In 1916, the Orange Judd Co., which published the American Agriculturist farm paper, sent three men on a 1500-mile automobile trip through central and western New York state to take the pulse of farmers and the merchants who served them.
They found that most of the small-town general stores carried brand-name and nationally advertised items because those were the products asked for by their farmer customers. A typical grocery product list in a store that served a hamlet of just 350 people, plus surrounding farms, showed they carried: Quaker Puffed Rice, Cream of Wheat, Postum Cereal, Kellogg’s Krumbles, Shredded Wheat and Corn Flakes, Royal Cocoa, Runkel’s Cocoa, Baker’s Chocolate, Crystal Domino Sugar, Dunham’s Cocoanut, Baker’s Cocoanut, None-Such Mince Meat, Van Camp’s Canned Goods, Lea & Perrin’s Sauce, Blue Label and Royal Label Ketchup, Davis Starch, Diamond Dyes, Shinola Polish, Lipton’s Tea, Chase & Sanborn’s Teas and Coffee, White House Teas and Coffee, Armour’s and Beechnut Bacon, National Biscuit Company Products, Gold Dust, Bon Ami, Ivory and Fels Naptha Soap, Old Dutch Cleanser, Beechnut and Wrigley’s Gum, Colman’s Mustard and Church’s Soda.
There were stores that carried clothing as well. One storekeeper said, “Farmers buy suits from $18 to $25, and we carry the Stein-Bloch and Ed. V. Price line, and we sell the young fellows silk shirts at $4.00. We sell B.V.D., Porosknit, Munsing and Reis men’s underwear. In shoes, the men buy Beacon, Emerson, Stetson and Endicott-Johnson makes. Farmers are good buyers of Arrow Collars-we have had no demand for rubber or paper collars for the last 10 years.”
Another storekeeper said, “We can’t tell the difference between farm women and town women these days, farmers’ wives are up-to-date, know the styles, and want the best. $25.00 is the average ready-made suit we sell, and we sell many at $35.00. We sell about 200 pairs of silk gloves a year to farmers’ wives, and they buy silk shirtwaists at around $4.00. Farm women are very much alive to their personal appearance. She finds what suits her and is willing to pay the price for it. They pay as high as $12.00 for hats.”
There seems to have been a pretty steady demand for Victrolas, and records to go with them, and for Kodak cameras and film. Many farmers owned automobiles, and some shopkeepers told of getting complaints from those who did still travel by horse and buggy that there were so many cars on main street that there was nowhere to hitch a horse.
There were special exhibits of cream separators, harvesting machines, gas engines, etc., and many traveling salesmen from the different companies demonstrated the equipment to prospective buyers. Out in the street, a Mogul 8-16 tractor was put through its paces. There was music, free refreshments and various prizes distributed, including a 3hp gas engine to the person who ordered the greatest amount of merchandise during the event. The dealer said, “The farmers come in droves, and we try to send them home happy and boosting for us.”
So, how about the New York farmers themselves? The ones interviewed seemed a pretty prosperous lot. One Wayne County farmer, typical of all the rest, owned 250 acres valued at $30,000, eight horses, 42 cows and heifers, 18 hogs and 200 chickens. His dairy barn was equipped with Louden stanchions, cement feed troughs and a litter carrier and had two tile silos. He had two cream separators, a New Idea manure spreader, and two gas engines, but no tractor as yet [many of the other farmers visited were using tractors in addition to horses]. He had a thriving orchard, but no spray equipment. He kept records of his business but had no typewriter.
His farmhouse had steam heat and a bathroom with hot and cold running water, a telephone, and was lighted by acetylene. His wife had a washing machine, sewing machine, carpet sweeper, oil stove, gasoline iron, bread mixer, ice cream freezer, and a refrigerator. There was a piano and a violin for music, a Kodak camera, a four-year-old Ford car and a newer Buick.
To supplement the physical survey, Orange Judd sent out questionnaires to many American Agriculturist subscribers in New York State. From the 594 responses received, they derived the following figures.
- 11% had Acetylene Lighting Systems.
- 5% owned Automobiles.
- 27% had Bathrooms.
- 4% had Billiard and Pool Tables.
- 29% owned Bread Mixers.
- 32% owned Cameras.
- 72% owned Carpet Sweepers.
- 52% owned Compressed Air and Pneumatic Water Systems.
- 5% had Electricity.
- 72% had Furnaces.
- 62% had Gas.
- 66% owned Hammocks.
- 13% had Hot Air Furnaces.
- 7% had Hot Water Furnaces.
- 64% owned Ice Cream Freezers.
- 37% owned Kitchen Cabinets.
- 12% owned Orchestra or Band Instruments.
- 42% owned Phonographs and Talking Machines.
- 2% owned Pianos.
- 20% owned Porch Swings.
- 2% owned Refrigerators.
- 96% owned Sewing Machines.
- 2% owned Steam Furnaces.
- 76% had Telephones.
- 10% owned Typewriters.
- 2% owned Washing Machines.
- 50% owned Vacuum Cleaners.
Somehow a 1916 farmer shooting pool in his parlor is a surprising image, but apparently 4% of New York farmers did just that.
Sam Moore
