Preserved

One of my favorite things to collect are beautiful old black and whites capturing the American farm.  These beautiful images move me more than I can ever explain.  To me, it's one of the most fantastic pieces of our history ~ these families who worked so hard to make our land the beautiful country it is today.

When I discovered the book, A Bountiful Harvest by Leslie Loveless, I fell in love.  So much so that I made a point of seeking her out and talking to her about what she'd created, all from an extensive collection of old photographs by Pete Wettach that she'd recently discovered.  With permission from the Iowa historical society who now owns the collection, I used several of the images on past postcards for The Farm Chicks Show.  These images shown here, all from the book seemed so fitting for my egg week.

The discovery of the photos happened by chance when Leslie, an employee at the historical society discovered some of the negatives in boxes during an office move.  After much research, she located the rest of the collection at the home of Mr. Wettach's son, a collection of over 50,000 photographs, all wonderfully preserved for all these years.  The book is one of my all-time favorites.

And if you love documentaries as much as me, the story was turned into The People in the Pictures, by PBS.  And yes, I own a copy of that too.  I love it that much.

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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.

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Comments

[Jackie]

My husband found a lot of old farm pictures from his mom's family in rural Oklahoma from the 30's and 40's - he scanned them all and made a book for her - they're amazing to look at (and wonder who some of the people are). We also have some from my grandma's family who were ranchers here in Calif. Such great pieces of history!

[Amanda]

These are just beautiful. Truly beautiful. Thank you for brightening my day...

[Tami]

Me too there is nothing like them! I have a few...of my Uncle bringing in cows from the pasture and the horses. Love them!

[crystal]

I love these kinds of old pics too! My grandma has quite a collection of old farm photos...I might have to go raid her albums and start scanning them. They are so beautiful!

[jackie]

What a wonderful story! The pictures are so awesome that it does take you to that special place long ago. Thank You for sharing your story and pictures.

[Julie M ~ The Little Red Shop]

The first picture...with the little girl and the chick..looks like it could have been taken today. : ) Old photographs are such amazing little moments of history. I am the caretaker of my farmgirl grandma's wonderful collection of family photos...including one featuring my grandma as a wee child, her young older brothers...and a giant pig!

Happy Easter, Serena!

: )

Julie M.

[Julie Harward]

I love them too...I remember those little white chickens as a small little girl on our farm. Come say hi :D

[Mandie]

They sure are treasures. Even more so if they are your family. What a prize find! The first photo is my favorite.

[Karen]

I now want to go back into my mom's pictures and get all the farm pictures for a collage. I am proud to say that I am a farm girl. I drive tractors and machinery with the best of them.

[Anna Cast]

I love them too! It's such a snapshot of history that makes me want to visit them, know them, and experience the life that they had! Thanks for showing these.!

Anna

[elyse]

the top image is wonderful -- they all tell such stories. thank you for sharing.

xo
elyse

[Sarah]

Those are fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing them.

[rolane]

Thank you Serena...I needed these today. Spending time with the original farm girl of our family, my grandma (who is sick). I love all the great B&W photos of her growing up on the family farm. You truly inspire me!!
Rolane

[Heather]

I, too, have a love for old black and white photos. There's just something about them. You can feel the innocence and the hard work and they always take you back to a time when people relied on people, not things. They bring me a bit of peace.

I come from farmers on all sides, so I'll have to dig through my pictures and send you a few!

[Bonnie]

I love old pictures! I feel our life here is so short, and it makes me sad to see old pictures at antique stores and garage sales, etc. Shouldn't we love the past generations in the pictures??? So I buy them, it makes me think that whoever's in the picture would be happy that I am keeping their memory still alive and what they did here on earth was important.

so... thanks for sharing!

[Vicki K]

Not only do I love the people and the chickens in these photos but the un-manicured field surroundings. All so American.

[emily]

The pictures are terrific. I know that I am guilty of romanticizing the life of such hard working people, but I have such nostalgia for images such as those you've posted here. As the grand-daughter of many generations of farmers, I am inspired to see what sorts of images I can dig up of our farms.

[Holly]

Serena, these are so precious. I too love the old photos and I actually have your postcards framed in black frames and haning in my sewing room. I love them! I have the two ladies with the fishing gear and the two ladies with the motorcycle and side car. Wish you still sent these!!!

Have a wonderful Easter!

[krys kirkpatrick]

Yes, these are amazing. I love old black and whites also. I wonder if we will ever get back to that place where we are connected to the earth... what we feed our children and what we cherish?

[Marcia]

I love old images and have a small collection myself. I sometimes include them on my blog. I didn't know about this book though, I'm going to have to try and find it. Thanks so much for sharing, and have a glorious Easter.
Blessings,
Marcia

[Denise]

These are wonderful photos! Just love them. My family raised chickens for many years. I can remember going out before school to feed and water them. my brother collected the eggs. I also remember my mom grading the eggs to get ready to sell. My dad built a small A-frame to house them at first but then as more and more peeps were born and the flock grew we had quite a large coop for them. It turned into a chicken farm and that was how everyone came to know my dad after awhile,as the chicken farmer. Thanks for posting the pictures, they brought back lots of great memories for me.
BTW, I just purchased a copy of your book and I have to say, I LOVE IT!!

[Barbara Johnson]

I am sooooo excited to find you! This is exactly how I want to decorate my apartment. Your tastes sooo match mine. Love your blog!!!!
Barb Johnson in WA

[Tattered Tiques]

Love these old photographs. Just got a couple ducklings and thinking about getting some chickens to raise. Thanks for the classic photos!