For What Ails You - Postal History Sunday

Once more you find yourself visiting the Genuine Faux Farm blog to read the most recent edition of Postal History Sunday.   If you are new here, you are most welcome!  If you are returning, you know what to do!  Please grab a snack and a beverage and pull up your favorite chair to join the rest of us.  Maybe we'll learn something new?

Oh - and before we get started, we need to take those worries and troubles and spread them on the bottoms of your shoes.  Put those shoes on and walk around outside for a few minutes until you've successfully wiped them off and you can't recognize them anymore.

There - now we're ready!

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The 1893 Columbian Issue

Like so many collectors of United States stamps, I always held the 1893 issue that commemorated the landing of Columbus as something I would love to obtain a complete set of someday.  This is a tall order because there are sixteen different stamps in the group and the last five have denominations of $1 through $5.  That translates to a significant chunk of change if you want to collect a whole set.  Why?  Well, they don't cost a couple of dollars anymore - they can cost a lot of dollars!

The most common denomination is the 2 cent stamp.  There were lots and LOTS of these printed and you can find pretty much as many of them as you would like if you wish without spending much money at all.  And, if you would like to collect postal history with that stamp, you can do just fine on a shoestring budget.

For example, here is a fairly common piece of mail from Stoughton, Wisconsin to Madison mailed in the 1890s.  I like it because we used to live in Madison and we had friends living in Stoughton.  There's a personal connection which makes it a little more interesting for me.

I have a long-standing goal to see if I can find a piece of postal history showing each of the Columbian stamps that have a denomination UNDER the $1 value.  I suspect I won't allow myself to spend what it would take to get those with $1 and up denominations - and I am okay with that.  And, the majority of the items with dollar values fail to show payment of an actual postage rate.  They were often mailed to a collector and overpaid the postage needed.  That typically doesn't interest me either.

After all, there is enough of a challenge (and reward) finding the lower value stamps properly paying a postage rate as it is!

Along Comes the Otis Clapp & Son Correspondence

If you are a postal historian, you recognize that we owe a debt to those who kept all of their old envelopes and wrappers and we owe an equal debt to the subsequent caretakers of this material who eventually allowed someone else to take them for collecting purposes rather than burning them!

Recently, there have been a fair number of items coming out that were addressed to or sent from Otis Clapp & Son.  Most of the material appears to be the address and postage portions of packages that were wrapped in the typical brown paper used for parcels at that time.

Above is a package front addressed to Otis Clapp & Son of Providence, Rhode Island.  Total postage is 45 cents, including a 30 cent and 6 cent Columbian issue stamp.

Unfortunately, the mute cancels are smudged and unreadable if they had any words on them in the first place.  And, since there is no return address on this package piece we cannot ascertain where it was mailed from, nor can we be absolutely certain as to the year it was mailed.  However, it is a fairly safe bet that this item was mailed in 1893 simply because the 1 cent and 2 cent issues are from the stamp series that was commonly found at post offices from 1890 to 1893.  A new series of these with slightly different designs was issued in 1894.  The stamps with most common use (such as these low value stamps) tend to make their appearance on postal history items closer to their dates of issue.  If this package were mailed in 1895, for example, we would expect the designs of the 1 and 2 cent stamps to match that new series.

Wait!  You want to know what I mean by a "mute cancel?"  

Let me remind you of this stamp:

The oval cancel has city name "Boston" across the top.  If you look at the oval cancels on the package wrapper, you will see no indication as to the town and there doesn't appear to be a date either.  They have nothing to say - hence they are mute.  It's not my term, but it is the one used in the hobby to indicate that no city or date is included in the postal marking.

Internal Fourth-Class Mail 1879-1912

Since these are package fronts, we cannot be certain, but it is a good, educated guess, that the contents fit the definition of fourth-class mail.  Essentially, anything that was not classified as first, second or third class mail fell into this final class of items that could be sent via the postal service.  This included various merchandise, including the types of materials Otis Clapp and Son might ship out or receive. 

The rate was very simple - 1 cent for every ounce up to 4 pounds and was effective from May 1, 1879 to December 31, 1912.  Thus, the item above would have weighed 45 ounces (2 lbs 13 oz)

A similar, third-class mail rate was 1 cent for every 2 ounces and was applied to all types of printed matter packages, such as books, circulars and newspapers.  It too, had a 4 pound limit, which eliminates it as a possibility for the package front shown above (at this rate, it would have weighed over five pounds).

The item shown above is franked only by a 15 cent Columbian stamp and is likely an example of a 15 ounce package mailed at the fourth-class rate.  However, we cannot rule out the possibility that this was printed matter carried in a wrapper - and it could have been a third-class rate.  We'll never know for certain, and that's just the way things are sometimes!

There are two options to describe this one:

1. It was a catalog or some such printed item that weighed 30 ounces and was mailed as a third-class mail item.
2. It was merchandise of some sort that weighed 15 ounces and was mailed at the fourth-class rate.
   

Thirty ounces is a pretty hefty catalog for a specialized company like J. Ellwood Lee and Co, so my guess is that this was also a fourth-class mail item.

Unlike the first item, we have no other other clues to help us determine a likely year of mailing and just like the first item, we have no postmarks that will help us.  However, a quick history of the J. Ellwood Lee Company gives us an idea that, perhaps, we should not be surprised if it was used somewhere in the 1893-1894 period.

J. Ellwood Lee Co

The J Ellwood Lee Company of Conshohockem, Pennsylvannia (say that town name three times fast!) was a well-known supplier of medical supplies, such as rubber gloves, ligatures, rubber tubing, as well as other medical equipment.  

John Ellwood Lee was born in 1860 and started the business in the attic of his parents' home in 1883.  By the time the Columbian Exposition came around (the time when the Columbian stamps were issued) in 1893 his company was quite well established.  J Ellwood Lee Company won five gold medals against international competition at the fair.  The company's involvement in the exposition doesn't make it hard to see why Columbian issue stamps might be on some of their mailings.

This article on the Pennsylvania Heritage site can provide more detail on J Ellwood Lee if you find that interesting. 

Oddly enough, Johnson & Johnson (yes, that Johnson & Johnson) purchased J. Ellwood Lee Company in 1905, placing Ellwood Lee onto its board of directors. 

Supposing this package held rubber tubing (not a bad guess giving Otis Clapp & Son's activities), 15 ounces could have held a decent bit of tubing.  Below is an invoice (that I do not own) that was on an online auction site.

The invoice shows an 1894 purchase of reels of silk - presumably used for stitches.  Given Otis Clapp & Son's focus as a pharmaceutical business and the advertising on the front, I think it more likely that the second package front carried some sort of rubber tubing.

