June 23, 1976
Growing tobacco in cuspidor days
by Hazel Crankshaw
The plants grew in long,
long rows and every farm
child hoed them. Tobacco
plants. One could almost
measure their daily growth.
They grew tall and taller,
and father, mother, and the
children went afield to
“sucker’’ and top them.
The leaves were attacked
by fat, green, and juicy
worms and every kid in the
countryside, sooner or la-
ter, picked the pests.
Hard-hearted boys
squashed them or pulled
them apart. The gentler
sex squealed at the sight of
them and shook them from
leaf to can for later
destruction.
What separated the men
from the boys was the hard
work of cutting off those
enormous tobacco plants at
their base, spearing them
onto laths, heaving the
laths onto tobacco wagons,
then unloading and hang-
ing them in tobacco barns.
The outdoor work was
finished before frost, but
when winter closed in,
work began again. Strip-
ping was a family affair
and winter days and even-
ings were spent in the
tobacco cellar.
Only the sales transac-
tion belonged to dad. In a
sense, that was cooperative
too, for many a Donegal
Township youngster was
sent to college on the
money earned by tobacco
growing.
Tobacco was one of the
Township’s major crops for
more than a hundred years.
Not only was it bread and
butter for the farmers, but
men from Maytown worked
in the fields and in tobacco
cellars.
A cigar industry in May-
town was the natural out-
growth of being surrounded
by fields of tobacco. In
a town isolated because no
transportation was avail-
able, cigar shops provided
work for many of the
townspeople, men and wo-
men. Some shops employed
1S to 18 workers. Numer-
ous husband and wife
teams worked at the trade
in a room in their homes.
The first cigars must
have been pungent pieces,
for they were made entirely
from local tobacco. In all
probability, they were sold
only locally. Later on, local
tobacco was used for filler;
wrappers were of finer
texture and mild aroma.
These were made for city
trade. :
There was another indus-
try—packing the stuff for
the chewing trade. Those
cupidors! The brass ones
are still with us, highly
polished and treasured as
VALUABLE PROPERTY FOR SALE
The subscriber offers at public or private sale, the
following valuable real estate.
One farm, situate in Mount Joy Township adjoining
lands of Peter Horst, David Painter, David Kolb, Peter
Heistand, and others, containing one hundred and
ninety seven acres and fifty perches.
160 ACRES OF
said land is cleared and in good condition,
the
remainder is well trimmed. Thereon is erected
TWO SWISSER BARNS,
and one dwelling house, one and a half stories high, a
stone spring house and two never failing wells of water,
and about one hundred choice fruit trees.
One lot of ground situated in the town of Richland,
Donegal Township, on which is erected a small dwelling
house, being lot number forty-four, as marked in plan
of said town.
The above property will be sold at private sale, at any
time between now and the sixth day of December, and
if not sold by that time it will then be sold at public
sale, at the house of David Martin, Innkeeper, in the
town of Richland. Persons wishing to view the
premises, or to have a description of it, are requested
to call on Mr. Martin, who will give every satisfaction,
or upon the subscriber residing about one mile and a
jalf from the village of Bainbridge on the road leading
from said place to Elizabethtown.
Possession of said property, will be given to the
purchaser on the first of April next.
MICHAEL HORST
THREE CENTS AND A HALF REWARD
RANAWAY from the subscriber in Conestoga township
on Thursday the 12th inst. - an indented apprentice to
the Wagon Making business, named
CHRISTIAN SHENK;
The above reward and two chews of Tobacco, will be
given to any person who will return him to his master,
but no charges paid.
SAM’L BINKLEY
Conestoga, November 19, 1828
the above is from THE POLITICAL SENTINAL -
Wednesday, November 19, 1828 Printed and Published
by JAMES CAMERON Near the Farmers’ Bank IN
THE CITY OF LANCASTER.
antique pieces. :
The cigar industry began
its phase-out in -the early
1920’s, when machine--
made cigars and cigarets
began to dominate the
market. Tobacco growing
continued as a staple until
more recent years, but it is
giving way to other crops.
The work of planting and
growing has been simpli-
fied by new methods, but
the hard work of harvesting
still calls for brawn and
fortitude. Today’s tobacco
cellars are still filled with
acrid dust, but the work
seems lighter now that a
radio is standard equip-
ment.
Farm methods are chan-
ging; our attitude toward
tobacco is changing. Who
knows? 1 may be relating
the story of a soon-to-be--
discarded farm crop.
We
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SUSQUEHANNA TIMES - Page 13
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Cleaning Grandfather’s gun
by Jay Greider
The gun has played an
active part in the history of
the revolution, the forma-
tion of these United States
and the preservation of our
democratic ideals. Now is
the time to look in the attic
behind the rafter and bring
forth the old weapon com-
monly referred to as
‘““Grandfather’s Old Gun.”
