but it answered a need and it has
a museum. Go to the website instead 

Oxymoron- Incongruant terms that contradicts itself. Oxymorons are often ironic and amusing and therefore can be used humorously to lighten up a program.

Parable - "A very short story that presents a moral or spiritual truth." While initially religious in nature, it need not have to be. This quick contrived situation is a allegorical story that highlights a moral or a truth.

Paraphrasing- Restating information to make essential information clear. This is best described as "putting it in your own words". Much of what I am doing in this series is a paraphrase of other's work so that it might be more manageable and better understood since I have re-conceptualized how this information is presented. Most what I have written is a paraphrase, but I do leave quotes in when I think that they better capture information than if I had tried to do it myself.

Personification- Speaking for something or giving human-like attributes to non-human things. Similar to Characterization, personified objects do things willfully if they have no will, like plants and inanimate objects, or do things that humans do, like speak. While animals communicate, they do not speak like humans do.

Poetry- A literary work in which certain intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas, usually in some form of established meter, style, or rhythm. The use of a poem in an interpretive program could be an opener or a closing conclusion, or can be interjected to express a thought or feeling to reinforce a point. It also gives the impression to the visitors that the interpreter is well- read, and that is not a bad thing.

Prediction- The act of foretelling the future based on the observations, personal experience, or some sort of scientific reason. Prediction can be used near the end of a program to wrap up and conclude. Depending on the nature of the prediction, it can be used to directly provoke an emotional or intellectual reaction.

Presentation of Evidence- A system of argumentation that builds toward a point, or a thesis, using descriptive or persuasive facts. Evidence could take the form of details, statistics, or other kinds of facts gathered on a topic. Quotes from authorities and experts and the interpreter's own impressions are important to making the case as well. This can be done subtly, or overtly, like a mock trial case.

Process Analysis- An "analytical examination of an action for the purpose of documenting or understanding the stages of development." Basically, this is an explanation of how something works, step by step, delivered clearly, especially if the process is complicated or unfamiliar. The key is organization. This technique can be augmented by props, or pictures, diagrams, animations, or role playing to make the process more understandable and more alive than simply talking through the process.

Prompt- A suggestion that triggers a response. Calling attention to a circumstance or situation or even an object, and reminding the visitor of a the program that helped explain it, so hopefully, they remember, or better, tell others. For example, this situation can be summarized into a phrase,"So the next time you see [or hear or experience] this, remember..." This technique is probably best used near the conclusion of a program.

A Question and Answer session

Proverb- A brief observation that contains a great piece of wisdom. The can be in a riddle, flowery speech, or terse and unadorned. The proverb is to give a piece of wisdom quickly. Aristotle said,"Proverbs...are metaphors from one species to another."

Question and Answer- A classic interaction technique where the visitor(s) ask questions and the interpreter responds with answers in a formal Q-n'-A format or informally in stream of the program or after the program is over. It is probably best to forecast if the interpreter will allow questions whenever, or at certain times, or at the end. In responding, retell the question loud enough for all to hear and then answer. Doing this means that you heard the question, and that everyone can hear it so that the question need not be asked again, but also that the questioner makes sure the interpreter heard the question correctly. In many cases, the question is asked frequently, but it needs to be answered honesty as if it has never been asked before. Opening a Q-n'-A can open the interpreter to being asked difficult, controversial, or politically charged leading questions, so be aware of your site's policies and have a good handle on how to field such questions to be accurate but tactful.

Questioning- Asking questions of the visitors. Here the interpreter challenges the visitors to be critical about should be known or is observable. Questions should be thought provoking open ended questions that can be answered in a brief statement, rather than yes or no or one word answer. Lately, the trend is to follow Audience Centered Experience with an ORACLE questioning scheme. ORACLE is an acronym which stands for Only Right Answer C Lived Experience. This means asking questions where each person can respond from their own experience rather than objective facts.

Quiz- A short oral test. A quiz can be used to gather information regarding the existing knowledge of the visitors. This can help intrigue the visitors especially if the quiz seems to be easy but loaded with trick questions that will be addressed in the program. One way use a quiz is to wrap and conclude may be to conduct a short quiz covering the entirety of the program. This is why quizzes are conducted in school in the first place; to see if the students learned something and if they can recall details. This method of course does not work well with Audience Centered Experiences style questioning since it relies on objective facts.


I relied on Handles: A Compendium of Interpretive Techniques to Help Visitors Grasp Resource Meanings by Peggy Ann Scherbaum for ideas and material to share and is a great resource for ideas and examples and I could not have done this series without it. I do not claim to have some up with the techniques described since I used Handles as a resource, all I did was arrange the material in such a way as to make them categorically available. The next twenty techniques and methods will be later on next month.

Site Visit: Lincoln's Boyhood National Memorial

Abraham Lincoln looms large in American culture as one of our most iconic presidents. His struggles, trials, and achievements are topics of national interest and local, state, and national commemoration usually has high visitation. Based on my limited knowledge of other sites, the National Park Service has 8 park sites and units associated with him: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace (and Boyhood Home at Knob Creek), Lincoln Boyhood, Lincoln Home, The White House, Ford's Theater, the Petersen House [The house where Lincoln died], the Lincoln Memorial, and Mt. Rushmore. Living near the Lincoln Boyhood afforded the opportunity on a day-off to go and visit on a day off with some co-workers and family.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial visitor center

Field crops are looking good, just need to move

 that disc out of the way and it would be perfect.