Antikamnia Chemical Company

Above is an item that bears 51 cents in postage to carry a package that must have weighed three pounds and three ounces of weight.  Unlike the other two, this one was sent from Otis Clapp & Son to a customer in St Louis, Missouri - the Antikamnia Chemical Company.

Once again, we have a 1 cent stamp from the 1890-93 definitive issue that encourages me to believe that this, too, is an 1893-94 mailing.

The Antikamnia Chemical Company (established 1890) was known for its powder and tablet products to reduce pain.  The main ingredient, acetanilid, was sometimes mixed by this company with other active ingredients such as codeine, heroin and quinine.  The initial efficacy of acetanilid rested on a single German study of 24 patients, but the company is known for prolific advertising to maintain sales even after running afoul of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.  

More may be read if you locate the second resource in the "Resource Section" at the end of this blog.

The bookmark shown above is not in my possession and was found as an offering on Etsy.  A person could also find advertising covers for this firm if there was interest.

Otis Clapp & Son

Otis Clapp first opened his retail homeopathic pharmacy in 1840 and the company Otis Clapp & Son was still operating until it was purchased in 2008.  Oddly enough, you can find the company advertising various homeopathic remedies over a long span of time AND you can find it listed as a publishing company.

By all accounts, Otis was a remarkable individual, serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, is listed as a founder for M.I.T., the Boston Female Medical College and an orphanage. 

Otis' son was also quite remarkable.  Dr. J. Wilkinson Clapp was as professor of pharmacy at the Boston University Medical School and put emphasis on research.  A decent outline of their history can be found at the Sue Young Histories site.  Sadly, the old Otis Clapp company site with the company history has been taken down, so I can no longer reference it.

Apparently, Otis Clapp bottles are a fairly popular collectors item.  These bottles were found on the Antiques Navigator site. 

What I find interesting in all of this is the connections these three pieces of postal history make within the medical and pharmaceuticals fields.  Clearly, Otis Clapp & Company was populated by exceptional people and the early stories surrounding that company are generally positive.  Similarly, J Ellwood Lee was seen in a good light - even by employees well after he could have been excused from personal interaction with the workers.  In both cases, the primary players saw significant success while being regarded as good and honorable individuals.

On the other hand, the founders of the Antikamnia Chemical Company could be said to have found financial success, but there is some question about the ethics and quality that went along with it all.  It could be interesting to uncover how Clapp and Lee might have felt about Antikamnia. 

But, perhaps we should get back to the postal history stuff now?

Why the Ugly Cancellations?

The postal markings available to us on these parcel fronts are far from helpful to the postal historian.  However, they did the job they were intended to do - deface the postage stamps so they could not be re-used.  

Most third and fourth class mail items were struck with cancellation devices that did not include a date and sometimes did not even indicate a city/town of origin.  In the fine book by Beecher and Wawrukiewicz (see resources), they suggest that these 'mute' cancels purposefully eliminated the date to not call attention to the speed of delivery of this type of mail.  

We need to remember that all sorts of things were being mailed in fourth-class.  Sometimes an item would simply have a mailing tag tied to it.  With all of the different sizes and shapes, shipping could provide some interesting puzzles for the postal service.  It is no wonder that it might take longer and it is understandable that they did not want to give customers any additional ammunition to complain about the speed of delivery.

Not all of these cancels were perfectly mute - often giving a town name.  It is possible these markings had such text, but I can't make it out if they did.

As far as the quality of the strikes are concerned, we can also surmise that the package surface was rarely as stable as a flat letter on a solid surface would be.  It does not take much of an experience with a stamping device to figure out exactly how hard it is to get a clean strike on an unevenly supported surface.

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Thank you so much for joining me for this edition of Postal History Sunday!  

Some of you might take note that a prior version of this post appeared in the GFF Postal History Blog in November of 2020.   I took the time to add to the introduction and edit to make it more accessible to a wider audience - hopefully so anyone could read this and enjoy!

Have a great remainder of the weekend and I hope your upcoming week goes well!

Resources:

H. Beecher and T. Wawrukiewicz, US Domestic Postal Rates, 1872-1999, 2nd ed.  ( a newer, third edition to 2011 is now available) 

Fiedler, William C. (1979). "Antikamnia: The Story of a Pseudo-ethical Pharmaceutical". Pharmacy in History. 21 (2): 59–72

Winter Density

 I am sure you can relate to the problem where you mean to do something and think about it often, only to realize, some time later, that you never did do that thing - despite all of your thinking about it.

Well, that's the way things get sometimes at the farm when it comes to taking pictures of things.  A couple of years ago I was struck by the beauty of the heads of Winter Density lettuce we were growing in Valhalla (our larger high tunnel) and I told myself to get a picture of them.  But, then, it was time to harvest and I took almost all of the heads of that beautiful butterhead/romaine cross out for people to enjoy.

Then, I promptly forgot to take a picture until a week later.

Even though I failed to catch Winter Density at its peak with the photo above, you can get an idea as to the shape, color and texture.  They are just starting to "stretch" and get taller, which means they are bolting (going to seed).  You might also notice a little tip burn on the edges of the leaves because this batch was in the high tunnel and we had some very warm weather the week after we harvested.

Well, that's part of the reason we chose the lettuce to be harvested.  We knew the heat was coming.

Oddly enough, Winter Density is not one of the lettuces we have a long history with at the Genuine Faux Farm.  Instead, we have relied on a mix of lettuces including Bronze Arrowhead, Bunte Forellenschus and Grandpa Admires.  But, once we started getting interest in our lettuce in larger, bulk amounts, we found we needed to find a nice, bulky green lettuce that was not necessarily a romaine.  Winter Density, having both romaine and butterhead qualities fit the bill nicely.

Winter Density tends to put together some nice, dense, leaf lettuce heads that have quality leaves from top to bottom, inside and out.  We've harvested heads that have weighed as much as a pound, but felt ok with beginning to pick them once they reached about a quarter pound in weight.  These heads are one of the easier lettuce harvests for us because the base stem is easy to find at the soil surface and cut with the lettuce knife.  They cut easily and cleanly.

Many of our heritage lettuces that we grow are perfect for the CSA because they tend to mature inconsistently, effectively extending the harvest period.  Winter Density tends to compact their maturity period with a consistent growth period for most plants.  This is great if you need to have a batch of lettuce with some uniformity of size and maturity, but a problem if you don't have a place for all of them to go when they all reach that stage.

We find that Winter Density slots in nicely for the Spring to early Summer plantings and again for the late August transplants that we will harvest in early October and later plantings into November.  The leaves do tend to tip burn in extreme heat, so we often back off of growing Winter Density in the warmest months.  I suppose, given the name, we shouldn't be at all surprised by that!  But, I wonder if a little shade cloth could actually extend the season of this variety into that period as well.

