When I first looked at this, I almost skipped it. Who would want to listen to an old farm report? But I decided to go ahead with it, and I’m so glad I did! I found a lot of the material here just fascinating.
Canfield Fair, Mahoning County, Ohio, 1946
The report starts with a visit to the Canfield Fair in Mahoning County, Ohio, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary. The local reporter describes in detail the entries in a competition for the best home-made tractor (and interviews the 1st and 2nd place winners), which is really interesting. Another segment features a housewife extolling the the wonderful benefits of using DDT in the home (of course, if DDT doesn’t work there’s the amazing new product from the Navy–448, now known as Malathion). There’s also a feature on the history and hoped-for future of the Missouri mule.
There are other reports and features about farm cooperatives, news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and more. All in all, a great snapshot of rural American life in the mid-1940s.
Images of the Canfield Fair found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohmahoni/photos/album3.htm
Canfield Fair, 1946
Thanks for this post! I’m currently working with a team cataloging radio programs from the forties in Kansas City and we also came across this program. We aren’t sure how many of these we have, but what I’ve come across includes lots of interesting information on WWII’s effect on farming communities. I’m glad to see this program continued post-1945. Is this the lastest year you have for Country Journal in your collection?
Regards,
Christina T.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! It looks like I have two other partial programs from 1946, one in June and the other September. I don’t have anything later than that.
When I first got into OTR, I used to skip these kinds of programs, too. But I later found them interesting. just like you did.
Thanks for this one.
(I got here via your post at TimesPast.)