The first impression received upon arrival to the visitor center was the sculpted exterior that seemed to harken to Egyptian reliefs and carvings. The tall panels depicted symbolic times in Abraham's life. Inside the semi-circular museum, we paid the entrance fee and browsed both the museum and a small souvenir shop. The far ends of the building were impressive halls. One seemed very much like a church setting, the other like a conference room and seemed to be dedicated to special events rather than daily visitor use or programming. The walls and displays were Lincoln images and lithographs in frames. A 15 minute video summarized the Lincolns' 14 years at the site very well. The museum further on did not have many artifacts, but did have a lot of flat panel reading and images. Beyond were tools and a vignette of what the interior of the cabin might have looked like at the time.

“All that I am or ever hope to be,
I owe to my angel mother.”
-Abraham Lincoln

Accessibility seemed limited with our stroller; I had to carry it up some steps (without the child in it!) at certain points. The park had a few hiking trails, one of which was the 12 Stone Trail with stones taken from areas of significant events of Lincoln's life like stones from the Petersen home, the White House, the store he owned, and from his birthplace, to name a few. Beyond was the Living History

Farm area near where the actual cabin was. Field crops and gardens looked well tended. Inside the cabin was the only other park staff we met that day besides the Student Conservation Association intern working the Visitor Center counter. He was pleasant to speak with and was willing to share more information (he mentioned another interpreter was on break so he was the only one there at the time). The site included a carpentry shop with tools for demonstrations, barns and pens, and the smokehouse had some recently finished hams in there hanging. The chickens were penned but still around. The other livestock were hard to find but we managed to find the sheep before we left to go
to the pioneer cemetery. There, the marker to Nancy Lincoln, Abraham's mother, had a small offering of pennies on the stone and the surrounding areas; the exact location of her body is unknown. Overall, it was about a two hour visit and well worth the time.

As usual, deciding what criteria to use to properly evaluate an interpretive site is a challenge. In this case, the significance of the site and how well the site tries to engage the visitor in delivering a message and meaning will be the criteria.

Big shoes to fill

My wife likes to do the Junior Ranger Programs at the National Parks and she said that the answers were pretty easy and could be filled out easily during the visit. The video area had a life-size cutout of Lincoln and supposedly shoes that were size 14 so students could try them on and see how they measure up to the 6'4" lanky Lincoln. The video, while dated, effectively described the Lincoln's lives at the farm as well as some of Abraham's adventures on the riverboats and concluded with statements to the effect that Abraham's time at this location helped shape the sort of person he would be in Illinois and ultimately in the presidency. There were a lot of flat panel text and images which made the displays difficult to handle after a while, especially since there were few artifacts that were representative of the ones that the Lincoln's may have used. If there were nuggets of connections to what Lincoln in Indiana means to visitors, it was buried somewhere on a wall of text. Besides the buttons one could push to light areas in the vignette, there were no interactive displays.

The 12 Stone Trail, which we walked on in reverse order, seemed like an odd attempt at engaging the visitor. It seemed like this technique would appeal to some and not to others, but was a creative use of a hiking trail. As Americans, we highly value Power of Place (being there where it really happened) and souvenirs. These 12 stones (souvenirs) come from significant places (Power of Place) in Lincoln's journey but because rocks can be a mundane souvenir especially out of context from their vague places that their power to interpret is dulled. Some of the rocks came from minor locations in his life, like the store he used to own, or vague, such as the rock from near where he gave the Gettysburg Address, because he spoke on a platform in a graveyard the stone must

The interactive portion of the museum

have been from the wall or field stones in the surrounding area outside of the town. So the general reception of the stones on the path is mixed and vague. The Living History Farm being in good enough shape was great to see. However, having one out or even two interpreters at the Living History site was tough on visitors wanting to ask questions since the one interpreter that was present was chatty and there were a good amount of people visiting on a Tuesday. Of course, because it was a Tuesday, it meant that there were going to be less visitors, and therefore less staff to interpret. During this visit, we met no uniformed National Park staff, nor were any tours offered or mentioned.

Caption reads "This rock from

where President Lincoln stood when

he delivered the Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863"

So, while the video explicitly tackles the significance of the site, other means of engaging the visitor with meaning had vary degrees of success. The video was a great tool to clearly lay out significance and message, but was not very complete on pursuing meaning.The Junior Ranger program is great for kids to connect but seemed to struggle with how to reach adults. Not every adult can handle reading three and a half walls of text. The interpreter at the farm site talked about topics but did not delve into what pioneer life was like or what the Lincolns' experience in southern Indiana means to visitors. The 12 Stone hike was creative, but fell short of trying to grasp meaning. In short, a visit to Lincoln's Boyhood National Memorial is a worthwhile trip if you are in the area if you want to look at pioneer life and another segment of Lincoln's life, but it does not get very deep in meaning. It is there to fill the visitor in about the Indiana portion of Lincoln's life.

Origins of Ryan's History obsession, Part 2

Last month I revealed my early interest in history. This month the two themes I wish to explore are Passion and Professionalism. Passion comes from passio- meaning 'to suffer' in Latin, and I am using it to describe the trials and tribulations through determined effort and enthusiasm on my journey until now, 'my journey' meaning how I transitioned from being an amateur enthusiast into a professional.

Remember 1998? I had been a reenactor

for a year that year as this old-school 

photograph illustrates. 