As far as taste and texture are concerned, we can tell you this.  Rob likes the softer lettuces, like the Bunte Forellenschus and Tammy likes lettuce with some crunch, like Crispmint (a romaine).  We both like Winter Density.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Taught I Taw A Puddy Tat

We have long realized that our trees, poultry and felines receive far more appreciation as authors on the blog than Rob does - so it seemed like it was time to feature some of the Farm Supervisors and Office Managers at the Genuine Faux Farm.

Being the senior member of the current Outdoor Farm Supervisory Crew, we asked Soup if she would like to author today's blog.

Soup has been with us now for a few years and she was clearly one of those "take the cat out to the country and drop it off near a farmhouse" gifts that apparently some people provide when they decide a cat or dog is no longer good for them.  She has a tendency to stay close to the house and the immediate farm buildings and has never been much of a hunter.  Instead, she finds ways to be nearby, but not seen.   

In this post, she shows part of the motivation for lounging in - of all places - an old kitty litter bucket.  You see, she's usually ok with her fully grown son.  I mean, she remembers when he and his brother were pretty darned small.  But, he is a bit of a big lug sometimes.

When I asked Soup if she would like to write a blog, she declined.  

Well, actually, she walked away.  

I can take a hint, I guess.

We have had some... um... success getting some of our Outdoor Farm Supervisors to write blogs for us in the past.  For example, Cubbie was willing to help us out once in a while.

For example, she gave us this nice little interview in 2014 and I think there is another one we are reviving for next Thursday that might have been in one of our newsletters before we had a blog.  She even organized a "Sit-On" one Spring with Mrranda and the Sandman.

Cubbie lived to be a ripe old age and was the Mighty Huntress on the farm.  She taught the Sandman and Mrranda how to hunt, even though they were not her kittens.  Cubbie loved a really GOOOD skritching and would show her appreciation by purring up a storm and drooling all over you.  

Yes.  She drooled.  No getting around it.  Let's just say that we sometimes had to change our shirts during our three-shirt days on the farm because the cat drooled all over them...

Cubbie was not "original" to the Genuine Faux Farm.  You know, when your god-daughter asks you if you'll take her cat because they are moving into town and can't bring her outdoor cat along - what would you have done?  Yeah.  Us too.

Drool and all, Cubbie was a great cat.  A few Winters ago, we were preparing to bring the outdoor cats into the basement at the start of an extreme cold period.  Cubbie could not be found, even though we had seen her the day before.  I guess cats sometimes know when it's time.

Most of you who read the blog will not be at all familiar with Strider - our big tuxedo cat who roamed our homes as we moved from one place to another place to another place.  This poor, long-suffering feline wasn't fond of 'snorts' (big equipment), was terrified of repairmen, and loved watching his humans from a window as they worked in the garden.

Strider surprised us more than once with his intelligence.  He was big enough to reach up and turn door knobs and he shocked both of us one day when one of us asked, "I wonder if cats can wink?"  And Strider promptly winked at us.  At another point we noticed some flies buzzing against the screen door and one of us wondered out loud if cats would eat a fly.  Once again, Strider obliged.

We're not sure if that showed intelligence or ... something else... you can decide.

He and his sister, Eowyn (gee I wonder where we got those names?), were added to our family not long after we were married.  They actually prompted one of our first attempts to build ANYTHING when we constructed the Almighty Perch!  

Looking back, it is actually pretty amazing that these two actually survived all of the moves, home remodeling efforts and other shenanigans we were involved in until we actually landed at the Genuine Faux Farm in 2004.  

Eowyn was nicknamed "Bat" (short for acrobat) for her leaping abilities.  But, she also looked a bit like a bat when she faced you.  She was a tortoise shell kitty, but her face was very dark and her ears were a bit bigger than the face seemed to call for.  I think she took delight in nibbling off her brother's whiskers when she cleaned his face.

"Take that smarty-boy!"

After Strider left us, Eowyn kept us company for a couple of years until she too went to visit the Almighty Perch in the sky.   

After a brief stint by Cocoa and Rosie (my brother & sister-in-law's cats), we recruited two new Indoor Office Managers when Hobnob and Bree joined us in 2010.

What you see above is the last time Hobnob seemed to pose to allow us to take a photo of her.  Normally, she gets a picture taken when she is grumpy and just not willing to walk away from the photo.  Tammy is definitely her human, but she isn't afraid to demand attention from either of us.  She has this abrupt way of doing things too.

Time to sit?  Plop.  Time to leave a lap?  Just go, no need to stretch.  Being invited on to a lap?

Well, she does like to walk around the chair several times until it is clear that the human is about to give up in that case.  THEN, she'll jump up.

Bree has claimed Rob as her human.  We tried to avoid this situation by being very careful not to show favoritism when they were little.  That experiment didn't seem to matter.  Both of them, when they were kittens, required soothing to get them to go to sleep at night.  I tend to believe that kittens can be influenced by some particular event early in their lives to 'imprint' on a particular human.  I have no idea what it would have been and neither Bree, nor Hobnob, have offered any insight.

Bree is especially good at finding a nice Sun Puddle and then leaving it in time to attend nearly every Zoom meeting Rob has to be involved in.

Many of you might not remember that we brought a Farm Supervisor with us when we first came to the Genuine Faux Farm.  Doughboy was one of the friendliest outdoor cats we've ever met.  He was a kitten at the farmhouse in Decorah that was part of one of Pandora's litter.  Ya, she had the kittens in a box - why'd you ask?  

We initially dubbed him the World's Cutest Kitten (WCK), but then Pandora took the litter to a neighboring farm and left them there.  She returned so she could have peace and quiet with us, I guess.  However, it didn't work.  The WCK found his way back and was then dubbed Doughboy (or DB).  

People who came to some of our earliest GFF gatherings might remember being warned to watch their food.  He was expert at snagging things off of plates!

We were graced for a time with two excellent Farm Supervisors who came to us as kittens in 2012.  The time was right as far as their arrival and our presence with the blog and they both became "stars."  Well, ok, people seemed to like hearing about them.

Mrranda was at her best when we featured her efforts to help Tammy roll up electric poultry netting.  Never had another cat do better in that department!

Mrr had a tendency to be just a little wild sometimes - doing things we would have rather she didn't - like climbing on TOP of one of the high tunnels.  Let's just say we discouraged that one because we did not need to replace the plastic all that soon!  She also liked to untie Rob's shoes to get him to stand still and give her the attention she desired.  

Or maybe she was just trying to trip him up.

Then, there was the Sandman.   The Sandman loved the spotlight.  He liked to pose for the camera.  He liked to hitch a ride on Rob if he was crawling along a row weeding.  He especially liked to dispense his wisdom.

