tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post7998902000836225609..comments2024-03-28T19:30:05.381-04:00Comments on Adam's Apples: A postcard for Miss BaldwinAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245776593991049317noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-41824130817235693332011-05-19T20:05:25.608-04:002011-05-19T20:05:25.608-04:00John bunker, founder of FEDCO TREES and maines ren...John bunker, founder of FEDCO TREES and maines renound ruit explorer/pomologist. Agrees with my explanation of miss, but we should not completely close the case....I'm sure there's more to be found. John also added in his reply that he has another vaguely similar postcard from the same time period, but is promoting a cider Apple, rather than a fresh eater....he and I suspects it could be the same artist....but it needs to be examined side by side.<br /><br />The mystery continues.Hawk Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01931067529533766643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-43242925537117353742011-05-17T19:34:12.140-04:002011-05-17T19:34:12.140-04:00I really hope that Elaine is monitoring these comm...I really hope that Elaine is monitoring these comments, because you all are doing a great job of filling in the blanks about her postcard!Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245776593991049317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-22390317242656606972011-05-16T22:12:35.596-04:002011-05-16T22:12:35.596-04:00This is an excerpt from Farmers bulletin published...This is an excerpt from Farmers bulletin published by USDA in 1914<br /><br />THE APPLE CROP. <br />The apple crop of 1914 is probably the largest ever produced in the United States, being estimated at 259,000,000 bushels, as compared with 145,000,000 bushels in 1913; about 235,000,000 bushels in 1912; 214,000,000 in 1911; 142,000,000 in 1910; and 146,000,000 in 1909, as reported by the census. These figures represent the total "agricultural" crop and should not be confused with figures representing estimates of the "commercial" crop, which comprises only the marketed portion of the total production. In 1913 tho commercial crop was estimated at 40 per cent of the total agricultural production. The census report of 146,000,000 bushels in 1909 is the basis of yearly estimates of total production, being used in connection with crop reporters' estimates of percentage of a full crop produced each year.Hawk Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01931067529533766643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-34173540137402787322011-05-16T21:00:21.402-04:002011-05-16T21:00:21.402-04:00I'll forward this link to some of my Apple exp...I'll forward this link to some of my Apple expert colleagues. It could inspired from the fact that Baldwin was THE number one Apple cultivar of that time period, until 1934 when many trees in the northeast were killed from fluctuating low and high temperatures. <br /><br />From the 1850s on the Baldwin was the most popular Apple in the north east, and was highly reccomended for large plantings at that time. <br /><br />Unfortunately for Miss Baldwin, she may have been more a marketing idea than a playful postcard. According to Maine agricultural records, and New York, and other states, the year 1914 produced the largest Apple crops on record. Many of the farms had a good portion of their orchard devoted to Baldwin. This postcard could easily have been to help promote the huge harvest, there were even railroads in Maine devoted to shipping apples to and fro to processors and distributors alike. No doubt along the way there was a lot of Baldwin to be sold.Hawk Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01931067529533766643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-22836427625112541872011-05-15T21:36:59.691-04:002011-05-15T21:36:59.691-04:00Mark, I believe you are right, especially about da...Mark, I believe you are right, especially about dapper Mr. Russet.<br /><br />The gentleman's suede-colored suit is a dead giveaway.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245776593991049317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647355176632077968.post-41674381965334763952011-05-14T10:13:41.940-04:002011-05-14T10:13:41.940-04:00Probably the best clue to help understand "th...Probably the best clue to help understand "the meaning of the card" is to examine the other works of the artist in an effort to see if there is a pattern showing how the artist treated different topics.<br /><br />Not knowing that, and knowing only about the popularity of the Baldwin apple during that era, that they were ripe and available at Halloween, and that there are red and yellow apple varieties, here is what I take from the card. <br /><br />For me it is a simple homage to the Baldwin apple. The yellow apple is likely representative of a contemporary popular yellow apple, probably a russet from the drawing. It is yellow to emphasize and distinguish between the male and the female figures in the drawing. The female had to be red because the Baldwin is red, so that left yellow to represent the male figure. The male could have been represented as a green apple, but for artistic reasons that would not have worked as well. <br /><br />In sum, it is I suspect little more than a "cute" card using the popularity of the Baldwin apple as the "hook". I seriously doubt there is any deep meaning to the card.Mark Rocknoreply@blogger.com