By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In April, 2010, on the fifth day of a two-week photography trip, Ruth and I stopped at Baynes General Store, located at a rural crossroads in Caswell County, North Carolina. There has been a general store at this crossroads for around 160 years. Baynes General Store has been operating pretty much continuously for the past 100 years.
The current store was built circa 1907 and it was called Baynes and Harrelson until 1920, when Mr. Baynes paid his debt to Mr. Harrelson and renamed the store Baynes General Store. Since the store’s beginning, people of all ages have come to buy groceries, snacks, drinks, tobacco, clothes, and other necessities. If they didn’t have cash, they would trade something they had, such as livestock, milk, or eggs.
Because the store is located in a sparsely populated rural area, it has always been a place where people gather for both formal and informal meetings. In the old days, a Caswell County judge and bailiff held court in the store once a week. People came and continue to come to gossip, shoot the breeze, discuss local and national politics, or just hang out with friends and acquaintances. When we arrived at the store, there were numerous cars parked on the side and in front, people going in and out, and others chatting on the porch.
We pulled in and parked our car on the side of the store. As we got out, a man named Wallace, who was sitting on the porch steps was looking at our Wisconsin license plate. Then the following conversation took place:
Wallace: “You from Beaver Dam?” (a city northeast of Madison, Wisconsin)
Joann: “No.”
Wallace: “Oh, you from Harken?”
Joann: “Pardon me?”
Wallace: “You from Harken? I have friends that live by Harken Marsh.
Joann: “Oh, Horicon Marsh? No, we’re from Madison.”
I mean no disrespect by this, but I knew our conversation might be a little challenging due to his southern accent. So I’m going to respectfully put the phonetic spelling on a couple of words in this story so you see what I mean.
We told Wallace that we had been seeing plowed fields with raised rows of dirt and we were wondering what was being planted there. He told us they were getting ready to plant tobacco. Some farms were planting as much as 150 acres of tobacco. Tobacco is a very labor-intensive crop, so we commented on the amount of work involved in that.
As we talked with Wallace, his friends, Irving and Lawrence sat nearby listening. Well, Lawrence mostly listened. Irving, on the other hand, gave Wallace a hard time.
We told them that we grew up on a dairy farm. Wallace said there wasn’t much corn being raised in “Colina” (Carolina); it was mostly tobacco. Then he said that he had taken a trip once to Chicago and didn’t see any corn. But then he drove west of Chicago and it was “all corn, corn, corn.”
Wallace started talking about “the stuff made from corn that sweetens soda pop.” He said he couldn’t remember what it was called, but it was some kind of syrup. Well, that got Irving going and the following conversation took place:
Irving: “Fructose corn syrup. If you don’t know something, ask somebody.”
Wallace: “So you’re from Madison? Is that the capital of Wisconsin?”
Irving: “Yeah, you ought to know that from the 5th grade.”
Joann: “Are we playing, ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
Irving: “Well, Wallace only went as far as the 6th grade.”
Even though there was a lot of talking and laughing going on, Wallace’s faithful companion, Buster, relaxed at Wallace’s feet.
Wallace: “I went to Milwaukee once.”
Irving: “I don’t like big cities.”
Wallace: “I went to New York City in 1957 and I would never go back. I don’t know why anyone would want to go to New York City. There’s too many “payple” (people).
Irving: “Well, if you didn’t like it in 1957, it’s 150 times worse now!”
Wallace said he had been a farmer his whole life and that he was planning to raise about 20 acres of tobacco that year. Then he tried talking us into traveling about 12 miles off of our planned route to go see his tobacco barns, which he said were kind of run-down. So, we politely passed on his offer and told these gentlemen how much we enjoyed visiting with them. They told us to have a good trip.
When you take a trip to another state, I encourage you to do some shunpiking on the backroads and to visit places like Baynes General Store. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
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Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label tobacco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tobacco. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Monday, September 28, 2015
Uncovered in Ackley
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
When Joann and I were discussing what route to take on our long weekend in Iowa this summer, I mentioned to her that she had wanted to return to the town of Ackley. She told me she didn’t remember that and that she thought we had gotten everything we needed in that town.
Huh, I was stumped. I knew that after we got home last time, she had sent me an email showing something we had missed. But could I find her email? No. I knew there was an old window decal that we had missed last time, but I didn’t think that was it. Still, something was nagging at me that we should return.
Since I’m in charge of the route, I directed us to Ackley on the second day of our long weekend. We came into town from the south, and as we turned onto Main Street, we were both flabbergasted to see an advertising mural for Bull Durham that hadn’t been there the last time we were in town. It was not a new ad. It was an ad that had been uncovered when the building right next to it had been taken down. No one in the town had known it was there.