In short, he was the perfect Spokescat for the farm.  Mrranda served as the Farm Supervisor while the Sandman took a position in Public Relations.   

Both cats had a tendency to disappear for a day or two at a time, but always came back.  But, the time lapse for Mrranda just got longer and longer... and we had to assume she had met her demise in some fashion.  We're pretty certain it had to be with a certain amount of flair.

A year or two later, the Sandman also retired.  Which left us without a Spokescat - and forced Rob to write more of the blogs.

And so we turn to the Inspector.

Ok.  So, the Inspector has a different vibe to him.  And, he has no dignity - or so it seems.

He has been willing to take questions and actually give answers in the past so we could post them on the blog.  He even has a quick video interview in this one.  So, he may have some ability to serve in the Public Relations field.  However, he doesn't actually seek out the limelight as much as the Sandman did.

He also doesn't really supervise like Mrranda did either.  Perhaps she was too much of a micromanager?  (Hey!  Your shoe's untied! Ha!)  The Inspector, on the other hand, is pretty laid back about such things.  He'll check in periodically - as can be seen here.  

Actually, he reminds me more of the supervisor who drops by to chat for a while, but actually never really does anything that you can observe.  Like that type of supervisor - who will leave after you give them the conversation they desire - he will move on once he's gotten the skritches he has need of.

The Inspector is not above a practical joke or two.  But, above all - he's just REALLY laid back.  

But, I suspect I can get him to answer some more questions - even if he won't muster the energy to write his own blog.  

What say you?  Do you have questions for the Inspector?

Don't Think We're Missing Much

I have been using Thursdays to select an older blog post from the same month (but a different year) to inspire me to either edit and update content of something I thought was particularly good OR use that content to write a bit more than was there initially.

This time around, I found one of our oldest posts on this blog and thought I'd start by putting a portion of it here and then continuing on the topic afterward:

--- From March 10, 2009----

Last summer, our satellite TV stopped working and we just decided to have it taken down. We don't pick anything up with the antenna -so there you go.

At this point, we can tell you that we do not regret this decision.

Of course, we turned the tv on while in a hotel room when we traveled. And what did we see? Nothing that looked horribly different from when we saw it last. Lots of channels with nothing truly interesting to see. The news was still being reported with urgency (and repetition) by multiple channels - always with the assumption that yesterday's news is old news (even if you hadn't already heard).  Lots of commercials that were either irritating, misleading, annoying, or all three. And, the stupid thing was still as mesmerizing as ever. I think it has something to do with the belief that surely something was coming up that would make the moments spent watching it worthwhile. The good news - we found it much easier to turn off.

Don't get me wrong - we do like some shows and movies. But, since we dropped satellite we have:

• spent more time playing board and card games together
• watched more movies we really wanted to see in the theater or at home (with no commercial interruptions)
• turned over the 'to do' list more rapidly (yes R is a list maker - first on list - make list)
• read more books

Besides, I'd like to avoid the situation of being asked about what I've done in my life and have to answer - "Well, I didn't do much, but I DID see this cool thing on tv....." 

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My how things have changed and how they have stayed the same.  The barn is not as photogenic as it was back in 2009, but what's on the television still has us asking questions.

We have managed to take some advantage of "air tv" with a small rabbit ear antenna that we added a few years ago.  We still like to have access to public television once in a while and we are always hopeful, but usually disappointed, that there will be a baseball game we can view.  In fact, if I recall, we got the antenna to watch the World Series.  

By the way, if you live in Iowa, you live in a black-out area for the Twins, White Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals and Royals - so even if you pay for satellite or some other access, you aren't guaranteed to get to see any of the "local" teams.  It's irritating, but it is also beside the point.

The point is that we fully realize that the tv is often a brain babysitter.  And, we also understand that there are times that we need one of those.  But, I also believe tv and electronic media can be one of the more addictive drugs out there.  It's hard to get up and walk away once you let yourself sink into a comfy chair when you are already tired form whatever your day has brought you.

On the other hand, Tammy and I STILL love playing board games together.  And, we STILL prefer to select a DVD and watch that (without the commercials!) if we want to watch something.

It's part of the realization that when we make a choice of what we are going to do or what we are going to see - rather than just letting it happen to us - we live a bit more and a bit better.  It's why Rob makes his own music playlists rather than letting a streaming service do it.  Just a little more investment brings me a little more joy.

Perhaps that is why people struggle sometimes?  They aren't giving themselves the opportunity to invest a little of themselves into the things they enjoy - so the "joy" part of "enjoy" isn't prominent enough?  

I suppose this doesn't fit everyone.  But, it fits us most of the time.

Have a great day all and add the "joy" back into "enjoy" for yourselves!

Thoughts on the Iowa Landscape

I've been involved in more conversations over the past year regarding how we could change what we do with Iowa's land than I have had most of the rest of my lifetime.  This is probably a function of my job with Pesticide Action Network, but it also has something to do with the fact that - perhaps - I might finally have enough experience to have better discussions without being dismissed outright.

Well, that's what I tell myself.

I have a dream in my head about what Iowa could become if we all put our minds to it.  But, it isn't going to happen unless we really want it.  When I tried to talk about it with one person, they said, "Oh, you want it to be the way it was in the 1930s or 1950s?"  

My answer was "yes and no."  I thought I would elaborate here with a case study that is the area around the current Genuine Faux Farm.  Why there?  Well, I know it better than most places, so why not?

GFF in 1930

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a wonderful website where you can look at composite aerial photos of the state from several dates in history.  You can access the maps by scrolling down towards the bottom of the text on the page I linked to and taking their link to the map.  It takes a moment to get used to, but it is worth the effort.  If you want to view it and can't unlock the secrets, let me know and I will be glad to give pointers.

I thought I would grab some screenshots of the area surrounding our farm from history and show them here.  Our farm is located where the red dot is in the photo above.  You may click on the image to see a larger representation.

Things I want you to note:

1. Check out the number of different fields with a variety of crops.
2. Take note of the various farmsteads in the photo as well.
3. Notice where the darker areas are with trees.
4. Watch for waterways if you can.
   

 GFF in 1950

Here is a similar area in 1950 and you can already notice a number of changes.  I suppose I could have done a better job of trying to get the same area when I took the screen shot, but we'll work with what I have.

Field sizes have gotten a bit bigger.  The farmstead at top left has given up the area to its south for a crop of some kind - or maybe it is a hayfield?  That's hard to tell from the photo.  The trees in the East are fairly similar, though there are fewer on the East center.

GFF in 1960

Ten years later, there are a few more changes.  Field sizes are fairly similar to 1950.  There does appear to be a water way in the fields towards the bottom of the picture.  The trees in the center East appear to be confined now to a fenceline and that area appears to be tilled now.

