I found this image about 20 years ago at an antique store in Alberta. It's a real picture postcard, and has the four triangle AZO stamp on a divided correspondence back, which indicates it dates anywhere from 1907-1918. There's a notation on the reverse which I've been trying to use to identify this threshing crew and where photograph might have been taken, but frankly have come up empty. It reads:
"Thrashing on the Clucas place some years ago. Jo Buhn [or Budn or Burn] at the left at the seperator and Samuel Clucas 3rd."
There are a number of Samuel Clucases in the US censuses. I couldn't find any in Canada.
Perhaps there are clues in the machinery or landscape. Any ideas?
http://www.robertpence.com/mn_wmstr_1992/mn_wmstr_1992.html has some photos showing equipment very similar to the ones shown in your postcard in action (the thresher is down at the bottom of the page).
ReplyDeleteI suspect someone associated with the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers in Rollag, Minnesota would know exactly these machines are.
http://www.rollag.com/
http://bradystewartphoto.photoshelter.com/image/I0000pxpCVJ8uJlc shows a simliar photo - made in Jerome, Idaho in 1912.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Iggy. Those are good reference sites. I will see what I can find out. The picture says that Samuel Clucas is the third man, so he'd be the older gentleman. I did find a Samuel Clucas living in Lucas Co., Ohio who is listed as a farmer. I believe he died in 1915. Most of the other Samuel Clucases I've found have not been farmers. My initial feeling was that the location was the Canadian prairies or US Midwest, but of course, it really could be anywhere they would have harvested like this.
ReplyDeleteAt first I read that as Samuel Clucas "the third" and thought hey, that should be easy! :)
ReplyDeleteI found an agricultural Sam Clucas...
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=sam&gsln=clucas&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=6l5&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=3946373&db=NonPopCensus&indiv=1 shows him in Hackberry, Nebraska circa 1880. Owned 80 acres in the middle of nowhere...