"Tilyar manen.."

The following photos looked as if they were shot in Asingan around the 50's or '60s. But it was taken by Sammy Antonio around the wide rice plains of Texas.One can see the image of a McCormick rice thresher known locally ( at least in Asingan anyway ) as the "tilyar" or "tilyadora".

It was a big metallic monster, complete with iron claws, metallic intestines and an aperture that spews out the golden palay ( husked rice ) into a sack.

The machine is so noisy, dusty and enviromentally unfriendly because of the fine dust ( bodo ) that it creates. But it does save a lot of manpower working on those rice stalks separating the palay from the straw.

 

It was my brother Donato Costes who once  operated a rice thresher. He slept in the field where the machine was: thresher, tractor, a platform scale ( simbangan ) used to weigh the sack ful of palay. His workers used thick clothes and hats even if the weather was so warm. In order not to inhale the fine dust, they use a bandana to wrap their faces. They would like stagrcoach robbers from the cowboy movies.

Yes, as Sammy Antonio mentioned, there was always a festive mood when the tilyar rumbles into the barangay. Palay means money. The hardworking farmer would again taste the fruits of his labor after the sacks of husked rice are stored under his house...

photos by Sammy....

from inside his car, a glimpse "deep in the heart of Texas.."

 

There it is, still alive and kicking here in Texas...

 

A "kuliglig" salesman should introduce his stuff to these American farmers...

 

What's the machine doing there?..It is supposed to be working!