THE FARM-O AND BARN-O SLINGSHOTS

The Farm-O slingshot is the result of two "historical events". The first event was the disappearance of the Wham-O slingshot from the market. The second was the demolition of the farmhouse on the family centennial farm that has been in the family for 5 going on 6 generations. Wanting to have a special memento of the farm I decided to have a special slingshot made out of wood from the farmhouse. The grand-daddy of commercial wooden slingshots, the Wham-O, was selected as the model. It is a perfect addition to my slingshot collection and will always remind me of the farm.

Farmhouse early1900sThe farm house was built in the late 1800's by my Great-Great Grandparents. The farmhouse was added to a couple of times by my Great Grandparents in the early 1900's. That brought it to the condition shown in the first photograph. Five generations of the family have lived at the farm from the late 1800's until the fall of 1978. I have lived there two different times. The farm was demolished in the spring of 1999.

In 1943 and again in 1979, the Illinois river broke through the levee and flooded the farm and farmhouse up to the bottom of the lower level window. During the flood of '43 my Great Uncle and Aunt moved to the upstairs to live until the flood went down. My Great Aunt told how she had to sweep snakes off the stairs each morning. One window had a worn place where they had tied up the boat on the stair case. Then in 1979 when no one was living in the farmhouse the flood damaged the lower level and foundation of the house. No one lived in the house after that and in 1999 the house was knocked down and burned.

Farmhouse 1943 Farmhouse 1997

Picture taken during the flood of 1943

Picture taken in 1997

The Barn in 1967

Shepard family photo 1967

The Barn-O slingshot is the complement to the Farm-O slingshot. The offset handle and red stain give it a little different appearance than the Farm-O but it still has a similar look. The farm had two large barns and numerous other out buildings that were gone long before the house and my idea of the Farm-O and Barn-O slingshots. When this picture was taken we
had no idea that the barns would be gone
some day. I should have taken pictures just
of the barn and had some of the wood from
the barn saved for future slingshots. The
paint on the new Barn-O slingshots does
remind me of the old barns with their faded
look.

The slingshots were cut out of the boards used for the stairs in the house by Roy Baker. Kevin gave me the idea and showed me how to give the slingshots an old used look. I do have both slingshots available for anyone who is interested. They are cut out of new straight-grained oak. Just contact me if you are interested.

Farmo Slingshot                    Barno Slingshot