canning jars still life

the old homestead 2

Farm women in the 1930s and 40s were not only responsible for maintaining the household and raising the children, but also taking care of other chores, tending the vegetable garden, feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs. Other than church, the local Home Demonstration Club was a welcome social activity.  In 1914 the U.S. Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act which officially sanctioned “demonstration work” and Texas A&M hired women county agents to work with the rural female population. Vegetable gardening, canning, bread-making and animal husbandry were typical topics for demonstration clubs. In 1926 county home demonstration councils were established to coordinate local membership and by 1934 there were nearly 49,000 women enrolled in 2,268 clubs on the county or community level.  The Avalanche-Journal reported on a meeting of the Lubbock County Home Demonstration Council in 1938 with 14 community clubs represented.

 

The first Mrs. E and my grandmother were friends and members of the New Deal Home Demonstration Club in the 1930s and 40s.  Having a garden and "putting up" vegetables were part of the farm life. The second Mrs. E  moved to the farm after marrying and assumed the role of farm wife.  .After the second Mrs. E's husband died, she ran the farm with her son until his early death; she continued on her on until becoming infirm.  As happens all too frequently, the grandkids didn't want to farm so the land was leased.  They did come to clear the house, albeit not completely, of a hundred years' of living. On the back porch are the contents of the pantry -- canning jars, some still filled with green beans, pickles and black-eyed peas.  Farm life preserved in a jar.

 

Lubbock County