More about Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns

Non-traditional paint job on Mail Pouch barn in Belmont County, Ohio.

 Since I brought up the subject of Mail Pouch tobacco barns a few days ago, I thought I would write a bit more about them. Some quick research showed me I was wrong to say there were never any Mail Pouch barns in Tennessee, but truthfully, I've never seen any in my extensive travels around the state.

The Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia first began painting "Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco" on barns in 1897. By the 1960s there were more than 20,000 Mail Pouch barns in 22 states. Most of the ones still in existence are in the Midwest and were painted by Harley Warrick,the last of the Mail Pouch barn painters.

Noble County Ohio, probably Ohio Highway 147 near Batesville.

Beginning his career just days after returning from World War Two, he criss-crossed the Midwest for nearly 50 years, painting and repainting the red, yellow, and black Mail Pouch signs. When he finally hung up his brushes in 1992, it was the end of Mail Pouch Tobacco barn painting – and the end of an era.

Another Mail Pouch barn on Ohio 147 in Noble County.

When I was working on the Rock City Barns book I photographed Mail Pouch barns whenever I found them, accumulating enough to make a good start on a book.

There are quite a few Mail Pouch barn fans, mostly in the Midwest, and they have an organization called The Barnstormers devoted to preserving the barns. Their annual meeting and picnic is in Harley Warrick's home town. I attended one in 2003, hoping to interest them in supporting my efforts to publish a book of the barns. They looked at my Rock City Barns book with polite interest; in fact, some of them had copies. But at that time they were mostly interested in a book that Harley Warrick's son was working on. So nothing came of my trip except photos of more barns that I found along the way. Here are some of them.

Indiana Highway 135, north of Corydon.

Photos: These pictures were all made with my first digital camera, the six megapixel Canon EOS 10D and Canon EF 28-105 and 20-35L lenses.The photos are all from 2003 and my notes are a little sketchy. I've identified the barns as best I could, but I can't swear my captions are exactly correct.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   digital photography   Mail Pouch Tobacco barns     Canon EOS 10D camera     Canon EF 28-10 lens     travel photography     Canon EF 20-35L lens     old barns

Celebrating My Mother

My mother in her late 60s.

My mother's birthday was October 31st. She was born Louise Frances Goodman in Lawrence County, Indiana in 1914 and passed away in 2006 at the age of 91, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Herself the oldest of nine, all of whom she outlived, she was the mother of seven, of which I was the oldest.

Called “one of the last of the pioneer women,” she  grew up in a one-room log cabin that my grandfather covered with clapboards and divided into two rooms. He also built a lean-to on the back that served as kitchen and dining room. 

In 1979 my mother and I revisited the home where she grew up.

 In 1934, she married Byrl Jenkins of Bedford, a union that lasted more than 65 years, produced seven children, and stood as a monument of love and faithfulness to all who knew them. In 1945, Mom and Dad moved us to a primitive farm in Martin County, where they rebuilt a decrepit farmhouse while heating and cooking with wood we cut ourselves. Lighting was by Coleman lanterns until the arrival of electricity in the 1950s.

Mom and her dear friend Brownie, who lived to be about 18.

My mother was a devout follower of Jesus Christ from her childhood and was known for her strong faith and life of quiet saintliness.She was a constant reader and a fine writer with a quiet but deep sense of humor.

Mom in her 80s.

Growing up on our backwoods farm, I learned to be skilled with axe and saw and working with farm animals and horse-drawn machinery by the time I was twelve. I consider myself exceptionally blessed to have been given such parents and to have had what was essentially a 19th century upbringing in the 20th century.

Photos: These photographs were made with various cameras, but all were on film. Scans were made with the Minolta-DiMage 5400 or the Epson Perfection 4990 scanners.

Visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $3.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   film photography     family photography     Minolta-DiMage 5400 scanner     Epson Perfection 4990 scanners