The first bit I want to share is when I started doing Civil War Living History. I talk about it a lot on this blog but it is important to understand why it is important to me. I had seen reenactors and living historians before on one of our trips. I saw my first Civil War Living History demonstration in Yorktown, VA, where a Confederate battalion demonstrated firing techniques. But I had not yet seen a battle reenactment and it would be years later before I would see one. It was when my father went to a Boy Scout leader meeting with other troop leaders and one of them mentioned going with his boys to a Civil War reenactment at Irvine Regional Park, in Irvine, CA, that day, and it would be there all weekend. My father and I went over there to see what we could see, and what we saw impressed us. At the time it was something fun to do that was appealing to me. As I got more and more into the hobby, the more I began to learn about it in fine detail. The truth was that it was given deeper interest by research and brought to life with imagination. I had previously experienced the Civil War in books and maps with red and blue arrows and sepia-toned photographs of frumpy men with beards. At a reenactment or Living History, history could be interacted with on a personal level. A curious public could ask a Living Historian the questions about why they were the way they were and receive a personal answer. Such learning fosters more learning while providing "customer service". Since joining, my interest in the shooting and running around part of the 'war' has waned, but new things take their place. Some of these new things included taking leadership of a unit and researching an officer's roles and responsibilities, civilian life, looking into 19th century past-times like Faro, and other similarly related topics. I've also branched out to other time periods like early 19th century mountain man as well as World War Two French Foreign Legion and Australian impressions. One of the elements that demonstrates passion is that this is all funded by myself. I own all my own gear; nobody bankrolls me and my impressions. I cannot calculate how much time and money I have invested in my gear. These experiences and interests remind me of a few things: we can learn to understand some of the past by walking in its shoes and that history is made up of people and not impersonal forces of nature.

My WWII Aussie Impression for the 50th
anniversary of the closing of the Kokoda
trail. The 39th Bn AIB was nearly nearly
destitute, threadbare, and starving but
saved New Guinea from the Japanese. 

Since I had a pretty good idea that I excelled at history, I decided to pursue it as a major course of study and become a teacher. I thought that if I could get kids excited in history that they would be more excited about school in general and be better, more wholesome people. Plus, I'd get summer vacations! So when I went to California State University Long Beach, I knew what I was going to major in. I attended a number of exceptional classes that challenged me academically and intellectually and all together were a fantastic experience. Once I neared the end of my undergrad, I got into the introduction to teaching classes. As I started doing my teacher training, I learned about classroom management, how to come up with lesson plans, and the education system. However, I realized that the teaching profession was not what I expected or what I wanted. Also, for years California had been clamoring for new teachers to replace the retirement aged teachers supposedly phasing out of employment and claimed there was a great need. Either the rush to retire was less than expected or the educational system had not anticipated such a response to the call and suddenly there were no teaching jobs, no funding, and a surplus of well qualified and trained teachers without jobs being dumped into the job market every May with graduation. So rather than go into teaching, I wrapped up my undergrad without the teaching credentials.  Without much direction after graduation, I went back to work at summer camp as I had done every summer of college. I had watched their outdoor education program change over a few years and I asked to join when summer was over. Steve, the program director, had been moving the program to be from a 'science camp' experience to a 'using history to teach science camp' and I liked the idea enough that I worked in this program for four seasons. The outdoor education teachers were called Trail Leaders and we led groups of 6th graders in week long camps. 

2006, it was a start.

We dressed as 'mountain men' to teach outdoor science like fire building and mammal biology in activities. We dressed as lumberjacks to teach tree ecology and geology, with activities like 'panning for gold'. Since I had experience in Living History culture, I was able to help made suggestions for costuming and curriculum corrections that helped with future programming. The informal structure of the classes really appealed to me because it was education that the student could engage in while doing an activity outside of the classroom and the strict eye of 'formal education'. I and my Trail Leader friends put in long hours for months on end to make the greatest experiences for the students, parents, and teachers. My experience with Outdoor Adventures further shaped the kind of educator I wanted to be and helped prompt me to go back to school to get my Masters degree from California State University Fullerton.

M.A. History with an emphasis in

public history, 2011.

It was there at California University Fullerton where I was introduced to public history as a discipline and historical interpretation as a vocation. At first the idea did not register with me; the term was unfamiliar to me and it was not explained very well at the time. As I spent more time in the History office (as a student office assistant) I got to know the professors better and understand a little bit more about what they did. I explained my background in Living History and Outdoor Adventure and someone asked,"Why don't you go talk to Dr. Rast about public history?" I did so and was soon enrolled in his Intro. to Public History seminar class. As we explored topics from Culture Resource Management, Archives, Historical Interpretation, Museum Curating, and all things in between, I realized that this was what I really wanted to do as an educator and a History enthusiast. I switched my emphasis as a Master to public history shortly afterward, but I needed to do an internship as part of my course of study for my Master's degree. I was blessed enough to be selected to go to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. The link describes what I did there and my thoughts about it. In preparation for my work at Harpers Ferry, the Rangers directed me to the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands website to take some online courses on the National Parks, the foundations of interpretation, and the federal government. Since then, I have taken additional interpretive courses to further my education and to make myself a better interpreter.

