Thursday, March 12, 2009

Theme Thursday = Animal


Whoa, baby! That was some pig! Actually, I don't know whether the
pig was so big, or if my great-great-grandfather, Palestine, was so
small. He was a little guy, but nonetheless, this was one truck load of
a pig. The photo was taken on our family's homestead farm in
Howard Co., Indiana probably some time in the 1920's. Grandpa Pal,
looking dapper, was all dressed up, fit to kill, to pose with his beauty.
He looks mighty proud, indeed.



This is me, along with my uncle, "The Bach", on a visit to the old
homestead farm a few years ago. I think we are standing at the same
corner of the barn where Pal was standing with his prized pig, nearly
ninety years ago.

81 comments:

  1. Pigs are big! My mother used to talk about having been charged by a pig when she was a child. Scared her mightily.

    Isn't it wonderful, though, to have that kind of continuity in your life - to pose for a photo with your uncle, right where your great-grandfather posed? I'm envious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Willow. Loved the picture and continuity. I read pigs are smarter than dogs. Tomorrow night, I am posting a ghost story in honor of Friday the 13th. There will be a link to others also posting their ghost stories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great picture! Pigs are fascinating critters but keeping one for a pet could run into serious money when it came to feed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow--that IS one big pig! Joe and I were just discussing how, even to do outdoor work, our male ancestors always seemed to be dressed in 3-piece suits. I have a photo of my great-grandfather in a shirt and vest, "workin' on the railroad." You sure don't see that now, do you! How wonderful that you have that fabulous photo, Willow! And what a cute one of you and your uncle.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know what to say! What a porker. It reminds me of All Creatures Great and Small when Mrs. Pumphrey bought herself a piglet for a pet and named him Nugent. Needless to say, he became to big for the house rather quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh goodness, what a piggie! Great images :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. When you said dressed to kill I thought you meant dressed to kill the the pig! Then I thought... not in his best glad rags.

    Another thing, there is a character down at the gate who looks like he is taking a pee!

    Happy Days

    ReplyDelete
  8. That pig is huge! People were not so big back in those days, but the pigs were certainly plenty big. Nice that your family has the old homestead still. We had a "bach" uncle, too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! That is one huge hog. I hope your great-grandfather was on his way to a blue ribbon at the county fair.

    Great photo. It is wonderful to have photos to back up oral family history. So many families don't.

    ReplyDelete
  10. WOW! That's a huge pig. If it is that size, is it considered a hot?

    That is a great historical picture and the followup with your uncle---perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's a might fine pig and big enough to be a walking billboard. Which now has me thinking there was some company that used to have a logo that showed a pig with writing on the side of it. Hmmmm...anybody remember what the piggie logo was for? Pigs are such fascinating animals and much smarter than most politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Big Pig....
    I thought you were saying dressed to kill the pig also !
    Sir Winston Churchill quote
    " I like pigs.
    Dogs look up to us,
    Cats look down on us
    Pigs treat us as equals "
    I like pigs also ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. That is some might pig. They can get huge indeed and the fact that your grandfather stands behind him would help in the dwarfing impression.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Holy Pork Chop. That is one Greyhound of a swine. Grandpa deserves to be proud!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I know its all about the pig but I love the words from Edna St. Vincent Millay, from New England Spring. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  16. He's a fine chap alright. We had friends who had a pig it was beautiful, friendly . . we were devastated to find it had been butchered for Christmas! Lovely that you have such old photos . .I have very little of my grandparents or great grandparents.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Willow,
    Zat is one huge porker!
    rel

    ReplyDelete
  18. That's a heck of a load of bacon your Grandpa had there!

    Many thanks for the post and the pictures.

    Greetings from London.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have to agree that is a huge pig and I love how you connect the past with the present. Such a great way to do that. You are so lucky to be able to know your families past like that. I think many of us would love to be able to do this. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Very cool pix-- the pig & your great-grandfather in his Sunday best is a photo with lots of aura, & as others have said, fun to see you & yr uncle later posing in the same spot.

    ReplyDelete
  21. That must have supplied enough salted pork and bacon for a hungry family for the winter! Imagine the squealing at the slaughter.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yep, that's one massive animal! The way the ground must have shaken when he walked, its a wonder the barn is still there! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh, I love that old barn. Nicely weathered with nice windows.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Now that was a "big pig" Willow.
    We had one when the kids were young
    they named Ted.They would ride him!
    My sister came to visit, she told my Dad that I had a "watch hog"!
    I love the "ninety" years later pic!
    That's really special!!
    Carol

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a wonderful collection of memories you have of your family and the proud events they share.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mmmmmmmmmmm.. pork chops.

    ReplyDelete
  27. That pig looks gigantic!

    I envy you for having pictures of your great-great-grandfather, that is such a blessing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Willow! Love the way you tied in your love of ancestry with the theme. More so that you have snaps of it :) Simply wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow! The pig was definitely huge!!! No doubt about it! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. so wonderful to have the old photo. I love his name: Palestine. And I guess Pal is a good nickname too for that somewhat heavy name. I like the way your circle round too with the photo of you at the barn corner.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love the photos - old and new - I've read that pigs can make wonderful pets but I presume that on a farm that pig was meant for better things!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks for the look back in time!

    ReplyDelete
  33. What can one say, Willow?! Except that both photos are great to have.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Whoa! No matter how small your grandpa was, that was still one heck of a pig. Yikes!