This is the year to bring it
to light and clean, oil, and
preserve it.
To clean the antique, go
easy. It is not meant to
look brand new. The wood-
en stock may be cleaned
with a panel cleaner avail-
able in any grocery or
hardware store. After a
good cleaning (use sand-
paper only in extreme
cases), use brown wax shoe
polish to shine it to a dull
luster. To clean the metal
parts and the barrel, use
an oily rag and a lot of
elbow grease. In extreme
cases light steel wool and
oil may be used. Care
should be taken so that
excessive rubbing does not
make the metal shiney.
The gun is probably over
100 years old and should
look its age. If any parts
are missing, some original
and reproduced parts are
available. Take the gun to
a gun shop or antique
dealer for information on
who sells them.
These restored weapons
make good conversation
pieces. They can be dis-
played over fireplaces, on
pegs over doorways, or just
standing in a corner. Show
it with pride and preserve
it for your children.
An hypothetical letter to a prisoner
by Margaret Landis
(Author’s note: 1 have
written here, in the form of
a letter, what I believe
might be a description of
the arrival of the news of
the signing of the Declara-
tion of Independence in
this area approximately two
hundred years ago.)
To Sergeant John
Meloney (Known as Mac-
aroni Jack) Aboard Prison
Ship-----New York Harbor
Written at-----, Sunday,
the fourteenth day of July,
in the year of our Lord one
thousand seventeen hun-
dred and seventy six.
My dearest Husband:
The Right Reverend-----
“eee has gracioufly confent-
ed to write this letter for
me this day to tell you
that your family are all well
and that the crops are
growing nicely. I am kept
very bufy spinning and
weaving. The girls sew the
shirts fairly well, though
Sufanna’s stitches are yet
too large, but she is young
and will soon do better.
The shirts are not of the
quality I am accuftomed to
making, but they should do
well enough to clothe our
men.
We were greeted on our
approach to the church this
morning by a very joyous
peeling of the bell. This
was occafioned we were
told at the beginning of the
service by the signing of
refolves in Philadelphia
much like those of our
Affociators in this area.
The hymn singing today
was particularly joyous in
view of this good news.
Son James has announced
that he will leave in the
morning for Hanover to see
about enlifting. He is quite
determined since hearing
the good news, though I
feel he is young and we
will sorely mifs his strong
arms at home at harveft
time. I trust we will have
no more Indian troubles.
We pray daily for your
releafe from your captivity
and your return to us. We
are moft grateful to the
kind reverend for writing
this letter for us.
Your loving wife----X her
mark
(The sequel to this letter
would be Mistress Meloney
walking home with her
family--lifting the skirts of
her ‘‘Sunday best’’ muslin
dress to ward off the dust
from the road. Her large
Tory ballad
“These hardy knaves and stupid fools,
Some apish and pragmatic mules, °
Some servile acquiescing tools,
These, these compose the Congress!
“When Jove resolved to send a curse,
And all the woes of life rehearse,
Not plague, not famine, but much worse
He cursed us with a Congress.”’
Tory Ballad, 1776
““Q. What king of men composed the Congress?
A. It consists of obscure, pettifogging attorneys, bankrupt
shopkeepers, smugglers, etc., etc.”
Tory Catechism, 1778
leghorn hat would help to
shade her face from the
July sun’s hot rays as she
kept pace with her eldest
son whom she would be
loathe to send off the next
morning. He would pro-
bably be wearing his
father’s Sunday coat into
which he had grown since
the latter left for the
campaign in Quebec almost
a year before. The younger
boys would be dressed in
jackets and breeches she
had made for son James
six or eight years before,
and she would wonder how
these boys with the aid of
their aging farmhand, her-
self, and the girls could
handle all the work to be
done when he, too, had left
to join the army. However,
since it was now a true
army of an independent
nation, there would be
mixed feelings of sadness
and joy, and they would
start to sing as they
walked--first the solemn
“Doxology’’ because it was
Sunday and they believed
in a ‘“‘nation under God’,
and second a gay tune such
as ‘‘The Haymaker,”’ a jig
tune, or our very own
‘““Yankee Doodle’’, that
song which immediately
conjurs to the mind the
picture ‘‘The Spirit of 76’
and which at least one
story tells us was written
by an Englishman to deride
the dress of our rag-tag,
independent, individualistic
Continental Army.)
Mrs. Landis has followed
the early American use of
the long ‘‘s’’ in the letter,
here represented by the
modern ‘f°.