By the end of the internship, I knew that historical interpretation was for me and I have been working to getting a permanent position ever since. It has not been easy because while seasonal and part time positions are relatively available, the permanent jobs are few and the competition fierce. My experience at Harpers Ferry showed me what a great organization the National Park System is, and it has since been my goal to get in. I was warned beforehand that it was not easy to get into the Park system, but I failed to understand how hard it would be. Unfortunately for me, I made a number of mistakes. The first was probably leaving Harpers Ferry, but there has been no indication that I could stay. I had to finish my degree, after all. The next hindrance was the reorganization of the Pathways program. While Pathways makes getting a federal job easier if you are a college student, it was late in getting jobs ready for recent graduates. Even with an extended grace period from graduation, the amount of Park jobs available to recent graduates was practically non-existent. Consequently, that time ran out before I ever saw a Pathways opening for a Park Service position that I was qualified for. My only ways in were to be a veteran (which meant boot camp, uncertain futures, possible deployment, and years of service I simply don't have) or national service with the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps VISTA program.

Stationed interpretation at the Guard House

While I worked as a director of my own outdoor education program in 2012, I simultaneously applied to VISTA and the SCA. The SCA (Student Conservation Association) is attractive on a resume in pursuit to a National Park job since many of the positions partner with the National Parks. It is primarily a conservation program, the positions extended to cultural and historical conservation as well. While I am more history focused, a interpreter with a will to interpret the environment would also benefit from a term of service with the SCA as well.While Fort Scott National Historic Site selected me and I had a great time there as well. I was charged with putting together a 30 minute activity lesson on the Quartermaster Depot during the Civil War which ran about twice a week for a month. I created my own tour of the site at their behest. Since it is the only NPS site that includes the 'Bleeding Kansas' time period, I thought it was an excellent topic for my tour and I focused on the events in Fort Scott in 1858 when the town was directly involved in the conflict. This time on the old frontier helped hone my experience and training into something that was much more professional. The problem of it all was that the 3 month appointment would separate me from my wife since she had an excellent job and it would be a tough time for her to find a new job for just 3 months. So with a heavy heart I headed to Kansas without her in pursuit of my career.

As a VISTA, I managed the

Northeast Iowa Food Bank Garden

and recruited and trained volunteers

and quadrupled the production from

900 lbs. in 2014 to 3,896 lbs in 2015

After Fort Scott, my career started to take new turns. The summer after Fort Scott, I worked at Living History Farms in Iowa and really took my Living History game to another level. You can read about some of my experiences here on this blog. It was also during this time that I started this blog, which was originally supposed to be about my experiences at Living History farm and take each week as a lesson, but as I examined the vast internet further, I noticed a lack of historical interpretive websites that were really meaningful or explored the topic further, so I decided to gear this blog into that gap in a way that demonstrates my web-savvy, some of my technical skills, and creates more of an 'online presence' for me. As before, my time at Living History Farms meant another period of separation with my wife, this time it was for 8 long months. While in Iowa, I finally got into VISTA in August of 2014 at a Food Bank.  VISTA is a segment of the AmeriCorps that fights poverty in America by increasing program capacity rather than directly serving. I use this example to explain: If my task is to teach middle school students how to improve their reading abilities after school with them, that is direct service. If I recruit, train, place, and manage volunteers in a program that teaches middle

school students to improve their reading ability, that is increasing the capacity. What I did was recruit, train, and manage volunteers in a garden program for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. I talk about that experience a little bit here. Rather with be separated with my wife for a whole year on top of 8 months, my wife and I decided that she would join me in Iowa and live on my 'living stipend' until she was able to secure work. Now that my term of service is done, I now have the much sought after thing I need to finally get my way into the National Parks: Noncompetitive Appointment Eligibility with the Federal Government.

Within the Federal hiring system there are several special hiring authorities that essentially 'short-list' job candidates into a separate pool from the average U.S. citizen. Some of these special hiring authorities include Veterans' Recruitment Appointment (VRA), 30% Disabled Vets, Schedule A (persons with disabilities), and Peace Corps and VISTAs. These are usually in separate categories or have jobs especially open for these candidates. To date, I have not been selected for a status candidate job or other related hiring path, but am working seasonally for the Park Service now. Hopefully, I will continue to get some more phone call offer from some great parks, as I know they would love having me and I think that I would have a lot to contribute based on some of the things I have outlined here and hopefully get into a permanent position. If you are interested in trying to get into the National Parks or other parts of the Federal government, all their open jobs can be found at usajobs.gov.

Professional but fun-loving

The culmination of my experiences in college and teaching formally and informally helped define where I wanted to use my training, talent, and experiences in order to share my excitement about history and help shape visitor's experiences into meaningful memories. My work experience with two National Parks, and a historical interpretation site gave my practical lessons on working with the visiting public and an appreciation for the craft of interpretation. My time in VISTA helped me to become more empathetic with other people in situations similar to mine. It also opened my eyes to the poverty and need embedded deeply in America and that while I have suffered separation, low wages, long hours, long drives, and pressing need, I have seen the suffering of others in people lacking the ability to get enough resources as to be able to feed themselves. While I talk about passion as my intense drive and willingness to to go to places for low wages for my future, I interacted with people who have to suffer limited or no choices in how they live and whether they can afford to eat in true passion.

It has been a long road to here. As this new year is already underway I hope that the time, money, learning, and passion will produce a good result in a site that can recognize that I am a truly devoted and unique person who wants to live and love my passion for history and is willing to go long and far for what I love to do.

