Boats and Cattle

As opposed to boots and saddles.  You had to grow up watching westerns to get the reference.

So, did the boat dock so the ladies could pet the cow, or was the cow just hanging around the dock? 

Happy Cows

Remember the California Milk Commission commercials about happy cows and happy milk?

Anyway, I know a lot of vegan, animal lovers, animal rights types and they're always telling me about how intelligent animals are, almost always comparing animal intelligence to human intelligence.  Having grown up in a small rural town, having worked on farms, and being an avid hiker backpacker who has seen plenty of animals up close, I always point out that we are all intelligent in the way we need to be to survive, and it's foolish to compare people and, let's say cattle.  Still, I can't help but wonder, is the one cow saying to the other, "I hate being all penned up in a zoo.  Ah, to run free."  While the other replies, "Well, we're not being eaten here, so stop complaining."  

Another contact print with glass negative from Toronto.  Perhaps the Toronto Zoo.

Views of the World, Bull Fight, Valencia, Spain

My apologies to the Spanish, but torturing animals as a form of entertainment,  I'm not impressed.  And yes, I do eat meat, wear leather shoes, and understand why people would think me hypocritical.

Click on Views of the World in the labels section at the bottom of the post to see the rest of the postcards in the collection.

Views of the World, The Chicago Stockyards

I've still got a lot of cards from the flirtation collection to go, so I shouldn't, but I'm going to start another, once in awhile, probably take more than a year to post, collection.  I've had the postcards in this lot since I was in high school, and for those unaware, I'm  just a few months away from my sixtieth birthday.  Yes, I've been picking up old photos and postcards that long.  The numbered images top out at 48, but I am missing numbers 6, 7, and 45.  Every so often I go on EBay, specifically, to look for those three missing cards, but I've never found them.  None of these cards have ever been used, and no publisher is listed.  I'll put views of the world in the labels section at the bottom of the post for all cards in the collection.

I already knew a fair amount about the Chicago Stockyards before posting this image.  I new that the stockyards weren't owned by the big packing companies, but by railroads looking to create a single, central location to ship animals, ready for slaughter.  Chicago had become the main rail center for the United States because the Illinois congressional delegation had pushed Chicago as the terminus for the major American railroads, and congress had that power because the federal government had subsidized early railroad construction.  What surprised me was that the Chicago Stockyards also were a major tourist destination, with viewing platforms built so that people could look over the thousands of animals waiting for death.  I'm always amazed what people are willing to gawk at.  I'd criticize, but if the stockyards were still in business, I'd take a look if I were in the area.

Now, about The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.  I read it in high school, and reread it just a few years ago.  Every American should read this book, and any school that doesn't assign it as mandatory reading, isn't doing it's job.  Do public schools still buy into the great books theory of education?  I hope so, though I doubt it.

Moo Two, Too Many Cattle

The third photo in the column looks like it could be a 4H auction.  For those unfamiliar with the 4H, it's a national youth group for farm kids.  I wasn't in the 4H, but I did grow up in a small, rural town, with lots of farm kids in our school.  One of the assignments most 4H kids had was to raise a cow or a pig and then sell them at auction.  I always wondered how they could do it.  New born calf or piglet, raised almost from birth.  There had to be some sort of emotional attachment, and it must have been hard to send that animal off to another owner, or even to slaughter.  That's part of the deal of being a farmer, they were raised to it, and I guess that's what got them through.

Moo

Someone loved his cattle.

Feeding the Cat to the Calf

All kidding aside, I wonder how many people in the United States have never been on a farm. Is it a good thing to know where our food comes from? I've worked on a farm, and I've been in a slaughter house, and I'm not sure such familiarity is a bright idea.