Leif Enger of Minnesota Public Radio reports on the renewed interest in the kind of windmills that
used to pump water on farms across the Prairie States. Such windmills date back to the last century
but became really popular during the late teens and 1920's. Enger talks to Doyle Herrig of rural Elko,
Minnesota, who restores and collects windmills; to Randy Stubbs, a Nebraska windmill dealer; and to
Texas historian, T. Lindsay Baker. (5:00)"
(transcript excerpt)
"...ENGER: The windmill's golden age was glorious and short. More than 1,000 manufacturers sprang
up, only to dwindle when farm prices crashed in 1921. In the mid-30s, rural electrification supplanted
most mills with electric pumps. Today, only a handful of windmill companies are still in business, though
one, Aermotor (Windmill) Corporation in San Angelo, Texas, is hiring new workers for the first time
in decades.
Collector Doyle Herrig says the new Aermotors are built exactly like the old ones: same parts, same
paint, no changes in 80 years. ..."