Site Visit: John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum

This December a new museum opened in Waterloo, Iowa: the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum.

Waterloo, IA

I had driven past it for about a month on the way to and from work. It looked new but never looked like it was in operation, until I saw in the newspaper that it had finally opened. Before I launch into the museum, you should have some background about Waterloo before you can appreciate the museum more fully. Waterloo had first been settled in 1845 as Prairie Rapids Crossing, but when petitioning for the Post Office in 1851, one of the founding fathers of the town liked the name"Waterloo" and put it as the name of the location of the Post Office and the town eventually came to be known as Waterloo. The latter part of the 19th century was a busy time for Waterloo with the establishment of the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company followed by the Rath (meat) Packing Company and the Illinois Central Railroad. Waterloo was dubbed the "Factory City of Iowa". Speeding through the 20th century, the town was doing well for itself until the Rath Packing Co. ceased operations in 1985 and the John Deere Company had some layoffs not too long afterward. The town today is post-industrial in nature and retains its blue collar neighborhood feeling.

However, the story with the museum goes back to the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company mentioned earlier. I know a thing or two about farming, thanks to the Living History Farms and from working in the farm implement store, but the rise of modern farming implements, their names and uses, are foreign to me (so if I goof on something, don't get crazy on me). So, manual and animal power can only get you so far. Arms get tired, animals need rest, and with more interesting and useful implements comes a need for more power. In 1892 John Froelich invented the first practical gasoline
powered contraption we know today as a tractor. He centered his operations in Waterloo, using the nearby Cedar River for energy as the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company. By 1914, the company was producing the most popular tractor on the market, the Waterloo Boy. The John Deere Company, meanwhile, was successful in farming tools but wanted to get into the tractor market and decided to simply to buy the best company after their own attempts to break into the tractor market failed. Overnight, the John Deere Company became the industry leader. Since that purchase, John Deere has had a presence in Waterloo.

The John Deere Tractor Museum documents the life before tractors, the invention of the tractor, the acquisition of the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company, and how the Deere Company weathered the challenges of the 20th century and how Deere tractors are being used both today and into the future of farming.

The lobby for the Museum

Rather than synthesize what I learned from the museum and interpret the history, the purpose of the site visit was to look at how the John Deere Tractor & Engine museum tells their story, rather than
what their story was. Because I'm not a tractor guy and I have zero knowledge of tractors (If you are, great! If I don't note a tractor as being a 1947 Model X, I apologize), I thought it was an excellent opportunity to see how well their told their story and maybe understand something about it.

My wife trying the plow interactive display

My initial reaction to the building is that it looks new, and the refurbished tractors in front and in the lobby looked sparkling and fresh. It was $8 admission for an adult and less for children, students,

military, seniors, and Deere Co. employees and includes a 15 minute video presentation that runs quarterly round the clock. The pre-tractor section of the museum was my favorite, because this is my world. Lots of wood and "old-timey" looking mock up set design. There was lots of touch and try. For example, there was a demonstration area where you could put hand to plow as the mechanical plow bumps and jimmys and you have to keep the plow pointed straight. If you are not straight, a red light flashes on the side you need to correct. It was interactive and fun, but as I smugly told my wife, you aren't having to wrangle draft animals and steer with the lines and trying to keep the plow straight. However, the liability to make it as real as it gets would be too great. Nevertheless, it was a great piece to interact with. Another interactive piece used weights to simulate how much human energy you would need to create a single horse power. It was like an exercise cable pulley

Feel the burn! I mean, have fun learning about horsepower

machine and I joked that I could do some tricep curls. But unlike the gym, if you drop the bar, it doesn't crash into the other weights like that jerk does at the end of his reps, but slowly descends back to the start on a winch system (thankfully!).

The panel on early tractors

Towards the end of that exhibit room, they have a couple interpretive panels on John Froelich and his traction invention. I was glad they had it, but felt that because he invented tractors, that there could have been more of an emphasis on this, but I feel that John Deere wanted you to get from the archaic history stuff into the newer modern era of tractors most of the public might be familiar with. It is their museum after all. The traction machine was a large complicated looking machine, and a wandering Guest Services staff member remarked that it was started from a shotgun shell. I asked them where it was inserted and they didn't know. I don't remember if a shotgun shell start up was in the panels I read either. So, minus some points for that. Along with some of the flat panels were push button audio tapes of notable people speaking in character about their role, which helped break up the flat panel reading monotony.

Lean Green Machine

The next room was bright and modern and in the center was a Waterloo Boy tractor. This was given centerpiece attention, and rightly so, for being popular and one of the reasons for Deere purchasing the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company. Along the wall were more interpretive panels describing the process the Deere Company took in arriving at the point of getting into the tractor

business. All other rooms went on to describe Deere's contributions to the war efforts and life here at the factory. There were more interactive opportunities as well. Touch screen displays allowed a visitor to make decisions about designing tractors, whether to change engine configuration or what kind of wheel placement would work. I wanted more of a futuristic look rather than classic and after I submitted my design, it was graded according to what decisions were made historically regarding my design. The remains of the rooms were 3 sided walls with the back of the wall opening into a showroom of all the tractors made by Deere at this location.