Joann got her equipment out and headed to the sign to take photos. I grabbed my phone to search the Internet. What I found was an article from the Ackley World Journal dated December 2, 2014 describing how the sign was uncovered when the garage next to Grumpy’s Bar was demolished.
I hadn’t consciously known about the sign, but the Universe must have been poking me about going to see it. An old flour sign had been uncovered in Madison, Wisconsin recently, and by the time we found out about it, construction had already covered over the sign. That process took less than a month, so we felt really blessed that this sign was still visible.
Bull Durham Tobacco was manufactured in Durham, North Carolina, from 1874 to 1957. By the turn of the century, it is believed that the Bull Durham Tobacco Company was the largest tobacco company in the world. During World War I, the U.S. government bought most, if not all, Bull Durham Tobacco to send to the war effort.
Bull Durham salesmen went around the country scouting places to place the advertisements. The advertising and marketing for Bull Durham Tobacco was second to none. The signs were found on the outfield fences of most major and minor league baseball stadiums.
We still find old faded Bull Durham advertising signs in many of the towns we travel through today. Often they are on a building that had other advertising signs painted over and around them.
After getting enough pictures of the sign, in case something happens to it before we return, we continued down Main Street to the old drugstore to get some pictures of the entrance and the old Kool decal on the door.
We made a circle through town, but didn’t see anything else that we had missed on our prior trip. I guess sometimes the Universe just knows, and gives you a kick in the pants. Next time we’ll have to trust this sort of “sign” and go with it.
If you get a feeling about something, go with it! You never know what great thing the Universe is trying to share with you.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
When Joann and I were discussing what route to take on our long weekend in Iowa this summer, I mentioned to her that she had wanted to return to the town of Ackley. She told me she didn’t remember that and that she thought we had gotten everything we needed in that town.
Huh, I was stumped. I knew that after we got home last time, she had sent me an email showing something we had missed. But could I find her email? No. I knew there was an old window decal that we had missed last time, but I didn’t think that was it. Still, something was nagging at me that we should return.
Since I’m in charge of the route, I directed us to Ackley on the second day of our long weekend. We came into town from the south, and as we turned onto Main Street, we were both flabbergasted to see an advertising mural for Bull Durham that hadn’t been there the last time we were in town. It was not a new ad. It was an ad that had been uncovered when the building right next to it had been taken down. No one in the town had known it was there.
Joann got her equipment out and headed to the sign to take photos. I grabbed my phone to search the Internet. What I found was an article from the Ackley World Journal dated December 2, 2014 describing how the sign was uncovered when the garage next to Grumpy’s Bar was demolished.
I hadn’t consciously known about the sign, but the Universe must have been poking me about going to see it. An old flour sign had been uncovered in Madison, Wisconsin recently, and by the time we found out about it, construction had already covered over the sign. That process took less than a month, so we felt really blessed that this sign was still visible.
Bull Durham Tobacco was manufactured in Durham, North Carolina, from 1874 to 1957. By the turn of the century, it is believed that the Bull Durham Tobacco Company was the largest tobacco company in the world. During World War I, the U.S. government bought most, if not all, Bull Durham Tobacco to send to the war effort.
Bull Durham salesmen went around the country scouting places to place the advertisements. The advertising and marketing for Bull Durham Tobacco was second to none. The signs were found on the outfield fences of most major and minor league baseball stadiums.
We still find old faded Bull Durham advertising signs in many of the towns we travel through today. Often they are on a building that had other advertising signs painted over and around them.
After getting enough pictures of the sign, in case something happens to it before we return, we continued down Main Street to the old drugstore to get some pictures of the entrance and the old Kool decal on the door.
We made a circle through town, but didn’t see anything else that we had missed on our prior trip. I guess sometimes the Universe just knows, and gives you a kick in the pants. Next time we’ll have to trust this sort of “sign” and go with it.
If you get a feeling about something, go with it! You never know what great thing the Universe is trying to share with you.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Tobacco Planting in North Carolina
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
In Wisconsin, Joann and I have spent many days photographing in tobacco country, but it has always been during the harvest. We have never managed to be in the area during planting time.
In 2010, as I was researching our trip to North Carolina, I stumbled across some photos taken of tobacco planting in the south. The machines were much bigger than the couple we had seen in Wisconsin. I sent a photo to Joann and told her she had to look at it to see if she could see the people sitting behind the flats of tobacco. At first, she couldn’t see them. I told her to look for the legs and feet between the flats of tobacco and then she could finally pick them out.
