Friday's Fences

I was out this past Tuesday taking some additonal photos of a barn I intend to post for Barn Charm on Monday. It so happened this fence post with its barbed wire and vines was in my field of view while trying to get the barn pics so I thought I'd use it for Friday's Fences. I really didn't like the composition at all but after playing around with it I added a texture and played with different blending modes to achieve what you see. It's growing on me.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ahead!
Linking to Friday's Fences.

Barn Charm

(enlarge for more detail)

I've posted about this kind of barn before; but I always stop and photograph one I haven't previously seen. For those of you who aren't familiar with them they are called Mail Pouch barns. It was a form of advertisement for a tobacco company out of Wheeling, West Virginia. I've said before I don't condone the advertisement itself. However, to those of us who grew up seeing them along the highways these old rustic barn billboards have become treasured as a vital piece of Americana.
In my latest research I found the Mail Pouch Company sold a sweet tobacco called WOW back in 1938. The product was short lived and only lasted about ten years. Fewer barns advertised WOW and today they are considered a rare find. Which is why I was happy I had stopped and taken a photo of this one last week. If you look closely the WOW logo is bleeding through the Mail Pouch one on this particular barn.

I included this shot especially for Tricia. She commented to me last week that all the barns I've posted seemed set among the hills. Yes, my West Virginia Hills...majestic and grand!

For more Barn Charm visit Tricia here.

My World: A Tobacco Filled Barn

Meets

Regular readers to my blog have seen previous posts of what we know in the Eastern United States as Mail Pouch Barns. A Mail Pouch Tobacco Barn, or simply Mail Pouch Barn, is a barn with one or more sides painted from 1890 to 1992, in advertisement for the West Virginia Mail Pouch chewing tobacco company (Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company), based in Wheeling, West Virginia. However, they can be found in many states and as far west as California. Many have been demolished or are falling down. Initially, barn owners were paid between $1 and $2 a year for the advertisement, equivalent in 1913 dollars to about $20-$40 today.
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which sought to restrict the vast number of local advertisements that were being placed near highways, exempted Mail Pouch barns since they had been deemed historic landmarks.

Look closely at the barn in the photo. Can you guess what you see hanging there? It is tobacco leaves hung to dry. On a recent trip to my Mom's house I took a back route and came upon this barn. Of course I wanted to photograph the graphics but on closer observation I saw the tobacco. This scene is not typical in my area so it was a surprise to find.
The barn in the above photo was in a curve in the road and no evident place to pull off and take a picture. I was looking for a place to turn around and go back and this red barn was beside the highway with a large turn around in front of it. As I pulled beside of it I noticed it too was storing tobacco leaves.

This is a closeup of the leaves. Since they are a brownish color they have probably been drying for several weeks.

Be sure to click the badge at the top of my post to see other participants in My World. It's like a trip around the world without leaving your chair. Or, check out the participants in Ruby Tuesday posting photos with a little bit of red or a lot of red.

Have a wonderful day in your world and find a little red in your day!

Project Black: Take Three

Big Black Barn

Yesterday I was out on a long drive and came across some Mail Pouch barns across the river in the state of Ohio. I probably photographed four or five of them. Covered bridges was actually the reason for the day trip and I'll post about those later. It just so happened none of the bridges were black!

If you are a regular reader you know I've posted some of these barns before. They were originally painted by the tobacco company as advertisement. We have a lot here in West Virginia. Some are painted all black with the ad on two sides. Some are painted with red on two sides like this one. This was the first one I had ever seen with red sides. You can see a hint of the red on the right side of the barn. Many are in disrepair; but this one had been recently painted and was in excellent condition. A farmer sat on his tractor and waved at us as we stopped to take a look!

Project Black is hosted by Anna at Anna Carson Photography.

The Trip Continues...

As we continue our journey to the Civil War Site we travel a road first proposed by George Washington in the 1830's. He proposed a road that would connect Virginia to the Ohio River. That spot became Parkersburg, West Virginia.

