Dining with History Hobbs
Oh, the things I do for history...
... like go to dinner at a nice restaurant just to explore the hidden messages within the decor so I can share it with you.
Let's start with a pair of chromolithographs hung on the wall at the Hobbs Tavern and Brewing Co in West Ossipee, New Hampshire.
chromos a special somewhat neglected form of art
explain what they are
insight into historic scenery
views like this often mistaken for haying
depending on the weather, harvests can be only a few weeks apart
but clearly look different
need a field guide to farming forensics
see here.
stook, shock and cock
fieldwork
farming forensics
free outreach program art of the harvest
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Champney, Chocorua
Artist’s Brook 1871 Benjamin Champney Prang chromolithograph
original sold
Original Champney for this print? for sale Sept 10, 2024 https://www.bonhams.com/auction/30250/lot/1/benjamin-champney-american-1817-1907-brook-through-conway-meadows-with-mount-chocorua-in-the-distance-and-moat-mountain-on-the-right-15-18-x-24-14-in-384-x-616-cmframed-20-38-x-29-12-x-2-18-in-518-x-749-x-54-cm/
With Chocorua
Chocorua and Moat Mountains
link digital commonwealth here.
looking southwest map out theclio
elm tree
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This was the closest I could get to the Saco River, to match up with the scene in the print.
This was taken on Monday 9/3/24. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you can see that they were haying this field and creating windrows to help dry out the hay before raking it up.
in the background they are growing corn. it is still green
Sept 28, only x days later from same spot took this photo showing the corn brown
same day took photo for a spot close by. You can see the stubble in the field where they have harvested the corn.
google satellite view shows this part of the intervale west of the Muddy Moose restaurant where Artist Brook runs into the Saco River is still a largely agricultural area
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This was very close to where Champney lived as seen in this detail from an 1860 map at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room.
these fields farmed by a local multigenerational family
in the 1860 map owned by x family
only short time between these two harvests
keep you and your family alive
tie to Hubka and St. George calendars, this time of the year
harvest moon
part of a broader study art of the harvest look at ice, berries, apples
hands-on programs where we teach the tools and techniques
see previous blog on stook horses
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detail
click on images to enlarge them
trees tinged with autumn colors we will be seeing in the next few weeks, or already starting to turn
insert pics, perhaps Newman painting of corn shocks
Corn shocks BT Newman
https://www.whitemountainart.com/btn105-2/
See also his photo/s at CHS
crop is brown, not green like hay
stacks, stooks are taller than the men, tepee shaped
not knee high like haycocks
mixed stock grazing sheep and cows
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Champney Kearsarge 1870
Mt. Kearsarge, Benjamin Champney, Prang chromolithograph
add photo/s I took of this view
describe where I took it from and when
NH Historical Society here.
Description: Landscape print, "Mt. Kearsarge," after a painting by Benjamin Champney (1817-1907), c. 1871. (it actually reads 1870 on the print)
Chromolithograph on canvas. River foreground center and right from center. Sandy river bank left foreground with two figures and cattle. Left background more grazing and watering cattle. Right bank middle ground two figures with dog; one of the figures is fishing. Village in background with mountain.
(does not mention harvest scene corn? Or buildings in the background)
(does not mention harvest scene corn? Or buildings in the background)
link digital commonwealth here.
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detail
different breeds of cattle for different purposes, milk, cream for cheese, meat
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farmer makes the scene, open, grown in and can't see this view today,
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farmer makes the scene, open, grown in and can't see this view today,
photo of that
Many other artists painted from here wma com links here for Chocorua and here for Kearsarge.
often mistaken crops
for example, Champney Prang print of the same year 1870
Princeton here.
mistakenly calls the crop "hay."
Champney did many scenes of haying,
see previous blog/s here and here ...
stooks, shocks and cocks
field guide to farming forensics
field guide to farming forensics
previous blogs see gdoc for list and links
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while it may not be farm to table, it is sort of a
museum of farming food tech tools
mill stone, turbine grind the grain seen being harvested in the chromolithographs seen above.
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tools on the walls represent many aspects of farming technology
scythe,
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dump wagon, ox cart
manure for the fields
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pin and holes to raise or lower the cart bed
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The building itself is historic. A enlarged photo of a post card on the wall near the reception.
winter scene
sled dogs
and pic of white's garage
notice the large sign along the roof ridge in both the post card above and the photo below
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insert pic from ossipee welcome snowmobile with
hobbs in the background
Hobbs Tavern with distinctive tower
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model T snowmobile
Mount Whittier ski resort link to lost ski resorts here.
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