Since spring seemed to be arriving several weeks early, we added planting tobacco to our wish list of things to capture on our trip. (Do you have a wish list when you travel? You should!) We already had southern tobacco barns on our list since they are so different from the barns we are used to in Wisconsin.
Tobacco has been grown in North Carolina for almost three centuries. In the 1880’s mass production techniques were introduced by Washington Duke, and from then until 2001, tobacco production was the largest source of income for North Carolina.
We knew we would be in tobacco country once we left the mountains, and as we drove a country road one morning, we came across a tractor and tobacco setter sitting in a prepared tobacco field.
The flats of tobacco plants were sitting next to the planter but no one was around. We could study the setter as long as we wanted. Without the tobacco flats loaded, it was easy to see the seats that would soon be occupied by workers to feed the tobacco into the cylinders for planting.
Joann was able to photograph the tobacco setter and the cylinders that would drop the tobacco plants into the ground. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the setter since it was a great opportunity.
Later on the same day, we came across a field being planted with a small two row setter. We watched as they moved across the field and small tobacco plants appeared in the soil behind them.
We considered ourselves blessed and thought that was probably all that we would see. We had wanted to see the planting of tobacco, and we did. As we continued our travels, we found some fields ready for planting, and a couple of fields already planted with new tobacco plants. We also found a lot of picturesque tobacco barns, and stopped to take photos of many of them.
So, imagine our surprise when we came across another farmer planting a large field. His setter was an eight row planter, and we were amazed by the size and how fast they could plant the field. This field was much larger than any we have ever seen in Wisconsin.
We watched as they crossed the field planting eight rows at a time. It seemed that those small plants couldn’t possibly fill the rows in maturity, but having seen the mature tobacco fields in Wisconsin, we knew they would. At the end of the field, the tractor driver would raise the setter along with the workers in their seats to make the turn, and as they approached the next rows to be planted, he would lower the setter again.
We watched them for quite a while, and Joann walked along the road taking pictures as they moved around the field.
This was our last encounter with tobacco planting, but we were happy with all of the opportunities that had presented themselves to us.
We don’t in any way condone the use of tobacco products, but it is a part of our agricultural history and that’s what interests us.
With all of the recent focus on the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco, the southern tobacco barns are fast disappearing. Hopefully some of these will be saved for other purposes or another part of our American history will be lost forever.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
In Wisconsin, Joann and I have spent many days photographing in tobacco country, but it has always been during the harvest. We have never managed to be in the area during planting time.
In 2010, as I was researching our trip to North Carolina, I stumbled across some photos taken of tobacco planting in the south. The machines were much bigger than the couple we had seen in Wisconsin. I sent a photo to Joann and told her she had to look at it to see if she could see the people sitting behind the flats of tobacco. At first, she couldn’t see them. I told her to look for the legs and feet between the flats of tobacco and then she could finally pick them out.
Since spring seemed to be arriving several weeks early, we added planting tobacco to our wish list of things to capture on our trip. (Do you have a wish list when you travel? You should!) We already had southern tobacco barns on our list since they are so different from the barns we are used to in Wisconsin.
Tobacco has been grown in North Carolina for almost three centuries. In the 1880’s mass production techniques were introduced by Washington Duke, and from then until 2001, tobacco production was the largest source of income for North Carolina.
We knew we would be in tobacco country once we left the mountains, and as we drove a country road one morning, we came across a tractor and tobacco setter sitting in a prepared tobacco field.
The flats of tobacco plants were sitting next to the planter but no one was around. We could study the setter as long as we wanted. Without the tobacco flats loaded, it was easy to see the seats that would soon be occupied by workers to feed the tobacco into the cylinders for planting.
Joann was able to photograph the tobacco setter and the cylinders that would drop the tobacco plants into the ground. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the setter since it was a great opportunity.
Later on the same day, we came across a field being planted with a small two row setter. We watched as they moved across the field and small tobacco plants appeared in the soil behind them.
We considered ourselves blessed and thought that was probably all that we would see. We had wanted to see the planting of tobacco, and we did. As we continued our travels, we found some fields ready for planting, and a couple of fields already planted with new tobacco plants. We also found a lot of picturesque tobacco barns, and stopped to take photos of many of them.
So, imagine our surprise when we came across another farmer planting a large field. His setter was an eight row planter, and we were amazed by the size and how fast they could plant the field. This field was much larger than any we have ever seen in Wisconsin.
We watched as they crossed the field planting eight rows at a time. It seemed that those small plants couldn’t possibly fill the rows in maturity, but having seen the mature tobacco fields in Wisconsin, we knew they would. At the end of the field, the tractor driver would raise the setter along with the workers in their seats to make the turn, and as they approached the next rows to be planted, he would lower the setter again.
