February 1, 2021 Another milestone for Barbara Schock as we post her 350th Sandburg's Hometown this first week of February 2021, exactly eight years ago, February 4, 2013, when it all began!
Thank you, Barbara Schock, for sharing your extraordinary gift of these vignettes of Galesburg & 19th century American history.
The Poultry Show By Barbara Schock
On November 15, 1900, announcement was made of the first
annual poultry show to be held in Galesburg. The third floor hall of the First
National Bank was to be the site of the show. W.S. Russell of Ottumwa, Iowa, had
been engaged as the judge. Premiums were: First Place, 40 percent of the entry
fees; Second Place, 20 percent and Third place, 10 percent. Silver cups were to
be given by the J.C. Simpson Lumber Company, Galesburg Businessmen’s Association
and the G.B. Churchill Company. There were other prizes of cash and
merchandise. On November 26th,
the loud chorus of cackles and crows had begun as entries were brought into the
hall. American varieties of poultry were exhibited on the north side of the
hall. Belgian Hares occupied the east side. There were also geese and turkeys as
well as Homing Pigeons. There were 816 entries with about half being from outside
Galesburg. The poultry exhibit included American, Asian and Mediterranean
classes. Judge Russell spent several days viewing the individual exhibits.
Volunteers placed First, Second, Third and Fourth place tags on the cages as the
judge completed each evaluation. A mischievious fake exhibit attracted much attention. It was
a box with a red curtain on the front. When the curtain was lifted, the viewer
saw a fine specimen of Galesburg’s brick factory. It was labeled “Irish Red
Bats.” A chorus of laughter usually followed. The children from the Free Kindergarten spent an hour at the
show. They inspected “with undisguised delight” the animals in the cages. They
were particularly attracted to the pigeons, guinea pigs and Belgian Hares. Every exhibitor had his or her name and number of animals
entered in the show listed on the front page of the newspaper. Some came from as
far away as Princeton and LaSalle. White, Brown and Black Leghorns, Barred
Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte and more breeds of poultry were on display with cocks,
hens and pullets occupying the cages. The White Wyandotte breed was the largest
in the poultry class. Some exhibitors displayed prizes previously won at other
shows. The first poultry show in the United States was held at the
Quincy Market in Boston in 1849. In 1854 P.T. Barnum staged a poultry show at
his museum in New York City. By 1874 the American Poultry Association had been
organized and developed standards for poultry judging. The shows were usually held in November because of the
breeding patterns of poultry with first year birds being in their prime. The
animals had to be groomed for exhibiting, prepared for handling by the judge and
being held in a cage with bright lights and activity all around them. Poultry shows were common events in the late nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. The Galesburg Poultry Show was still being held as late as
1918, in spite of the turmoil of the First World War.
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