The "Showroom" was open and had different models scattered around. As far as I know, all the tractors were rebuilt or refurbished models by private individuals and almost all were given a fresh

The "Showroom"

coat of paint. All except one, and naturally it drew my attention. The donor requested that their donation retain "its work clothes", meaning that it shouldn't get a new paint job but to be in its natural state as if it were to be in an old tool shed somewhere, ready for work. I appreciated the gesture by this person who donated because everything on the show room was show room quality, even though they were not collectors items, they were work tools and while they were taken care of, keeping the paint fresh was not on farmer's minds. But as I wandered through bright green and yellow tractor after tractor, I could feel myself reaching a saturation point. This was not my world and I had difficulty relating to it.

Guess the start-up sounds on the left,

the tractor design with clues on the right

If you have or had experience with old tractors, there were a few more interactive opportunities that you would enjoy that might take you back. There was a section near the back that sounded the start up of an engine with the push of a button and could guess which model of tractor it came from. Your answer would be hidden under a pull panel that would reveal the name. I didn't grow up around tractors or learn how to tell what model tractor it is by the start-up and running sounds but if you did, it might be a better section for you than me. It was still interesting to hear. The same is true for the section of grille patterns.

I liked the drafting table as interpretive space idea

There was another designing section that utilized drafting table drawers that

was interesting to look at and younger people could draw their ideal tractor and display it in the museum. By the foundry area I had reached maximum saturation. I don't understand machining or foundry work but I couldn't relate to it and did not really connect with it. The center of the museum was about the factory itself. By picking up a approximately two and half foot water tower and placing on a map that took up the floor, the screen would tell you about the factory and its history.

By the end, a room was dedicated to the tractors that John Deere was producing today and a small enclosed exhibit on the Deere Logo, dealerships, and their brief foray into bicycle manufacturing. Along the wall was a video of where farming might be going in the future with touch screens and smart phone automation connected to the internet and beyond. It was a video with grandpa working farm software that look like it was developed by Tony Stark and was beaming his HUD into a tractor in the field. It was something to think about. By then we had finished and wandered over to the gift shop to look over the John Deere-branded-anything-you-want merchandise.

In the cab

Analysis: This was a very well done museum. Everything is bright, clear, clean, and professional. Some people have done an excellent job with the presentation in getting all ages involved with the exhibits, from youngsters drawing tractors, to older folk remembering the distinctive sound their tractor made when it started up. There are a lot of interactive pieces, which shows that it wishes to engage learners visually, auditorially, and kinetically (seeing, hearing, doing). It engaged me as a historian by exploring many aspects of the pre-tractor life, the development of the Deere company, and its role in defining 20th century farming. The tractors are all immaculately presented (a little too immaculate if you ask me) and exhibits are simply all well done. However, there are some things that were not-so-great. Aside from the expected self promotion, there was a lot of flat paneling, which means a lot of reading. Most people do not take the time to read everything and tend to glance over information, especially if they have read a lot at the beginning and will increasingly just glance at large panel text after a while. Guest Services people were not terribly engaging. "Do you have any questions?" is not an dynamic engagement technique, for example. Some sat on the tractor seat design exhibit and chatted with each other and what appeared to be someone they knew somehow and I didn't get to sit on historic seats. I wasn't sure if they were Deere employees in Guest Services or guides hired for this position in the museum, but my guess is that they are not trained interpreters.

Over all, they generally did well in engaging a person who has little to no background in tractors and had a lot to say about what they did. I would recommend this museum to people who enjoy farm life, tractors, technical mechanics, John Deere fans, and to interpretive exhibit designers. If I were to give it a score based on 1 to 10 I would give it an 8 for being clear, well designed, engaging, interactive, and a good use of my time, but needed some refining in their interpretive staff.

Lessons Learned

Sincere apologies for the long silence; I have had a month of transition that included two simultaneous moves, a frustrating housing search, a nine-hour flight to Germany for a long weekend, terrible sleep and jet-lag but good family fun, another twelve-hour flight back to Los Angeles, another flight to Des Moines with my wife, negotiating housing, moving into a house, a road trip to Chicago for Pre-Service Orientation and back, and starting a new position in a town where I don't know anyone except my wife. So I've been busy and stressed. But I've managed to endure and overcome. Maybe not worth an Oscar-winning screenplay epic, but it was hair-raising nevertheless. I have had the meat of this post ready to go since the middle of October when I was nearly finished with my time at the Living History Farms, but got hung up on the editing and picture selection. In light of the end of the LHF season, I think it is probably a good time to stop and reflect on what I've learned and maybe gain some insights into what that means for how I do interpretive presentations.

Feeding the separator machine

When I originally set out to do a blog, I had intended it to be much more of a daily journal of "Wow, I got to do this today at Living History Farms!" and describe what it was that I was doing. I had never worked on a farm, so everything was new and great and every new day was a new experience that I had to learn and adapt to. It didn't help that I decided to start a blog about these experiences after a few months of working at the farms so it wasn't as new or as exciting as it was at the beginning of the season, which explains the far fewer posts on farming than I would have liked to have posted. As a result, this post will address most of this as a retrospective rather than a fresh look.

Farming is hard work. It requires strength, skill, and knowledge in order to be successful and for the most part, I think I was successful. We describe our work as "9 to 4 farming", meaning on a true farm that you lived on for your livelihood, you would be up before dawn doing chores and asleep not long after dusk, whereas "9 to 4 farming" means I start work after I clock in, well after daybreak and finish the last of my chores about 3:45; a good 3-5 hours before dusk. Not exactly the natural cycle most of America knew during the time periods we represent. Chores are the biggest routines of the farm and they involve caring for the animals.

