Many of you will recognize Grandpa Arthur McClain in this photo. (If not, he’s on the left.)
I don’t have any information about where this is, when the photo was taken or why, or who the other people are. The photo is mounted on a cabinet card type of backing (but not the size of a cabinet card), so this hints that it probably dates to the early 1920s or before.
My speculation is that this photo is somehow connected with the cream route Grandpa had in the early years after the family moved to Tallman.
Mom explained the cream route this way:
When I was seven years old, my father heard of a small place that could be bought at Tallman. Along with the place came the job of a cream route. The farmers would separate the milk and put the cream in a five-gallon can. My father would gather it up twice a week and take it to the Albany Creamery where it was made into butter. At first he had a horse and wagon. Later he had a truck. The last truck he had was a wooden bed in the back of a roadster, which was more comfortable for the family to ride in. What ended the delivery route was the condensary which came to town in the late 1920’s. Then the farmers could sell the milk whole without separating it.
I believe the containers in front of the man with the child are cream containers used for transport to the creamery.
Possibly this is a photo of the milking crew at one of the farms where Grandpa picked up cream. Just wild speculation.
Despite the dearth of information about this photo, it is nevertheless an interesting window into a particular time in history.
I believe there may be some photos in the archives of Grandpa on the cream route. I’ll try to find those and post them sometime soon.
I remember going with Grandpa McClain on his “pick up cream” route before he had the truck…..i.e. horse & wagon. It was a real treat to “get to go with him”. I remember the wagon going past the important “Tallman Community Hall” on the route too! Donna, do you remember going with him too?
Well that is new news to me. I never knew that the farm came with the route and that that was what caused the move to Tallman. Interesting! Love the guy wearing the necktie with his farm clothes!
Wow! Ties with coveralls! That’s a look even I now remember from my youth, usually by farm supply representatives in my day. The man next to grandpa has logging boots on (I can’t quite tell if they are calked–nails protruding from the soles for traction on logs.) But the high tops with the pants tucked in was to make sure the legs didn’t get caught in brush, or a saw. Not only does he have the milk pail in a familiar position (to those of us who milked), he looks ready to spend the rest of the day in the woods. Even the child has a milk pail. I love this picture, Lloyd. Thanks once more.
Very interesting! I remember “helping” with the separating. The reward for “helping” was that I got to squeeze out the filter from the separator and throw it at the silo, where it stuck.