Canning Labels

Botetourt County has a long history of canneries in its agricultural communities. 

In the early 1900s, Botetourt County was the second-largest tomato-canning county in the United States. An article in the September 30, 1903 edition of The Richmond Times Dispatch states that Botetourt annually packed more tomatoes than any other locality except for Harford County, MD.

Botetourt farmers packed over 250,000 cases of tomatoes and shipped them by rail all over the country.

There were about 150 canneries in the county, with nearly every farmer, large and small, working to produce a crop of tomatoes once winter passed. The canning industry employed hundreds of men, women, and children and brought an estimated $800,000 to the county annually. Each of these canneries had their own packing labels. 

The labels were a work of art. 

 The tomato industry came to a screeching halt when a blight struck the tomato plants. Even today, tomatoes do not grow all that well in our area. That, combined with new federal regulations and consolidation, ended this era of beautiful folk art labels.

These labels were at the History Museum of Western Virginia as part of the Botetourt County 250th anniversary exhibit.
 

 

Dad Had a Party

My father turned 80 on July 1, and his wife threw a party for him at the country club. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but you can't invite over 100 people and not have someone blab. So he knew he was having a party, he just didn't know who was invited.

His big surprise was that my cousin from California came in for the party and to stay for a week. Dad seemed pretty pleased with his big event.

The entry decorations

My father as a young man, circa 1976 or so. Maybe earlier, I'm not sure.

Dad and his wife enter the party!

My brother makes a speech.

This is where he starts to bring in the surprise guests.

Dad realizes his nephew from California is there.

Hugs all around.

Dad was very happy.

The surprise left my father speechless, which my brother considered a score.

My brother and his girlfriend.

Dad greeting folks.

Just an overview to show lots of people there. I think there were nearly 80 people present.

My father, my brother's girlfriend, and my cousin Lisa.

My cousins George and Becky.

Dad with my cousin Steve.

Dad and his wife Rita share a moment.

My step mother and my cousin.

My stepmother, her daughter Shonna, and Shonna's friend.

Cousin Steve.

My husband with Steve and Lisa

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. List three things you love.

A. Things aren't people, so I will go with "stuff." Books, my guitar, and my desktop.

2. What is the last song you listened to?

A. Landslide, by Fleetwood Mac, followed by the Theme from Titanic by Celine Dion

3. What are your turn offs? (Things you dislike?)

A. Those "Don't Tread on Me" license plates I see everywhere here, grocery carts that aren't put away in the parking lot, and cigarettes.

4. What color underwear are you wearing right now?

A. Who says I'm wearing underwear?

5. How many tattoos do you have?

A. None. However, I have a lot of scars.

6. How many piercings do you have?

A. One in each ear.

7. What is the meaning behind your URL?

A. It's how you reach my blog. What else would it mean?

8. What do you find attractive in other people?

A. Intelligence and honor.

9. What is something that’s currently worrying you?

A. My husband's hip has been bothering him for a while.

10. What is something that’s constantly on your mind?

A. Whether or not its going to rain. We're in a drought and need rain.

11. What is your favorite store?

A. I don't have one, really, but I suppose Barnes & Nobles or Staples.

12. What did you do yesterday?

A. I paid bills, changed the linens on the bed, washed clothes, baked cookies.

13. What is your favorite blog?

A. My own, I guess. But I like the Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing regulars.

14. Who is someone you miss?

A. My maternal grandmother.

15. What is the reason you follow Sunday Stealing?

A. I enjoy the Q&A and the people who answer. We seem to be a rather interesting crew with some similar interests but different enough to be constantly interesting.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: The National Anthem

Saturday 9: The National Anthem (2016)

. . . because it's 4th of July weekend

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) An early handwritten manuscript of "The Star Spangled Banner" (complete with scratch outs) is preserved at the Maryland Historical Society. Today, much of what we write is preserved in The Cloud. Do you often write down your thoughts with pen or pencil? Or do you do everything on your laptop, pad or phone?

A. I do a combination of both. Depends on my mood, what's handy, and what I'm writing down.
 
2) It's well-known that the lyrics were written by Francis Scott Key. Not so well known is John Stafford Smith, the British composer who gave us the music. He is buried in England's Gloucester Cathedral, under both the US and UK flags. Where is the nearest United States flag waving near you right now?

A. Probably in Fincastle, although some neighbors may have it up and I can't see it from the road.
 
3) This week's video features Lady Gaga singing The National Anthem before the 2016 Super Bowl. She also performed it at President Biden's Inauguration last January. When is the last time you sang it?