Harnessing for work

The horses that we have are one-ton hairy equine teenagers. Each have their own distinguishing quirks and attitudes. At first, I had the hardest time telling them apart. But as I got to know them, their traits and descriptions became more noticeable. The Percherons are generally a gentle breed, but the more slack you give on their line, the more room they will take in doing what they want, so cinch up close under their chins and lead. Then they follow you, not their own wills. However, I will tell you when a horse puts up its will, it's better to let them go than get dragged or rope burned.

Cows, like sheep, are ruminants and do not have upper teeth in front, which is why cows "lick" the grass into their mouth rather than bite. Horns can be on both males or females; it depends on the breed. The proper way to milk a cow is to adopt a forefinger-thumb "OK" grip and ripple motion squeeze down the teat to the end with the rest of the fingers. Steers must be trained about 4 years before they are considered "oxen" for driving. Since cattle will eat whatever grass you have, they are ideal for frontier living; with horses, you must supplement their diet with complex carbohydrates. Like all horses, the draft breeds were

introduced to North America about the middle of the 19th century which is another reason why oxen were the preferred draft animal for most of the United States' frontier areas. Oxen are also difficult to steer and take time to comprehend the driver's calls. Cattle like to be rubbed under their chin and behind the ears but not the forehead, the seat of aggression. Herding animals isn't too hard if you have a pretty good idea on how animals react to humans, essentially go right so they go left, left to go right. Never stand or approach an animal in their blind spot or they can kick.

Most of the animals, like the horses, cows, and pigs must be fed in the morning, and again in the evening with the chickens and ducks. All of the water must be refilled, even if they immediately knock over their water dish after two slurps. Pigs are jerks like that. To riff on Steve Zissou from A Life Aquatic, "Pigs are supposedly intelligent, but I've never seen any evidence of it." More often then not, they are busy trying to find a way out, for no other reason than the joy of escape. Pigs have rings put into their snouts so they don't root and undermine plants and fences. Most of the farms in Iowa were hog or pig farms because they had a higher price per hundredweight. Piglets are also heart-meltingly cute.

Cuteness overload

Picking up Polish chicks

Chickens come in many breeds. My favorite were the Polish varieties (buff laced) and I had great success in training one to eat out of my hand and being content to be touched, held, and propped on a shoulder. People eating duck meat isn't uncommon, so ducks are often raised along with chickens.

Sheep are dumb. I've known this, but now I can say with some authority that sheep are dumb.  They tend to follow whoever has the most original idea, human or sheep. I've seen sheep come galloping in

from an acre away for grain with a sheep call. Sheep are also ruminants and will eat whatever you have, which also makes them great for frontier farming. Sheep are sheared in spring so their coats will not be thick in summer but thick enough by winter. Their woolly coats are spun into wool thread for clothing.

Fall is here!

Maintaining crops is tough too. We had numerous problems with deer, bugs, erring lawnmowers, and rains and the resulting weeds that came up. Corn is prominent throughout the farms here. I was proud that my rows of corn were the nicest looking rows, but they still suffered from the same problems mentioned above. Corn is grown in hills done in checks. In other words, it looks like military grave stones with enough space in between them to always appear in a row, and that is because the space between hills is gone over with a cultivator which is like a set of mini-plows that dig up soil and root out weeds. Corn hills typically have about 4-7 kernels of seed corn with a mix of other plants that help return nutrients that the corn need or plants that will mutually benefit, like string beans to climb up the stalks, and big leafy plants shade out the weeds like squash, pumpkin or watermelon. Corn cobs are saved after the corn has been dried and ground off with and corn sheller and used for a quick, hot heat and excellent for frying. Corn is mostly used for animal feed but must be ground for the chickens to use and ground finer still for corn meal. Hay is a grass; alfalfa, timothy and clover are examples of hay. Grains have heads like wheat, barley, and oats. Most "hay bales" are actually straw bales; straw is the leftovers from threshing, mostly stalks and has little nutritional value for animals and so are used for bedding and insulation, Hay bales are animal feed. Both are baled by awesome machines that have special mechanism that tie them together as they are made. Once hay is cut, it has to dry for a few days before putting it up otherwise wet hay runs the risk of catching fire in the barn. I'm not even joking. Here's some info on it Wet hay can cause barn fires. We harvested hay on the windiest day I can recall. We used a hay rack (a cart) and a hay loader (a large portable elevator that scoops up hay from the windrow) the basic method was to move the hay to the farthest corners first (the driver's side" and slowly start going up until it is too difficult to pick up the hay below you and go to the barn for storage.

Haying against the wind, from LHF's Facebook Page

Preformed by someone who knows how to scythe

At the Implement Dealership in town, I learned a thing or two about farming and tools. Treadmills were used for harnessing animal energy long before electricity and engines started doing the work. Farm tools were originally painted bright colors for marketing purposes, like cars today. Using a scythe sucks; the Grim Reaper carried a primitive lawnmower. The Industrial Revolution set off a spin-off Agricultural Revolution. Although most of the experimentation was done from 1790s-1850s being able to mass produce patented machinery was what made the money and allowed farming to be bigger and faster. Threshing sucks too; it involved beating grain with a staff with a section of rope to a small club. Hay forks are for lifting hay but many other varieties of tools could be used for lifting hay, baled or loose like the hay screw and hay harpoon. In addition to living the life, I have fuller understanding of farming terms, because you reap what you sow.

