Harold Warp*

Harold Warp was born in a sod house on a farm near Minden, Nebraska, in 1903 to Norwegian immigrants who were pioneers and homesteaders. The youngest of 12 children, Warp was only three years old when his father died. His mother worked the farm and traded produce for family needs until she died when Warp was 11.

He was sent to live with various families until high school, finally settling with an older brother in Chicago. By the time he had graduated, Warp had written a cookbook for home economics teachers that he printed himself and sold by mail order.

Always inventive, Warp noticed that chickens grew faster and laid more eggs in the summer than in the winter, when they were kept in coops fitted with glass windows that blocked the warmth of the sun. After three years of experimenting, Warp developed Flex-O-Glass, a flexible material that could be tacked onto chicken houses to keep chickens warm and still let in the sun's beneficial rays.

While living in Chicago, Warp used his small savings to start a factory. His business boomed after the government approved Flex-O-Glass. In 1953, Warp founded Pioneer Village, which he dedicated to his parents and all homesteaders who settled the Plains states. He received many awards and honors for his contributions to the field of plastics and the preservation of American culture.