    Love the pic of you and your uncle. Such loving connection between you two.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Like the others said, that is a huge pig. Wonder if your great great grandfather also had a smoke house? Mr. Pig would have fed the family for at least a year.

    ReplyDelete
  36. THat is a killer pig! Pigs are funny. What a legacy you have...I love that my family is an old farm family too!

    The Illinois state fair used to have the biggest pig in the world every year, but then she died. She couldn't even stand up I think because she was such a fattie! That would have been some fatty bacon!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Lovely big pig... they are very smart too.. they never get much credit for that...

    Your great great grandfather probably knew how to handle him and the pig probably trusted him!

    and Pigs have the softest skin right behind their ears.. ours would come to the fence and stand there waiting for us to rub them there...and we could tell they enjoyed it..

    Cheers from New Brunswick, Canada

    ReplyDelete
  38. wow! BIG PIG! nice follow up pic as well. fun.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Lovely old photo willow. Here in the UK fifty years ago it was an honour to have a really big, fat pig to slaughter - and you always had your photo taken with it before it was killed - now we all like leaner meat.

    ReplyDelete
  40. WOw ! What a great post ! I love the "before and after" picture. It's fascinating to learn a little bit more about our family. I'm going to get married 100 years after my great grand mother (long story !) and I'm searching for picture of her. Amazing journey.

    ReplyDelete
  41. hey don't build 'em like that these days - or do they?

    ReplyDelete
  42. I love the continuity of the house in both pictures. What can I say? That's a BIG pig.

    ReplyDelete
  43. That's a mighty fine porker there! Love your great-great-grandfather's mustache, very dapper he was.
    Lizzy

    ReplyDelete
  44. Great TT post!

    I have to say that I admire people who live and take care of a farm. Hard work :-)

    peace and love
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  45. It looks like one must get really dressed up to pose where the pig posed! A family tradition?
    Both pictures are great!!

    ReplyDelete
  46. Lyn, ha! No, not really. We had just come from a family funeral. That's why the dark, formal clothes.

    ReplyDelete
  47. that is a very nice looking pig indeed...and biggg!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Really big indeed.
    Great pictures as usual
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  49. Lovely photos. But, man oh man, that's a big PIG!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Thats a huge one! Nevertheless a prized possession if friendly..:)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Love the pig photo !!!

    I used to raise potbellies... nothing like the size of this fellow - but fabulous animals, and great pets if one has the proper facilities... They need to root!

    ReplyDelete
  52. all i can say is DITTO! everyone pretty much summed up my sentiment!
    have a wonderful thursday :)

    tracie

    ReplyDelete
  53. Wow! Only one word comes to mind: BACON!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Even if your grandfather was small, that pig would have still been big. Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Whoa, baby! is right! Great old pic. I, too, like the continuity of you and "The Bach" posing today on the same spot as Grandpa Pal so long ago. Man, what a bunch o' bacon!

    ReplyDelete
  56. Also, I love the drawing in your header! Who's it by?

    ReplyDelete
  57. That pig sure is making a lot of bacon! I've never seen one so large.
    Blessings, Star

    ReplyDelete
  58. A. Decker, thanks! The dry point print in my header is by Lesser Ury.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Enthusiasts of the films of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (Blind Chance, Dekalog, The Double Life of Véronique, Three Colours Trilogy, etc) are invited to drop by my chatroom at the Brasserie Alizé on the anniversary of the director’s death, this coming Friday evening, 13 March 2009, from around 1800 GMT. Please pass on the invitation to others and hopefully see you there!

    ReplyDelete
  60. Oh my what big PIGS you have!

    Is that a hairy pig or are my eyes deciving me?

    ReplyDelete
  61. What a wonderful animal! I wonder how much macaroni cheese that one would eat?!!

    ReplyDelete
  62. How wonderful to be close to your roots...farm and relatives. Something very special about staying connected to family.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Wow! There's a lot of bacon on that thing!

    ReplyDelete
  64. the only time i've seen a pig bigger than this one is at the indiana state fair!! i'm sure it was fun to go back and visit the family farm.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Hard to believe that pig can even stand up!

    ReplyDelete
  66. Let me just back up the truck and haul him away.
    mmmmmm! I can smell the bacon already.

    ReplyDelete
  67. I love pigs. They're so cosmopolitan.

    ReplyDelete
  68. yikes!!! no shit, that was some pig.... looks like he was a downright hog!

    ;)

    great snaps...then and now....

    ReplyDelete
  69. that pig is HUMUNGOUS. holy pig!!!

    ReplyDelete
  70. Palestine's Portly Piggy Ponders Posing!

    Love the pic of you and the Bach...

    ReplyDelete
  71. That is a nice shot. I love the way you composed it and captured the light.

    ReplyDelete
  72. On my God, I've never seen a pig this big. So what happened to it, did you roast it?

    ReplyDelete
  73. Wow!You could get a lot of bacon sandwitches out of that baby!
    Lovely photos.thanks for showing them.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Hi & Thanks for the visit!
    I think it's amazing that you can trace your family back to 100 hundred years ago. :D I can only trace mine to the oldest living and most recently deceased. :p

    ReplyDelete
  75. That's really neat, but I'm afraid that big boy might eat me! :)

    Great post, as usual!

    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  76. i could look at your old family photos all day.

    i love this !!

    ReplyDelete

Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)