At the turn of the last century poultry shows were prestigious affairs. It was where farmers learned about new breeds, and it was where  “the fancy” strutted their stuff. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of birds were put on display. Even Madison Square Garden hosted shows.

The show in Springfield, MA stretched on for four days!

Along with the ribbons and trophies (of which I have a collection – this one is in my kitchen)

exhibitors won prizes, everything from subscriptions to poultry magazines to chicken tonics. If you were successful, you could recoup your expenses and even turn a profit. At the Springfield show, the best of all of the awards was offered by Ivory Soap.

In today’s dollars, that is about $450.

I wonder if this promotion was successful and if there was a jump in sales amongst the poultry set. It sure makes me want to go out and buy a box. (Does anyone else remember making snowmen out of the flakes?)

Betsy could use a bath.

But without that $450 incentive, I think I’ll leave her be.

I enjoyed reading your entries and finding out what you’d put in the bag. So many of you mentioned my favorite things – farmers market produce, kittens, knitting, crafts, books and beach towels, art supplies and dog treats – no wonder you all log on here, and no wonder that I have such a good time writing to you!

But, there is only one winner and that person is “Stephanie in AZ.” She’s going to put the makings of a chicken quilt in it. Stephanie, email me your mailing address and I’ll get the tote out to you. And send me a photo of the quilt when it’s finished!

Even if you didn’t win, you can still have a chicken feed tote bag. There are bags on etsy.com. I even saw bags for sale at the Brimfield Flea Market!

Totes at Brimfield Flea Market

I sometimes have bags for sale. I’ll be at the Carlisle Farmers Market on and off this summer with the bags and other things. (Tomorrow I’ll have canning jar vases brimming with hydrangea flowers.)

If you can sew a straight line, you can make a tote yourself. The pattern that I use is one that I came up with. I started with an illustration in a Japanese craft book on how to make bags (all in Japanese!) and then there was trial and error to work with the material and my sewing machine. I don’t think that I’m the best person to teach bag-making skills. But, Backyard Poultry Magazine has directions here. It’s not how I do it, but it looks sensible enough. Instructables has directions for how to make one with a lining, and a more basic bag. Let me know if you start sewing them up!

Yesterday I went back to Brimfield, but the cast iron rooster had been sold.

This is the windmill weight that got away.

A windmill weight is a classic piece of folk art. It had a utilitarian purpose, which was to balance the machinery on windmills. It was a functioning piece of a ubiquitous part of the American farm landscape. A big hunk of cast iron could have done the job, but instead local iron mills made them in the shape of cows, roosters, and even squirrels.

There were large, commercial foundries that turned out thousands of these, local companies that made hundreds, and once in awhile one was crafted on the farm where it was used. The best windmill weights have that folk art aesthetic of whimsical and yet modern. The weights were out in severe weather and show their age and the hammering of elements.

A few years ago there was a spate of articles about windmill weights in the shelter magazines, and prices skyrocketed, the best examples going for thousands, and a more common weight still reaching $1,000. The one that I didn’t snatch up was was priced at only $250. It might have been the best deal at Brimfield. But it might have been a fake.There was something about this one’s patina that looked off, and the booth had other repros so I didn’t trust the dealer.

I’m not sorry that I passed on it. Nor am I sorry that I didn’t bring home the chicken taxidermy.

But I do wish that my kitchen had room for this.

I should have brought this home to go in the basement next to my husband’s vintage arcade games, but I didn’t splurge on it.

However, I didn’t come home empty handed. I bought a few vintage postcards. You’ll be seeing them here.

Reminder –  the Tote Bag Giveaway ends tonight! Have you entered and shared on FaceBook?

This is Brimfield week, when a tiny town in the middle of nowhere hosts one of the largest flea markets on the East Coast. Pastures become fields of booths, filled with just about anything old, dusty and damaged, precious and antique, and useless and weird. There are a only a few booths selling reproductions, and too many vendors selling repros without realizing it. You have to be careful. Prices can be very good, or way out of line. It’s that sort of place. I love it.

With so much to look at, it’s hard to sift through it all and find that one object of your desire. It’s good to go with an open mind and to stumble on something unexpected. But, it doesn’t hurt to have a focus. Mine, of course, is chickens. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was something related to poultry.

Within the first ten minutes, I found these paper feed bags, which I though quite fitting, what with my previous post and the giveaway. They were only $2 each!

Those came home with me, but much didn’t. Like this feeder:

Just seeing and photographing it was enough for me. Who knew that feeders like this existed?

I liked seeing this globe waterer, too.

There were toys.

and games.

There were plenty of vintage items from Easters past.

I particularly liked this dapper chick.

He didn’t come home with me, but this plastic hen did.

The one item that I wanted, but did not buy, was this windmill weight. I love it’s modern lines, and the fact that the windmill could have had a boring block balancing weight, but had this rooster instead. Useful and quirky is right up my alley.

Should I go back tomorrow and see if it’s still there?