What's under those West Virginia Mountains? A lot of it is sheer rock. This was a rock quarry I almost missed because there was part of a mountain in front of it along the road. The photos really do not capture the sheer height of the rock face.

Of course I had to stop to take a photo of yet another Mail Pouch barn. It literally sat beside the two lane road we were traveling on. The brown and yellow sign you see (click to enlarge) says "fishing allowed - walk in only." There was no parking lot and no place to really get off the road so where you were supposed to park and walk in and carry everything to the creek to fish I don't know. The creek is way down at the end of that field behind the barn. I suppose it could have meant you could only walk into the creek to fish as opposed to putting in a boat. The sign really didn't make the point very clear.

I know a lot of people do not blog on weekends so for my faithful readers who have followed my travels I will post the Civil War site and the Indian Burial Mound the first of the week. Tomorrow I will be participating in Camera-Critters Sunday so I hope you will stop by to see what backyard visitors I had this week.

Till then - Happy Trails!

Priceless Community Art

Just recently I posted a photo of a Mail Pouch barn and had said I hoped to find more. Last week on a day trip I came across another of the historic structures. This one sits in Friendly, West Virginia. As I stopped to take a picture of the barn I noticed another small outbuilding beside the residence behind the barn. On the side of the building you will notice a quilt pattern. I’m not positively sure of the pattern’s name but suspect it is a variation of something called “girl’s choice.” On the other hand I could be completely wrong. My dear mother-in-law was the quilter in the family. I’m sure she’s shaking her head up there in quilter’s heaven and disowning me for my lack of knowledge!
Last year my mother had given me a magazine that ran a short article about these quilt patterns on barns in the state of Iowa. Barns play an important role in Iowan heritage. With quilting being another part of that heritage, quilt blocks on barns seem to go hand in hand. This link, http://www.barnquilts.com/2359.html, will take you on a virtual tour of actual photos of the displayed barn quilts in Sac County, Iowa.
Apparently this endeavor has begun in several communities across the nation. The original idea may have begun in the state of Ohio. In addition to Iowa and Ohio, parts of Kentucky and Tennessee have also jumped on the barn quilt wagon. On one of my first day trips after moving back here to West Virginia last summer I spotted my first quilt barn down the hillside from the interstate. At the time I didn’t carry my camera everywhere I went. Shame on me; and yes, I’ve learned my lesson! Knowing there are two here in West Virginia I’m certainly going to be on the lookout for more priceless community art ~ and with camera in hand!

Mail Pouch barns are historic barns painted between the years of 1890-1992. They were advertisement for the West Virginia Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco Company in Wheeling. They can be found in at least twenty-eight states and as far west as California. Many are listed as a National Historic Landmark. They have been documented and given an ID number. I did some research today and found that “my barn” is numbered 48-54-02. Initially farmers were paid one to two dollars a year for the ads. I’d say that was awfully cheap advertisement for the tobacco company.

I grew up seeing these scattered about the landscape growing up here in West Virginia. I know many are falling into disrepair or simply gone. Years ago when I lived in Virginia and came back for a Fourth of July holiday I even purchased a photo at a local arts and crafts fair. The photo used to hang in my den and is currently still packed in a box from my summer move.

I am fortunate to see the pictured barn on my trips into “town”. At the end of this Sunday’s afternoon drive I tried to snap the picture as best I could. Yes, while driving. Shhh....don't tell.
It sits on a hill and there’s no place to pull off. So not having time to find and get permission to enter the property and as I had to have one, this photo will have to do for now. It just seemed fitting that I should take it to go along with my other photos on Sunday’s little drive. As the weather warms and I find myself "on the road again" I hope I come across more of these old structures to (better) photograph and share.

Tomorrow's post will be a Wordless Wednesday photo of one of my finds and Thursday I'll introduce you to an animal I did not expect to find down a country road. Hope you continue to stop by as I unravel my thoughts about my Sunday afternoon on the road.