A. I sang it this morning along with Lady Gaga while I was watching the link.
 
4) Our second and third Presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died on July 4, 1826. OK, it's your turn. Share a Presidential fact.

A. The former guy is the only president to have been impeached twice.
 
5) John Hancock said his signature on the Declaration of Independence was intentionally large so King George could see it without his glasses. Do you need glasses to read?

A. I need glasses to see.

6) The Revolutionary War still raged during that summer of 1777. General George Washington allowed his soldiers to celebrate with a double ration of run on July 4. Will you be toasting the United States with an adult beverage this weekend?

A. I don't drink. I'll be having water, as I have every day since Thanksgiving.

7) Since this year, July 4th falls on a Sunday, banks and post offices will be closed will be closed on Monday. Thanks to email and ATMs, Sam doesn't find this a hardship. How about you? Do you find it inconvenient to go an extra day without regular USPS delivery or access to a teller at the bank?

A. No, it is not inconvenient, usually. Sometimes I forget and check the mailbox anyway.

8) Celebrity chef Rachael Ray says she considers mini-hamburgers, or "sliders," the All-American food. What will you be eating this 4th of July?

A. Hot dogs.
 
9) The 4th of July is a highlight of the summer season. Have you yet suffered the traditional warm weather maladies: sunburn or bug bites?

A. I always seem to have a bug bite from something.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday Thirteen

Here are 13 more things I saw at the History Museum of Western Virginia while we were exploring its Botetourt County 250th anniversary (+1) exhibit on Saturday. Unfortunately, many of my photos of the description tags for these items did not turn out, either because I was shaky or the light level was too low. It was a bit dark in the museum.

This was an 1800s clock, donated by the Holts, I think. Very old.

This picture of Grove Hill is an antiquity in and of itself. Grove Hill burned down in 1909, but it had a long history here in Botetourt. It was built upon a 3,300 acre plantation owned by General James Breckinridge. It was a 26-room mansion. Thomas Jefferson allegedly was a frequent visitor, which seems likely given Breckinridge's interests in politics. After the house was destroyed, the remaining bricks were removed to New York, where they were used to build a home called Mallow.

Botetourt County was also the site of the first plantation for Colonel William Preston, a Revolutionary War hero. These are remnants of pieces found on the Preston property, which is now home to a county industrial park.

This clock dates back to 1832 as well. Sometime in the early 1900s, an artist repainted the front to show the Fincastle Presbyterian Church during restoration of the piece (that's written below but it's not entirely legible).

We call these pieces "pie safes" but the museum had them labeled as food storage furniture. I'm sure they held more than pies.

This is a painting of the Town of Buchanan. I did not get the information that went along with it.

The above two sketches were done by the same artist, and again I didn't get the tag with the information. They are lovely pieces, though. What he calls "New Amsterdam" we call simply "Amsterdam," and it consists of an empty church and maybe 10 houses. At one time, though, it was a thriving little community.

These are Native American artifacts taken from Botetourt County. The county is full of such artifacts; my husband used to find arrowheads on the farm when he was a lad and they plowed the fields. Now that we use no till drilling to plant seed, we don't uncover such treasures. They remain buried.

Old instruments.

Antique dolls and a dollhouse.

More musical instruments. I would have considered these to be dulcimers, banjos, and a violin, but the information tag, which didn't turn out well enough to read, called them something else. I wish I had paid more attention at the time.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 713th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

My Great Grandpappy's Rifle

One of the best things we saw during our visit to the History Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke on Saturday was a musket rifle made by John Painter.

John Painter is my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side. He was a gunsmith of some renown here in our area.

The rifle was huge. It was about five feet long. I don't know how men carried those things and shot with any accuracy.

I have seen one or two of his guns before but they are rare finds. This one was on loan from the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College. I know of a couple in private hands but all told, this is a very rare thing to see.

Rarer still for it be a musket made by my ancestor.

It was behind glass, so the pictures aren't very good.

Mary Johnston

One of the next displays that intrigued me when we visited the History Museum of Western Virginia was a section on author Mary Johnston (1870-1936). Johnston grew up in Buchanan, one of Botetourt's three incorporated towns. She was a best-selling novelist at the turn of the 20th century, with To Have and To Hold probably her best-known work. She also wrote The Great Valley, which I read as a child, never knowing anything about the author. That book is about a woman who was kidnapped by Native Americans and then found her way back home. If that sounds familiar, it's a story that has been done and redone multiple times.

I have written several articles about Mary Johnston during my work as a news reporter. I was intrigued by her suffrage work. She was the first woman to ever address a meeting of the Virginia Legislature when it was in session.