We watched them for quite a while, and Joann walked along the road taking pictures as they moved around the field.
This was our last encounter with tobacco planting, but we were happy with all of the opportunities that had presented themselves to us.
We don’t in any way condone the use of tobacco products, but it is a part of our agricultural history and that’s what interests us.
With all of the recent focus on the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco, the southern tobacco barns are fast disappearing. Hopefully some of these will be saved for other purposes or another part of our American history will be lost forever.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Sunday, August 30, 2009
From One Generation to the Next
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In early August, we posted a blog entry about tobacco growing in Wisconsin. Last weekend, we returned to tobacco country (around Edgerton and Stoughton) to photograph the harvest. Most of the tobacco barns had their side vents opened up and some of them were full of drying tobacco, while others were awaiting the hanging of the tobacco.
Along the way, we discovered an antique tobacco setter and stopped to ask the owner, Sandra, about it. She was very gracious and gave us a detailed explanation of how the setter worked. There was a water tank with a seat on top of it. This is where the driver of the horse team sat. Later, the setter was converted to be pulled by a tractor. Then the seat on the top of the water tank was used by kids who wanted to ride along. On the back, very low to the ground, were two seats for the tobacco planters. Sandra said she sat on the left and planted with her right hand and her mother sat on the right and planted with her left hand.
As I talked with her, a car pulled in and her daughter got out and joined us. Sandra explained that I was inquiring about the tobacco setter. “Did you work in the tobacco field too?” I asked. “Oh, yes,” she said, “I remember planting tobacco with that setter. Mom sat on one side and I sat on the other.”
In our blog post entitled “August Meanderings,” we mentioned our visit to the Cooksville General Store. Sandra told us that they used to buy tobacco seed that had been sprouted in wool socks at the Cooksville Store. She also showed us a very old and worn ax that was used to chop the tobacco plants off at ground level and several hand-made spears. The spears were placed over the end of the lath board and then 5 tobacco plants were speared onto the lath, which was later hung in the tobacco barn for curing.
Shortly after our visit with Sandra, we discovered a tobacco harvest in progress and another gracious owner, Dan, allowed me to photograph the process. He told me that it was very hard work and that he was only doing it because it was “in his blood.” Dan grew up raising tobacco and now continues the family tradition. He stressed to me that tobacco growing and harvesting hasn’t really changed in all these years. It’s still a very manual process, but today he hires a lot more help for the harvest than his family had when he was growing up.
As we mentioned in our previous Tobacco Time post, although we do not in any way advocate tobacco smoking or chewing, tobacco growing is a significant part of Wisconsin’s agricultural history. Therefore, we honor and respect the tobacco growers who toiled long hours in the tobacco fields to support their families.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
In early August, we posted a blog entry about tobacco growing in Wisconsin. Last weekend, we returned to tobacco country (around Edgerton and Stoughton) to photograph the harvest. Most of the tobacco barns had their side vents opened up and some of them were full of drying tobacco, while others were awaiting the hanging of the tobacco.
Along the way, we discovered an antique tobacco setter and stopped to ask the owner, Sandra, about it. She was very gracious and gave us a detailed explanation of how the setter worked. There was a water tank with a seat on top of it. This is where the driver of the horse team sat. Later, the setter was converted to be pulled by a tractor. Then the seat on the top of the water tank was used by kids who wanted to ride along. On the back, very low to the ground, were two seats for the tobacco planters. Sandra said she sat on the left and planted with her right hand and her mother sat on the right and planted with her left hand.
As I talked with her, a car pulled in and her daughter got out and joined us. Sandra explained that I was inquiring about the tobacco setter. “Did you work in the tobacco field too?” I asked. “Oh, yes,” she said, “I remember planting tobacco with that setter. Mom sat on one side and I sat on the other.”
In our blog post entitled “August Meanderings,” we mentioned our visit to the Cooksville General Store. Sandra told us that they used to buy tobacco seed that had been sprouted in wool socks at the Cooksville Store. She also showed us a very old and worn ax that was used to chop the tobacco plants off at ground level and several hand-made spears. The spears were placed over the end of the lath board and then 5 tobacco plants were speared onto the lath, which was later hung in the tobacco barn for curing.
Shortly after our visit with Sandra, we discovered a tobacco harvest in progress and another gracious owner, Dan, allowed me to photograph the process. He told me that it was very hard work and that he was only doing it because it was “in his blood.” Dan grew up raising tobacco and now continues the family tradition. He stressed to me that tobacco growing and harvesting hasn’t really changed in all these years. It’s still a very manual process, but today he hires a lot more help for the harvest than his family had when he was growing up.