GFF in 1970

When we get to 1970, we much more field consolidation.  The farmstead at top left is being tilled to its very edges.  An area just below the dark cluster of trees at the left was what looked like hayground or pasture is now tilled and you can see some waterway management there.  An area North of our farm that was pasture and had a couple of trees is now tilled.  There are fewer trees around all of the farmsteads.

GFF in 2018 or so

Here is a relatively recent representation.  In some ways, comparison is a bit more difficult because this one is in color while the others are not.

The farmstead at top left is gone, but you can see some of the footprint in the field where it once was.  The fields are consolidated.  There are a few grassy waterways being managed.  Only one farmstead has more, rather than less area surrounding it that is not part of a larger field.

There is a more dense stand of trees to the northeast with a clearing in that area.

These pictures span ninety years, so you we probably should expect to see some changes.  And, there is fifty years between the 1970 aerial and the recent satellite image.  But, I think you can still appreciate the scope of the change between 1930 to 1970 versus the differences between the 1970 and 2017 (or so) image.  

What Would I Like?

I would certainly agree that we would live better on our landscape and have healthier farms and people on those farms if we supported more diverse cropping systems, which would manifest itself in the forms of either more field borders OR strips of different crops in our larger fields.  I also believe that those who live on farmsteads should have the opportunity to have a bit more untilled land around them - rather than having to feel like they must make every square inch pay off in dollars and cents.

In that way, I would like to see some movement back to 1930 (or even 1970).

We need small grain crops and hayfields and pasture land and orchards.  We need diverse farms that have a mix of crops, woodlots and animals. 

But, we need to do better than just go back to our past land use habits.

We need trees, bushes and grasses in the fence rows and we need habitat plantings that double as snow drift catchers by the roadsides.  

We need to stop thinking in terms of squares and rectangles and start thinking in terms of contours and features of the land.

We need to re-establish some of the "pothole" ponds that we spent so much time draining prior to 1930 so we have more wildlife areas and more opportunities to catch heavy rains and allow it to seep into a our groundwater supplies rather than running downstream to the Gulf of Mexico.

We need buffer strips that can double as turn-around areas and access lanes for equipment, while also providing some natural habitat, a preventative against wind erosion and a potential catch for unintended herbicide drift.

So, yes, I want some of what the 1930s and the 1950s had.

But, I want more, too.

When someone mentions to me that it would be nice if we returned to how we farmed in the 1930s, I remind them of when the Dustbowl occurred.  Just because it was a time in the past, it doesn't mean it was a time that we, as humans, did a particularly good job with how we farmed and dealt with nature.

Perhaps, I am odd and maybe you don't agree with me.  But, I hope you will at least consider the potential.

I have a vision of what this state could look like.  It has a mixture of corn fields and oak savannas.  There are prairie segments and soybeans.  Cows dot the landscape in a rolling pasture area and a small wooded lot surrounds a restored pond.  A small field of sunflowers isn't far from alfalfa that just had its second cutting and a wild area supports pheasants, meadowlarks and even provides foragers with an opportunity for different types of foods - in fact, it is rumored there are morel mushrooms there.  Every community has more than one farmer who raised produce and sells eggs.  Streams run clear and the wetlands host the great migrations in the fall and spring.

And, it's beautiful.

Thought You'd Always Be There

Small, local businesses have a familiar cycle that gets revisited again and again and again.  That's why we call it a cycle, I guess.  Some cycles imply a sense of renewal and health, while others are more like a downward spiral.  I suppose this particular cycle could be one or the other depending on how you view it.

Energy with the New

There is nothing quite like an individual, or a family, or small group of people who decide to put an idea into action and use it to create a new, local business.  The world apparently (and happily) seems to have no shortage of individuals who have ideas, who have energy to act on them, and who are willing to work hard to try to make them fly.  

Let me clear here.  I am talking about those folks who are looking to serve their local or regional communities with their business.  I am referring to those who will work to provide a real product or service in exchange for fair compensation.  I am not focusing on those who might call themselves an entrepreneur with the sole intent of growing money and influence for themselves.

Communities frequently extend themselves to encourage these new entrants into the business world.  People are excited to visit the new restaurant, stop by the new coffee shop, take a gander at the new clothing store, or drop a dollar or two with the new local food producer.  

Of course, there is a subset of people who look askance at anything new and many businesses fail to get enough notice to even have a fair start - so it's not all roses.  Typically expenses are much higher early in a business as it tries to build the infrastructure it needs to do work.  And, there is a great deal to be said about the inevitable mistakes that are bound to happen that will help them to become far better at what they do - if they can manage to survive those blunders.

There is often more forgiveness available for a business (and the people that make up that business) as long as they are still recognized as being "new."  Often, services a new business might need are extended at discounts or other courtesies are offered to the new kids on the block just to help "get them started."  I recall that we had several people sign up for our first year of our CSA program in 2005 because they wanted to help us get established.

All of this happens for as long as people perceive a business as new and exciting.  Once it seems like that business is here to stay - things change.

The Curse of Being "Established"

A local business typically hopes to get past the initial growing pains as quickly as possible - if only to create some sense of stability for themselves.  There is only so long you can run in high gear trying to just get things in place for a business to run.  I recall clearly how anxious Tammy and I were to get ourselves to a point where we were no longer just trying to figure out HOW to do things and we could just DO them.

The reality of the situation is that, at least with our type of farm, you are ALWAYS in a continuous process of trying to figure out how to do things because circumstances are always changing.  But, there was also a point where we needed to present an air of competence to our client base.  Remember - they're only going to accept mistakes for so long before they have decided you are no longer 'new.'  And, if you are 'established,' the appearance of incompetence is a quick way to find the exit.

This is the stage where many small, local businesses fold.  The initial rush of interest has vanished.  In our case, we found out the hard way that many of the folks who joined us in the first year would not return for our second year of production.  Why?  Well, they just wanted to help us get started.  They weren't really interested in our produce or service.  Their mission accomplished, they left us for some other new project.  Happily, we did find enough new people to replace them, but we did not meet our projections because we had false information based on the initial interest.

Looking back, I would say that a small, local business does not really become established until year four or five.  If it can survive that long, it will be an exception to the rule as most small enterprises will fold in the first three years for a whole host of reasons.  The disconnect here is that the community typically does not see a business as new after its first or maybe second year.  In reality, a community probably should incubate a business for three to five years just to get it to the point where it will continue to be there to serve.

Serving Community

If a small, local business happens to make it to its fourth or fifth year, it often becomes clear that the owners/operators of that business are not only investing themselves in their business, they are investing in the communities they serve.  