Having fun!

Over all, it has been a great experience and an adventure I will probably never forget. Thank you all for being a part of it, "You-know-who-you-all-are." I hope to visit again sometime, hopefully before my membership runs out next year. In the meantime, I've accepted a position with the Americorps VISTA program to go up to Waterloo for a year. Just because my job will not be involved in interpretation in any way that I can imagine right now, I will try to continue to publish as time and ability allow.

Dealing with the public, part 2. The question

It's been a busy couple of weeks since the last post. Travelling and a birthday and getting ready for a new adventure have slowed down the writing frequency. Incidentally, this blog post was finished the day when we had a discussion of questions that drive us crazy in a staff meeting and I listened closely to see if I could garner some more insight into questions the visitors ask and how interpreters respond.

Whoever said,"There are no stupid questions" did not work in historical interpretation, or education in general. We get stupid questions and comments all the time.

"Teacher? Why are you dressed weird?"

At least, that's what we think.

The questions seem stupid to us at first, because we already know the answer and the crowds are simply ignorant.

Now, when I say ignorant, I want to address a negative stigma that we have attached to the word as a society. When I mean ignorant, I am not referring to some sort of prejudicial, misguided, or negative remark. They are making a question or a comment based on their limited or complete lack of knowledge.

They simply do not know.
Let that sink in for a second and think back on how we ask questions. If I knew all about the topic, why would I ask a question?

"Aren't you hot wearing that?"

Since we interpreters know; since we have the experience, training, and extensive knowledge, of course the question is stupid. We already know the answer, partly because we have answered the same question over and over again to the point that we mistakenly think everyone knows. One of my mentors over the years, a man named Steve Rose, made it a point early on in my training as a outdoor education instructor to remind us that it may be our umpteenth time doing or saying something, but it is their first time asking the question. That guidance has served me well over the years.  While others have mentioned similar thoughts, it was his mantra for long weeks over longer times when the fatigue of repetition has set in that kept me from responding harshly

Realizing that it is their first time and they will ask questions that have been answered with the last visitor is a mental exercise in customer service.

Make it a game. How many times can I get asked some variation of the Same Old Question Everyone Asks in a hour? In a day? Can you break that record? Can another interpreter break that record? One way of letting off that steam is the honest introduction,"We get that question a lot out here..." and give them the answer. This is about their experience, not your convenience.

"Teacher? Do you live here?"

Getting back to the interpreters' reaction to the stupid question, our own satisfaction in our knowledge and wisdom has given us a haughty arrogance, although this haughty ignorance can be subliminal and sometimes not perceptible at first. That is why the question is perceived as stupid. It is our own assumption about the very nature of the person who makes the question or comment.

Because they are asking a question, they are revealing their own ignorance in the content of the question. If they knew, they wouldn't ask. Our responsibility is to remove that ignorance by giving a affirming and correct answer delivered in a manner that the questioner can effectively receive. Never make stuff up. The hardest thing as an interpreter is to admit not knowing an answer to a question. It's humbling. If you are working in tandem with a staff member, bring the person with the question to your fellow staff member, introduce them to the knowledgeable staff member and have them repeat the question or rephrase the question. That makes it personal and shows that you are learning together while keeping them involved. Another method for answering when you don't know an answer and admitting you don't know either is trying to reason out an answer. For example, if the question is about a certain tool on the wall and have never seen it demonstrated, work with them and work up a couple ideas about what it is. Is it sharp? Does it have a handle? What could we use it for? The most important thing is to later find out the answer! If you got the question once, you will probably get it again. Hopefully that embarrassment you feel at not having an answer will prompt an earnest search not to be put in this situation again.

"Do you have a question?" "Can I go to the bathroom?"

Then there are these questions, "Is that fire real?" Resist the urge to give sarcastic answers. Especially with children. Children do not have the sophistication to understand sarcasm, not yet anyways. It is rude and patronizing. However, I've wondered what the fascination is with what is 'real' at interpretive sites. Is it because of our technological wizardry that we have blurred the lines of reality? 3D special effects, life-like images, life-like props, Hollywood magic, and the child's own sense of fantasy have led into a lot of the 'reality' questions. The urge for a sarcastic answer also stems from repetition and arrogance.

"Teacher? Is that gun real?"
"Yes"
"Can you shoot me with it?"
"No"

Sometimes you get the silly questions. In my opinion, you can give a straight answer or the occasional silly answer. Reading your audience is key for giving a silly answer, and it isn't always advisable. I was given a silly question the other day: "That's the biggest pig I've ever seen in my whole life! Are they rhino-pigs?" The questioner was a pre-teen girl and her giggly friends. Based on that and a few other observations, I decided that they were being silly, so I felt I could safely give a silly answer in response. "Yes, rhino-pigs are a common animal in North America; they are mostly used by the army, bred for their skills and magic." I said this with a smile. They giggled and moved on before I could give a thoughtful response on pig sizes, so that further cements my observation of silliness; they were interested in making small talk, not the size of pigs. They understood that I was joking. The silly answer is tough to gauge when would be appropriate, which is why I will rarely use it.

In the end, we have to come to the realization that we must have patience with the visitors and to hold back our frustrations at having to answer questions that would be quite frustratingly obvious to us, over and over again. Remember, it's probably their first time, so make a great first impression for them!