As we mentioned in our previous Tobacco Time post, although we do not in any way advocate tobacco smoking or chewing, tobacco growing is a significant part of Wisconsin’s agricultural history. Therefore, we honor and respect the tobacco growers who toiled long hours in the tobacco fields to support their families.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tobacco Time in Wisconsin
by Ruth A. Ringelstetter
The tobacco plant is beautiful, and seeing the rows of bright green tobacco in late summer signals the beginning of autumn. Autumn happens to be our favorite time to go shunpiking, so August always gets us excited about the fall color viewing that is to come.
One year, we were parked beside a tobacco field, and Joann was taking close-up pictures of the tobacco plant. I leaned out of the window and commented on how much I enjoy driving around looking at the tobacco fields, but hate the smell of it. “You can smell the tobacco?” Joann asked. When I said “Yes, and it stinks,” she stopped and sniffed, and finally noticed the smell. This is another example of her being so in the zone when she’s photographing that she’s oblivious to the sights, sounds, and smells around her!
In Wisconsin, tobacco is harvested by hand. The plants are cut with a special axe by workers in the field and laid flat. Then they are pierced with a spear and tied to lath boards, which are loaded onto wagons.
The wagonloads of tobacco are brought back to the tobacco barns where the tobacco is hung by the lath boards to dry. Special vents along the sides of the barn are opened to help with the drying.
When these vents are closed, it is sometimes hard for the casual observer to distinguish a tobacco barn from a shed or other outbuilding. But looking closely, you will see rows of hinged boards on the long sides, which are opened when the tobacco is hung for curing. You also might notice rows of vents along the top of the barn instead of the usual one or two. These vents sometimes look like little metal smokestacks.
Tobacco barns are as distinct as the areas in which tobacco is grown. The tobacco barn above is the typical style of most Wisconsin tobacco barns, which are spread throughout the southern part of the state. Commercial tobacco growing began in the 1850s here in Wisconsin. At its peak around 1920, there were 47,000 acres of tobacco. Today, there are only about 1,000 acres grown. In our backroads travel, we’ve seen the most tobacco fields around Stoughton and Edgerton. If you’re in the area and you see barns with open slats on the side, slow down and take a whiff. Chances are you’ll smell tobacco.
Although we do not in any way advocate tobacco smoking or chewing, tobacco growing is a significant part of Wisconsin’s agricultural history. Therefore, we honor and respect the tobacco growers who toiled long hours in the tobacco fields to support their families.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
The tobacco plant is beautiful, and seeing the rows of bright green tobacco in late summer signals the beginning of autumn. Autumn happens to be our favorite time to go shunpiking, so August always gets us excited about the fall color viewing that is to come.
One year, we were parked beside a tobacco field, and Joann was taking close-up pictures of the tobacco plant. I leaned out of the window and commented on how much I enjoy driving around looking at the tobacco fields, but hate the smell of it. “You can smell the tobacco?” Joann asked. When I said “Yes, and it stinks,” she stopped and sniffed, and finally noticed the smell. This is another example of her being so in the zone when she’s photographing that she’s oblivious to the sights, sounds, and smells around her!
In Wisconsin, tobacco is harvested by hand. The plants are cut with a special axe by workers in the field and laid flat. Then they are pierced with a spear and tied to lath boards, which are loaded onto wagons.
The wagonloads of tobacco are brought back to the tobacco barns where the tobacco is hung by the lath boards to dry. Special vents along the sides of the barn are opened to help with the drying.
When these vents are closed, it is sometimes hard for the casual observer to distinguish a tobacco barn from a shed or other outbuilding. But looking closely, you will see rows of hinged boards on the long sides, which are opened when the tobacco is hung for curing. You also might notice rows of vents along the top of the barn instead of the usual one or two. These vents sometimes look like little metal smokestacks.
Tobacco barns are as distinct as the areas in which tobacco is grown. The tobacco barn above is the typical style of most Wisconsin tobacco barns, which are spread throughout the southern part of the state. Commercial tobacco growing began in the 1850s here in Wisconsin. At its peak around 1920, there were 47,000 acres of tobacco. Today, there are only about 1,000 acres grown. In our backroads travel, we’ve seen the most tobacco fields around Stoughton and Edgerton. If you’re in the area and you see barns with open slats on the side, slow down and take a whiff. Chances are you’ll smell tobacco.
Although we do not in any way advocate tobacco smoking or chewing, tobacco growing is a significant part of Wisconsin’s agricultural history. Therefore, we honor and respect the tobacco growers who toiled long hours in the tobacco fields to support their families.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
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