You may feel free to disagree with me, but my observation over the years is that there are a couple of models that people follow for new businesses.  One is to create the business and intend for it to always grow and get bigger.   If you've ever watched "Shark Tank" (I've seen a few short sections of it a couple of times), that would fit this model.  Once again, the goal is focused around making more money, building market share and increasing influence.

The other model is to create a stable business of a size that will sustain the owners/operators and their families while treating employees well.  In this model, there is certainly a desire to make enough to be comfortable and to have the ability to make investments that could make the business better.  But, on top of all of that is a sense that service and connection to the community is part of the equation.  

A stable, local business recognizes that some of their return they must expect comes in the form of community support and community connection.  Sometimes, these businesses must accept community connection as a partial replacement for monetary income.   For example, a small restaurant in a small town had been owned by one family for thirty years.  If you ran the numbers, it might be hard to understand how that restaurant kept going.  But, if you went there, you came to realize that the owners were receiving all sorts of intangible benefits from their community and they were willing to accept those benefits in lieu of financial rewards.

Every day, entertainment entered the door of varying types and qualities.  Customers were friends - so the owners and workers combined work time with social time.  No one blinked an eye when the grandkids hung out at the restaurant all day long.  If one of the kids came up to your table, you just said hello and gave praise for the picture they had just created.  When, the owners retired and sold the restaurant, it became apparent fairly quickly that the new owners were not ready to accept those sorts of benefits as a substitute for monetary income and the restaurant was closed eighteen months later.

Peak Performance

If a small, local business is fortunate (and if they have some skill), they will hit a period where they are at peak performance.  They are able to produce a quality product or service reliably.  They have confidence in their ability to produce and have enough experience to consider and make adjustments as times and situations change.  And, they have a customer base that keeps them close to their capacity for production while they are compensated fairly for their efforts.

I am sure the amount of time it takes to get to that point differs for each type of business and for all sorts of communities.  In the case of the Genuine Faux Farm, I would say we hit this point at about year nine.  Don't get me wrong, we produced quality food prior to that point and we had skills before then.  But, we had been continuously improving in all respects up to that point and were, in my opinion, putting it all together at a high level at that point in time.  

We had finally built up a solid farm infrastructure that allowed us to do our work with a more reasonable amount of effort and we didn't find ourselves needing to invest anything and everything we earned back into the farm.

Were there still mini-disasters and mistakes?  Of course!  But, we had the skill and experience to handle them well - or at least better than we had in the past.  It was also about that time that we heard people referencing us and our farm as 'long-standing' producers of or supporters of X, Y or Z.  It might have been said prior to that, but it was at this stage of our farm business that we heard those words and processed them.  I guess we hadn't thought of things that way because we were just doing what we thought was right.  We were a bit surprised that some people had actually noticed.  But, it was a nice surprise.

Thought You'd Always Be There

I wonder if there are examples of small, local businesses that find the size they want to be and manage to stay in the "peak performance" zone for a long time?  I know that in the past, when local communities had fewer options to go for service, there would be numerous examples of small, local businesses that managed to run for more than one generation in a family.  But, I suspect they had periods at peak and other times where that wasn't the case.

In the present day, competition is not just with other local businesses and, frankly, the connection members of the community have with local establishments is maybe not as strong as it once was.  But, the truth of the matter is this - a small, locally owned business is often an extension of a family or a couple of families.  This type of business is inextricably linked to those lives and if the business is in a down-cycle, the family has to bear that along with all of the normal stresses that come with life.

And this is part of the reason why these businesses finally come to an end.  Imagine that your business has shown it can reach a peak performance level.  Then, for whatever reason, it appears as if demand for your product or service in your community is stagnating and you find that you are no longer being compensated reasonably for your efforts.  Perhaps you try to make adjustments and changes to address the problem or maybe you decide to stay the course and hope things come back around.  But, maybe you just realize you don't have it in you anymore and that maybe a different opportunity is now calling your name...

You announce your decision to move on and an outpouring of dismay comes your way from the community.  People you haven't heard from for two to five years bemoan the business's absence and others say things like, "I just assumed you'd always be here.  I mean, you HAVE always been here, haven't you?"

Once again, these small businesses are often an extension of the people that own/operate them.  How would you feel if you were essentially told that somebody expected you to hang out and wait for that moment they decided they needed you for something.  Or worse yet, they just wanted you to keep going so they could feel good that you were "still there."

Cycles

I am sure it would be tempting for those who read this to conclude that we are only talking about our own farm, the Genuine Faux Farm.  Of course, much of what I write comes from that experience, so that's not entirely unfair.  However, our farm is not finished - it is just moving in a different direction.

What motivated me to write this blog is the closing of a couple of small businesses we have patronized and appreciate.  In both cases, I whole-heartedly wish them the best in the new phases of their lives, wherever that is taking them.  Of course I am sad that the products and services I very much enjoyed will no longer be available.  But, darn it all, it's not just about me now, is it?

We have seen various food producers, restaurants and businesses come and go in the communities we have been a part of over the years.  What strikes me the most is that, regardless of their place in these local business cycles, they could always use the support of the community.

That support is very effective when it comes in the form of consistent patronage of the services or products rendered.  But, we can also support a local business by reminding ourselves that it is populated from top to bottom with real people from the surrounding area.  Sometimes these people need kind words or a little bit of grace.  We can honor them with honesty and appropriate feedback.  We can respect them by not pretending to know their business better than they do.  We can help them get to and stay in their peak performance zone by promoting what they do to those we know who could use those products or services.  

And, when they decide to move on, we can wish them well and do what we can to help them to be happy and healthy as they make the transition.

There and Back Again - Postal History Sunday

Welcome again to Postal History Sunday on the Genuine Faux Farm blog.  This is the place and time where I share something about the postal history hobby I enjoy and, perhaps, you end up learning something new that interests you.

Take those troubles and worries and put them into a box.  Then, put that box into another box and put THAT box into ANOTHER box.  To keep this postal history related, you should then mail that box to yourself and when it arrives....   smash it with a hammer (who can name that animated movie reference?).  Oh wait, we don't want to smash potential postal history.  Removed the lid with the stamps, address and postal markings first.  Then, you can smash what remains with a hammer.

Worcester, Mass to London

This particular post is going to focus on two letters to the same individual.  The first can be seen below:

This letter was mailed on Dec 19, 1865 at Worcester, Mass and it left the next day on a Cunard Line steamship named Asia from Boston.  The Asia landed at Queenstown (Cobh, Ireland) on December 31 where it unloaded this letter in the bag of mail destined for London.  That bag of mail went by train to Kingston and crossed the St Georges Channel to Holyhead.  From there to London, it was mostly railway until it was taken out of the mailbag and marked with the receiving exchange mark (the red London marking on the left side).