She lived in Bath County, where she built a huge home there called Three Hills. I visited it about 30 years ago when I was thinking of writing a book about this author. However, I soon found out someone had already written one, so I didn't pursue it.

 

Lord Botetourt

We went to the History Museum of Western Virginia on Saturday, so this will be history week here at Blue Country Magic.

The museum is showing a display of Botetourt County artifacts in celebration of the county's 250th anniversary. That was actually last year, but because of Covid, all of the events were cancelled.

The first exciting thing to happen was that immediately upon entering the gift shop to purchase our tickets, my husband spied the 250th anniversary magazine that I edited and wrote. It took me 8 months to do this project.

When we entered the exhibit, this picture below caught my eye. It's the Coat of Arms for Lord Botetourt, for whom the county was named.

What really caught my attention, though, was that it says, "Botetourt Country Club" in the Coat of Arms. The Botetourt Country Club as it existed originally is no longer; however, my father now owns the Botetourt Golf & Swim Club, which is located on the site of the former Botetourt Country Club grounds. It's also not located far from where I live. Another nice personal connection, if I do say so myself.

The above photo is of Lord Botetourt. Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. He died in Williamsburg on 15 October 1770, after an illness lasting several weeks. Botetourt never married and left no legitimate heirs. He was hugely popular at the time of his passing.

Botetourt County, Virginia, was named in Botetourt's honor, as was Lord Botetourt High School in the unincorporated community of Daleville in Botetourt. Additionally, the Botetourt Dorm Complex at The College of William and Mary is named for him.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you like or dislike surprises? Why or why not?

A. It depends on the surprise. A nice surprise, like a birthday party, is ok. A surprise like, oh, you've got an ulcer again, not ok.

2. In the evening, would you rather play a game, visit a relative, watch a movie, or read?

A. Read.

3. Would you rather vacation in Hawaii or Alaska, and why?

A. I'd rather go to Hawaii, preferably at a time when the temperatures are not above 80 degrees. It sounds like it would be fun and relaxing if the temperatures were ok. Alaska is cold.

4. Would you rather win the lottery or work at the perfect job? And why?

A. I'd rather win the lottery because then I could work the perfect job without worrying about whether or not I could work the perfect job and still eat.

5. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?

A. Sometime in the Victorian Era, I think.

6. Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?

A. My watch.

7. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

A. I have no idea. I have many pairs of sneakers because I have bad feet, and it has taken many pairs of sneakers to find shoes that don't make me limp.

8. What would you do if you won the lottery?

A. I will assume this is a massive fortune and not a $200 payout. I would pay my bills, give money to family, set up a charitable trust fund, put some away for retirement, and build a library.

9. What form of public transportation do you prefer? (air, boat, train, bus, car, etc.)

A. Car.

10. What's your favorite zoo animal?

A. I haven't been to a zoo in years, but I suppose if I must choose, it would be an elephant.

11. If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be?

A. I would stop Abraham Lincoln from being killed.

12. How many pillows do you sleep with?

A. Four.

13. What's the longest you've gone without sleep (and why)?

A. In the year 2011, we drove to Myrtle Beach. This is a 6-7 hour drive. We had problems checking into our motel, but finally got into the room. We went to dinner and did a little shopping. When we returned to our room, we discovered that the TV didn't work and the fire alarm was chirping. We waited an hour and no one came to fix anything, so we packed our stuff back into the car, insisted upon a refund of our money, and drove back home, arriving almost 24 hours after we left. That and the time I spent waiting for my husband to come out of surgery when he had his hand operated on after his injury with the hay baler in 2014, would be the longest times I have gone without sleep in recent memory.

14. What's the tallest building you've been to the top in?

A. I have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

15.  What are your hobbies?

A. I read, write, play the guitar, play video games.

_______________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: One Bad Apple

Saturday 9: One Bad Apple (1971)

 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is a play on the old saying that one bad apple can spoil the bunch, or that the bad behavior of one member can reflect badly on the whole group. Do you think that's true?

A. I think it does reflect poorly on the group, family, political persuasion, religion, etc., as a whole. Adults should be able to siphon through this and understand that one former guy does not smear 74 million people, but unfortunately most take the easy way out and go with the smear. In reality, if the bad apple (or cherry) spoils and isn't removed from the pile, then the lot will all go bad much more quickly as the mold or whatever leaks onto other produce. So I'm afraid this is true, as much as I'd rather it not be.

 

2) The Osmonds began as The Osmond Brothers, a barbershop quartet that performed at the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Today there are 9 Disney Resorts all around the world, as far away as Shanghai. Have you ever been to a Walt Disney property?

