Workaday World of Maine
The photographs in this display were taken in the 1930s and 1940s by George W. French (1882 –1970) for the Maine Development Commission. They represent a sample of the extensive collection of French’s negatives at the Archives.
These images reflect one of French’s favorite themes – the everyday life of ordinary Mainers as they went about their daily chores in their homes, on their farms and in their occupations.
A pleasant chore at home: getting ready to make apple pies! Look carefully and you’ll see that this lady is using a labor-saving device to core and peel her apples. (George French’s mother at the French homestead, Kezar Falls, 1943) |
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Keeping busy in Northeast Harbor, 1944. For some reason, these folks (Philip and Annie) have set up their loom in a greenhouse! |
It’s September and potato harvesting time in Aroostook County. Some schools in “The County” close for several weeks so that kids can help out with the harvest. (Caribou) |
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Harvesting blueberries way down east in Washington County. These are low-bush wild blueberries which must be raked and crated … (Columbia Falls, 1946) |
… and then picked over before they are shipped to market or processed by canning or freezing. Seasonal operations like the annual blueberry crop provided extra income for local women and children. |
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In 1944, blacksmiths, like Dan A. Chapman here, were in considerable demand. Because of the war, gasoline was rationed, automobile and truck manufacturing was diverted to military production and spare parts were very difficult to find. Many farmers had to rely on horses, mules and oxen. |
A Thomaston shipyard in 1946. This must surely be one of the last few wooden commercial vessels ever to be built in Maine. |
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Nowadays the dangerous claws of live lobsters are held shut by heavy rubber bands or plastic pegs. The traditional way was to use wooden pegs. Whittling the pegs, as this gentleman is doing, was a good way to spend the day when it was too stormy to go lobstering. |
Bringing in the corn. This corn might very well have been taken to a local cannery such as the one in Fryeburg below. (1937) |
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Small canneries abounded in or near rural communities throughout Maine at one time. Operating seasonally during the corn, string bean or other agricultural harvests, they were a vital part of the local economy. Very few have survived at the beginning of this century.
(Corn Cannery in Fryeburg – 1937) |
Log Drive in Limington, 1937. |
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Apples are at Douglas Orchards, Sebago, 1944. |
Hayfield at Parsonsfield, nd. |
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Building canoes at the world-famous factory in Old Town. (1942) |
Unloading fish in Friendship, 1940. |
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