I often find I get a better appreciation for things once I see a map and I can place where everything belongs in my head.  Feel free to click on the map to see a larger version if you want more details.  Kingston is the port by Dublin and Queenstown is the port by Cork (Cobh).  There was a regular steamer service between Kingston and Holyhead that carried passengers, goods and, of course, the mail.

Oh, and before I forget, the cost of mailing a letter from the United States to England was 24 cents as long as it did not weigh more than 1/2 ounce.  That explains the 24 cent stamp on this envelope.

Opportunity Knocks

Some time ago, a couple of people asked if I would write about how I find some of the things for my postal history collection.  While this post won't focus entirely on that, it makes some sense to talk about how I found the two envelopes I am featuring in this post.

Back when eBay was new(er), it was not unheard of to be able to find reasonably priced stamps and postal history.  You just needed to know which categories to look and what keywords to use when you were looking.  At one point in time, there was a postal history category for the United States inside of a larger "stamps" category.  I regularly searched for items with a 24 cent stamp and almost always got the same list of the same offerings - all of which did not interest me.

But, one day I saw a auction lot that showed this item as the main photo, so I went to look at it.  I found out then that there were actually two covers in the lot - and the price was very, VERY reasonable.  I did not hesitate on this one (and you'll see why later).   The price would have been good even if it were only this first piece. 

The Honorable P.C. Bacon goes to Europe

I was able to find a biography of the Honorable Peter Child Bacon ( b. 11 Nov 1804, d. 7 Feb 1886) in this book that included the histories of several Massachusetts towns.  (reference #2)  P.C. Bacon was married to Mary Louisa Batchelder (b. 15 May 1815, d. 9 Jun 1886) and they appear to have had four sons and one daughter, though I have not dug any more deeply to confirm that information.

Photo is reported by wiki to be from the first source listed at end of blog, I have not personally confirmed this - that's for another day.

P.C. Bacon was a lawyer for a well-known and respected firm that bore his name and worked out of Worcester starting in 1844 (with prior work in Oxford and Dudley).  He was the first representative from Worcester in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1848, when the city was first incorporated.  The resource linked above suggests he was elected as mayor of Worcester in 1851 and 1852 while another source lists him as the third mayor of Worcester, serving from 1849-51. 

Apparently, the Honorable P.C. Bacon took a trip to Europe towards the end of 1865, returning in January of 1866.  While in Europe, it was common for a traveler to maintain a line of credit with a financial house for ease of travel and the coverage of expenses (without carrying all of the money you might want with you for the entire trip). 

In addition to providing the monetary services, some financial houses would also provide mail forwarding or mail holding services for the traveler.  This gave his family, friends, and business associates a method for reaching him if they needed to.  (just a reminder, no phone service in 1865... but I think you knew that!)

But, what happens when P.C. Bacon goes home?

The line of credit with the financial house was purchased for a period of time that covered the travels of an individual and any services rendered could be paid for by using the balance of the account.  So, if the traveler went to Paris for a week, they could use their balance with the financial house and direct mail to be forwarded to them in Paris.  But, what happens if a letter arrives and the line of credit was closed because the traveler had returned home?

The second envelope - the one that did not even get top billing in the ebay lot - illustrates exactly what happens.

 

The second letter was mailed in Worcester on January 2 of 1866 and arrived in London on January 13.  Baring Brothers & Co had managed Bacon's line of credit and provided the mail forwarding service.  They apparently figured out that he had left (and not left them with a balance to cover forwarding costs for mail that needed to get sent on the U.S.).  As a result, they remailed this letter in London on January 20 and sent it back to Worcester as an unpaid letter. 

 

This letter retraced its steps - taking the train from London to Holyhead, crossing the St Georges to Kingston and then taking the train to Queenstown.  Once there, it left on the Cunard Line's Africa on January 21 which arrived at February 3 in Boston.

 

Baring Brothers applied no stamp and they apparently did not pay ANY postage for the return trip to the United States.  That means the recipient would be required to pay the postage for that return trip.

 

This is the key marking on that cover that tells me what the Honorable P.C. Bacon was going to have to pay the United States post office in order to read the letter that traveled across the Atlantic Ocean twice.  The marking is in black ink - just one indication that the item was received unpaid.  But, what can make it confusing is that it gives us two possibilities for the amount to pay.

24 cents or 32 cents.  So, which was it?

Depreciated Currency in the 1860s

With the event of the Civil War, the United States had to abandon the 'gold standard' that they had used.  In very simplified terms, paper money, prior to 1863, could be exchanged for a full equivalent value of precious metal.  However, the demands of the war led the U.S. Treasury to issue what became known as "greenbacks" that were given legal tender status (you could purchase things with them), but you could not exchange them for a similar value in precious metal.  In other words, the gold standard was abandoned from 1863 to the late 1870s - from the middle of the Civil War through the Reconstruction Period.

 

The value of these greenbacks was actually less than the same value in coins minted in precious metal (typically silver).  As a result, the post office would receive 24 cents in coins OR you would pay 32 cents if you used a form of paper money to pay your bill.

An excellent article titled A Brief History of the Gold Standard in the United States by Craig K Elwell provides a rundown that made sense to me, even though I am not big on the topic of monetary systems.  If you make yourself read it fairly carefully, you may find that you begin to get an understanding as well.  Or, you can just take my word for it - your call!

Some postal historians enjoy looking for examples of this sort of marking that gives the recipient the choice to pay in greenbacks or specie (coins) and there are numerous examples of these markings that can be found without much trouble.  I am one postal historian who is fine with having the one example - and it's a good one, because it has so many possible story lines.

But wait!  There's more!  P.C. Bacon's sons

I am occasionally amazed by all of the directions the research for a particular cover can take.  In the process of chasing threads of information, I discovered a website that provides the Rosters and Geneologies of the 15th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry for the Civil War. 

 

 

Apparently, P.C. Bacon had two sons who joined the 15th Massachusetts.   The photo above, from that site, and is reported to depict Francis (Frank) and William Bacon.  

Frank was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and transferred to the 102nd New York Volunteers on April 22, 1863.  He died at the battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd.  

An obituary for Francis E. Bacon was published on 13 May 1863 at "The Worcester Palladium", Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, as follows: 

Death of Lieut. Bacon
We have to record, as another of the sad fatalities of this war, the death of lieut. Francis Bacon, son of Hon. Peter C. Bacon, of this city. He was killed at Chancellorsville, in the last great fight on the Rappahannock. He is spoken of by those who knew him best as a young man of more than ordinary promise. Two years ago, at the age of 19, he was among the first to go into the service as a private in the third battalion of Rifles; and soon after the expiration of the term of three months, for which that corps was enlisted, he entered the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment; and not long ago was appointed and commissioned a lieutenant in the 102d New York regiment. His early death, at the age of 21, is a loss to his friends and to the army.