A. We went to Disney in Orlando in 1993. It was my graduation present for finally finishing my BA. It only took me eight years. We went in early June and it was stifling hot. I would never go back there in the summer.

 

3) By the time the Osmonds made this record, Donny had joined the group and became their breakout star. Without looking it up, can you name any of the other four brothers who performed in video clip?

A. Dopey, Sneezy, Floozy, and Popcorn. I have no idea, obviously.

 

4) In the 1970s, adolescent girls learned through teen magazines that Donny's favorite color is purple, and that he was especially fond of purple socks. Today, socks are a very big business. There are designer sock manufacturers and even a sock of the month club. Is there a wardrobe item you're very particular about?

A. Not really. My doctor wants me to wear diabetic socks even though I'm not diabetic, so I try to do that. But that's her thing, not mine. I do not wear dresses. This is problematic when it comes time to dress up. Fortunately, I don't often need to dress up.

5) Donny and younger sister Marie had their own TV variety show. One regular segment had them performing a medley of popular songs, and it began with Marie singing, "I'm a little bit country," followed by Donny's musical reply, "I'm a little bit rock and roll." In this regard, are you more like sister or brother?

A. I would be more like Donny, I suppose. I know a lot of old country songs - I even sing and play them on the guitar - but I do not consider myself someone who likes country music.

 

6) Donny's popularity continues today. Fans have seen him win Dancing with the Stars (season 9) and come in as a runner up on the first season of The Masked Singer. Do you watch either of these shows -- or other competition series, like American Idol, The Voice, America's Got Talent, etc.?

A. We started watching The Voice last fall, but have not seen any others.

7) Donny has also appeared on Broadway. He surprised audiences and got rave reviews as arrogant bad guy Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Tell us about a time when your behavior surprised those who know you well.

A. Nothing I can think of is a good memory, so I don't believe I'll go there.

8) Donny is also a grandfather, many times over! Sam admits she's not crazy about that revelation because it makes her feel old. What's something that makes you feel your years?

A. The 12-year-olds who are clerking at the grocery store. The knowledge that I am as old as the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV show. My aching bones!

9) Random question: We're filling a piñata with your favorite candies. What should we buy?

A. Well, prior to the great non-healing ulcer of Thanksgiving 2020, I'd have said chocolate, but now it could only be something like Smarties or Tic Tacs. Maybe a little white chocolate although I can't eat much of that. I tolerate it better than actual chocolate, though.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday Thirteen

1. We've had a few days with low humidity. Lovely! I can actually breathe when I'm outside.

2. A little rain also washed away some of the dust and pollen. I could step out of my house bubble!

3. Soon the Virginia mask-wearing mandate expires. In Virginia, it's illegal to wear a mask in an effort to conceal one's identity. People have been able to identify me with my mask on, but I have asked my doctor for a note to allow me to continue to wear a mask.

4. I've been vaccinated and I'm not afraid of Covid. It's all the other bad germy things out there that I'd like to stay away from. Having spent at least half of each year of my life on antibiotics, I would like to find someway to avoid becoming that ill. If a mask will help, then I'll mask up.

5. I've been asking myself deep questions of late. Like, does everyone actually have a soul? Are there people without souls? Can those people, if they exist, still be kind? Does morality require a soul?

6. It's been a long time since I took a philosophy class or read a philosophy book. Might be time to brush up on those ideas.

7. I still don't understand what twitter does, exactly, or how to utilize it. Mostly that's because I don't think I have anything to say.

8. I also can't decide if I want to talk about politics, writing, or something else entirely. Maybe I could find a niche talking about deer. Whatcha think?

9. Today I raced into Walmart, in and out in 20 minutes. Not because of health concerns, but because I had a chiropractor appointment and didn't want to be late. Walmart was out of my husband's shampoo, though. I guess he will have to use mine for a while.

10. Makeup became a non-thing for me during the pandemic, and now I am sensitive to the mascara brand I was using. I need to find something totally hypoallergenic (although I thought that was what I was using).

11. What do you do with an 11-year-old computer that still works?

12. Earlier today, I told a friend that someone we both know needs to be face-slapped from shore to shore.

13. Change is always here, and it's a part of life. Half of the country doesn't seem to understand that. They will be left behind. Be the change or embrace the change, but don't be stagnant. 

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 712th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Happy Baby

This is another photo my mother-in-law gave us. It is of my husband as a baby with his maternal grandmother (holding him) and a friend of hers.

I wish he still had all of that hair!