My mother's older sister, Betty TODD, and their mother, Catherine TODD, used to do the milking on their farm near Dundee, Fifeshire, Scotland. This was in the 1920s. In the wintertime, they would go across the farmyard to the cowshed using lanterns to see by! I wonder if your Maggie ever did the same? She looks to be possibly a bit earlier, say, 1900s? Nice photo!
Peaceful and calm...as long as I didn't have to milk the cow, clean up the cow patties in the barn and yard, get a pitchfork and toss the hay from the loft down to the yard to feed the cows (my mother fell from a hay loft doing that and nearly died), wash the buckets, sterilize them with boiling water, and lug the ice blog out and chip enough of it for the icebox to store the milk so it didn't spoil...or wash the clothes on a scrub board and hand-cranked wringer (did that for 5 years...I guarantee it's no fun!) in order to clean the cow mess, chicken poop, and general dirt off the hem of that skirt.😕
It is a beautiful photo & makes me grateful I did not have to work in that life. I can bearly work in this life and I don't do as much work as a families living on a farm did.
Here is a similar photo, no doubt “staged”. Taken in about 1885, near Parsons, Ks. This is my 2nd Great Grand Aunt, Emma Bolander. She married a dairy farmer and her older brother was a photographer. Heck, this might even be a wedding photo. Love the hay stacks in the background... Days gone by!!
These historical photos have generated quite the buzz!
This collection of historical photos has got people talking. These photos - either because of the subject and/or the story - have generated a lot of comments among the community. What do you have to s...
Photos of family farms and ranches - and the people and animals who lived on them.
Family farms - whether they are ranches, plantations, or the traditional farm - are the backbone of life around the world. These are photos of those homes, people, fields, and animals that comprise a...
Pets are loved members of the household just like family. There's a reason our pets are often called our 'best friends'.
Remembering the companions of our ancestors and those that comforted us in the past. Dog person? Cat person? That's usually the debate when it comes to pets. As of 2022, 70% of U.S. households have pe...
Main interest is Lane from Dorset, UK. Grandma's father ran an Inn, the Bear Cross Inn, in Kinson, Dorset. Have some JPEGs of it if you want to see (with penny farthings outdside)!
My grandpa Otto Heinrich, b 1851, came from Kemberg, Saxony. He played, made and taught violin.
Family rumour says a brother of grandpa's played a golden trumpet in NY.