William would also die in the Civil War at the Battle of Newmarket (Virginia) on May 15, 1864.  One wonders exactly how the parents processed the loss of not one, but two sons to this conflict.  Was this trip a business trip or did both parents travel in an effort to find a new perspective?

 

And more - Baring Brothers & Company

It turns out the Baring Brothers would have a key role in the Argentinian Banking Crisis of 1890-1 that the banking firm would survive with the intervention of the Bank of England.  Even more interesting is that Baring Brothers would actually succumb to a "self-inflicted" investment crisis in 1994-5, over 100 years later.

This banking crisis apparently had some of its roots in the differences between paper money and specie (precious metals), which makes for an interesting parallel with the depreciated currency marking.  I will not pretend to be a financial expert at this time and merely reference anyone who is interested to take the link above or find the third reference shown at the end of the post. The photo above is from page 69 of that reference.

 

The wonderful thing about all of this is that we can take any of the storylines and dig into them deeper if we wish.  The Bacon family was prominent enough that there are multiple opportunities to explore their lives and what they experienced.  Baring Brothers had a long and involved history in banking, so if that story takes hold, we could certainly do much more with it.  But, from my perspective, the simple fact that a letter crossed the Atlantic Ocean in both directions to get to the recipient makes for a compelling story all by itself.

  

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Thank you for joining me in this week's Postal History Sunday and I hope you learned something new.  And if you didn't, I hope you enjoyed the process where I show that I learned several new things!

For those who might like to hunt down some of the resources for additional reading or exploration, here are some citations.

1.  Rice, Franklin Pierce, Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-Eight:Fifty Years a City : A Graphic Representation of Its Institutions, Industries, and Leaders, Worcester, Massachusetts: F.S. Blanchard & Company, p. 22.

2. Ammidown, Holmes, Historical Collections: Containing 1. The Reformation in France and II. The Histories of Seven Towns, 2nd Edition, Vol 1, New York, 1877.

3. Straining at the Anchor: The Argentine Currency Board and the Search for Macroeconomic Stability, 1880-1935  Eds: Gerardo della Paolera and Alan M. Taylor, University of Chicago Press, ISBN: 0-226-64556-8, URL: http://www.nber.org/books/paol01-1, January 2001. 

4. Elwell, Craig K, Brief History of the Gold Standard in the United States, Congressional Research Service, June 23, 2011. 

5. The website, Rosters and Genealogies of 15th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, lists resources for some of the information used to create their site.  Site referenced Mar 12, 2021.

German Pink

When Tammy and I first started gardening, we tended to rely on the tomato varieties that everyone in the Midwest tended to rely on.  Early Girl, Big Boy, Beefsteak.  Sound familiar?

They were the cultivars that nearly every nursery carried and they were names we had experienced in family gardens.  And, to be perfectly honest, Rob wasn't too worried about them as long as they grew and produced because he wasn't all that interested in eating tomatoes raw.  Tomatoes for him were good if they were cooked and in sauces.  Otherwise, it was whatever Tammy wanted was going to be fine.

Over time, we started looking at heirloom varieties.  One of the very first heirlooms we tried on the farm was the German Pink from Seed Savers Exchange (tried for the first time on our farm in 2004 - our first season here).  We ran German Pink and Wisconsin 55 against the Early Girl, Big Boy and Beefsteak trifecta.  We were already inclined to want to support seed diversity and the use of open pollinated seed, but we still needed a little convincing that these would do well enough for us if we were trying to sell tomatoes.

Making a long story short - we didn't grow Big Boy, Early Girl or Beefsteak in 2005.

The German Pink also marks the first time Rob voluntarily cut up a tomato that was meant for his own sandwich.  You see, the big, beautiful German Pinks looked TOO good.  Maybe I really was missing something?  

You know what?  I was.  But, now I'd found a tomato taste that would make me say that.

Since that time I have tasted Big Boy, Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes.  They are not German Pink - and I suppose I can eat them if I must.  Apparently I know what I like, and the meaty texture and slightly sweeter flavor suit me.  

And, German Pink has done well for us many years on the farm, making our Veggie Variety of the year list - #10 in 2012. 

German Pink leans towards a beefsteak style with a meaty interior that is not overly juicy.  I like a tomato on my sandwiches that doesn't soak through the bread and holds together.  I also like the idea that one slice covers the bread!

German Pink plants are a "potato-leaf" type, showing larger leaves that tend to be more solid than typical tomato plants.  You might be able to see what I mean if you look more closely at the plants shown above.  We find that the potato leaf types often produce better cover for the fruit, which reduces sun scald issues.

A healthy German Pink plant can become fairly large, reaching a height in one of our cages that is about as tall as we are.  We typically will use our heavier, taller cages for these plants, especially because they produce larger fruit.  

The transplants are often some of our sturdiest, with a very solid and prominent main stem.  They are fairly easy to prune to a main trunk early in their lives.

At our farm, German Pink plants have traditionally entered peak production starting at 77 days from transplant into the field, staying at peak production for about four weeks.  Some years, there would be a slight lull in the middle of two production peaks, but that has rarely been the case in recent years with the extremely wet Fall weather.  Like many tomatoes, they are not fond of "wet feet."

In years where the Fall harvest has not been truncated with the extremely wet weather, we could expect an average of eight marketable fruit per plant at a weight of .97 pounds each.  Yes, I could have said one pound, but I wanted to impress upon you that I do keep records and know how to calculate an average (aren't I smart?).  I am fairly certain that a gardener could get more per plant simply because they would be able to take some of the fruit that split or have small problems and bring them in to eat.  You have to remember we must be pickier when it comes to selecting fruit for marketing!

Speaking of which, German Pink fruit tend to have a very tender skin, which would be the main reason these are not good for growing and shipping.  I can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed when I nick a perfectly good fruit by bumping into a cage wire or setting it down a bit too hard.  

Well, not that disappointed.. we could eat it.  But, you can only eat so many tomatoes at a time!

That said, if a person were to grow German Pinks for market, they do pretty well if you take them off the plant a bit prior to full ripeness and let them ripen off vine the rest of the way for 24 to 48 hours.  The taste is not adversely effected and you reduce losses during the harvest period.  I would guess that you could even harvest earlier than that and not be disappointed.

I hope you enjoyed this veggie variety post and I wish for you some tasty tomatoes for those BLTs this year!  And, if you don't like tomatoes, consider growing a German Pink and see if it has the taste that shows you that you could actually like them.  If not - it's still all good - they cook down to make a great sauce too.