Fair Trophies and Cow Milking

These were in the same negative sleeve with the photos of the casting contest, dated Sept. 15, 1967. I guess Chris Sawyer was cuter than these two guys with fair trophies, because this photo didn’t run in the paper, so far as I could find. I don’t know if the trophies were being dropped off for the fair or if someone really cleaned up. The only clue is the name “something” Farms on the door of the pickup. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

How to milk a cow

This photo of a little girl watching a cow being milked didn’t run, either. I don’t know who she is or who the farmer is. The cows, too, alas, are anonymous.

11 Replies to “Fair Trophies and Cow Milking”

  1. Ken, I like that photo of a little girl watching a cow being milked. If you visit us in southwest Michigan I can take you to my workplace to see cows being milked by robots, but you don’t get to squat down on soft straw bedding. I kind of miss barns like that. Our cows now have waterbeds instead of straw, and kids have to watch through a glass window, or watch output from a CCTV camera that I’ve set up in the barn. Kids seem to like it, but I don’t know if any of them have watched as intently as that little girl.

    It doesn’t work to service the camera from a ladder. The waterbeds don’t provide a stable surface for a ladder, and besides, the cows like to rub against it. Last time I worked on a lift in the barn to service cameras, the cows found it to be a good scratching post. Keeps the platform 20 feet up from holding still. I think the cows would learn to drive the thing from the controls at ground level if we gave them enough time. The robots are relatively new technology, but our cows spend a lot of time out in the pasture, the old-fashioned way, where they’ve also learned how to dismantle parts of the irrigation systems.

    I think I’ve seen better video of the robots, but here’s one: http://youtu.be/LD4dSUceQto

    1. John,

      Sounds like convicts in prison, cows and call center employees all have the time and ability to figure out ways to beat the system.

      Now that I think of it, they all have a LOT of things in common.

  2. I recognize the guy standing on the left side of the pickup truck…he worked for the Parks Department and Lived with his wife in the ARENA building for years.
    There was (is) a small apparment on the southeast side of the building and he lived there! I thought it was pretty cool at the time and still do… Now I will spend the rest of the day trying to remember the man’s name. That is a really spiffy hat the other Dude has on …got to get me one of those!

      1. I remember those caps. I didn’t have one myself, but the shape makes one think of the French Foreign Legion.

        One type of lightweight straw hat that I’m not sure was ever worn in the U.S. was a men’s narrow brimmed dress hat, in lightweight white material that would let light and air through. You almost couldn’t hide a bald head in one of those. I’ve seen them in Russian movies that are set in the late 50s and early 60s. Every time I see one I wonder if they were ever worn in the U.S. That style hat was common here then, but in a white straw version? Not that I remember seeing.

        That’s a fancy wide hat band on the dress hat your father is wearing in those photos.

  3. For Terry Hopkins–
    The man on the left is Glen Seabaugh, my uncle. He and his wife Elsie lived and worked at the arena for years.

  4. LaVona is right, that is my dad who lived there as caretaker of the Arena. It was always nice to visit my mom and dad especially when there was a concert held there. That is how we got to meet Marty Robins, and Jeannie C Riley among others. Again, those were the days! My parents are both dead now and it was so nice seeing this picture. Thank you so much!

  5. Yes, that is my dad. I lived with dad & mom there untill I went to St. Louis for a while before getting married and building a house outside of Jackson.

  6. The man milking the cow is one of the Keller’s, I believe. I am not sure what is first name was. My Dad use to work with alot of the farmers.

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