Friday, November 18, 2011

Frogmore Cotton Plantation, Then and Now

I can't believe the weekend is coming soon again. That means I get to show some pinks for Beverly's Pink Saturday and we get to tour for Sightseeing Saturday.

Last weekend, my stepdaughter Kerri and her three kids came for a visit. We took them to Frogmore Cotton Plantation, which is a working plantation in Ferriday, Louisiana. It is only about a 40 minute drive away from where we live. We have been wanting to go there but just never had a chance. It was actually Janie (Blondie's Journal) and Al who told us about it when they came to visit. They wanted to go there but we did not have time, because we had to go to the airport to pick up my daughter and 2 grandsons. Sorry, Janie! If you come and visit us again, I promise we will take you there. But for now, I hope my photos will suffice.


Before we go there, let me show you my pink. Beverly has a Thanksgiving theme for this Sat. but I already put my Fall decor away to make room for all the bins where I am moving my dishes from cabinets inside the house, in preparation for the new floor installation. I already ordered the floor but it will take around 10 days before they arrive. That will give me enough time to unload stuff from cabinets so the workers can move them but, I am going to FL for Thanksgiving. I wish John could do the rest since he is staying home but I know he is busy. And besides I don't think I want to trust my dishes with anybody else.


And so, I am showing you pitchers in our bedroom and my Coach coasters, of which some are pink. Notice my blog books under the pitcher? I print 4 months at a time since the time I started blogging in January of 2009. I finally have the whole year printed so I am moving to 2010 next. I am only almost 2 years behind, lol.


I got a new camera, a Sony NEX-C3 so I was playing with it. This effect is supposed to look like an old film with the background defocused.




And the one below is set on auto without flash. Although I have always used Sony cameras, (this is probably my 9th, I think, this one's a little different so I am still trying to study it.




Ok, it's time to go to the plantation. I had a hard time selecting what photos to share because I have over 300 pictures. I think this is one of the most interesting historical tours that we have taken. I really enjoyed it. I knew my friend Debjani wanted to go see it too so I invited her to come along. Noah and Zoe ran to the fields as soon as they saw it and just knelt there meditating and absorbing everything. It looks like the cotton here have just been harvested.
These were the slaves' quarters.
Hog killing was an event that they always looked forward to.


Inside the quarter, you will see that they used newspapers for insulation and they white washed the walls I believe, to keep the bugs away. You will also see the work clothes of the women. Notice the shoes in the frame. I can only imagine how cold it must get in the winter. The floors are not even solid. They have gaps between them.

Tool shed.

I am so glad they preserved all the primitive tools so that we would have an idea of how they used to harvest and process the cotton.






Below is the cooking cabin. I took a lot of pictures inside it. I wanted to take so many of these kitchen stuff home but I did not want to get arrested, lol.

The tour guide said they bought their groceries from Natchez which is about a 40 min drive by car today but it took them 2 days on a mule. Imagine traveling 2 days just to get some groceries?



The oven was right outside the cooking cabin.



We wanted to experience cotton picking so I went to get a bag. That bag is long and heavy.


And so with Zoe's help, we went to the fields to pick.



They gave us a tour of the cotton gin. and how the cotton was processed in the olden days. I am so glad they had labels on a lot of these equipment or I would not remember anything.

Noah was asked to help demonstrate how they used to do laundry. After they are done in this basin, they take the clothes to the other basin to wring them out.



After the tour of the gin, we were taken to a room to watch a dvd. It showed how they used to process the cabin and how they do it now. They do have modern equipment now. They have 2 big warehouses where they store the cotton before it is delivered everywhere, all the way to Europe and Asia. There's Kerri and our 3 grandchildren.


Here's a modern equipment they use now. I believe it cost $650,000.
I did not realize that cotton is used for food also and not just for fabric. Crisco, for example is made mostly of cotton seed oil.



John really enjoyed the tour too.


Here is a cotton bale ready to be weighed and labeled. A bale weighs 500 lbs.


I hope you enjoyed the tour as I did. Thank you so much for joining me.


I am linking with

Sarah's Homemaking Link Up Weekend at http://bloggingwhilewaiting.blogspot.com/


Honey's Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/


Tootsie's Fertilizer Fri at http://www.tootsietime.com/


Beverly's Pink Saturday at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/


The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Thanks, lovely ladies, for hosting!

30 comments:

Debbie said...

I did enjoy the tour! I love places and things like that and visiting them is a favorite thing to do. If we lived even remotely close to that area, I would want to visit Frogmore.

PAINTORDIG.blogspot.com said...

What an interesting tour.Glad we don't live back in those times though!

Dolores said...

Wow, thanks for the informative tour... sure looks like an interesting place..... Great pictures!

Jane@Cottage at the Crossroads said...

What an interesting tour! My grandparents grew cotton. When I was a little girl, I picked some for a few days to earn some spending money. It was hard work, and that's when it was all done by hand.

Creations By Cindy said...

Oh I enjoyed this tour! Love this kinda stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Richard Cottrell said...

I am always so glad to see people perserve the past. Soon these ways of life will be gone forever. Richard from My Old Historic House.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

WoW, I certainly did enjoy the trip. Thanks for lettin' me tag along with ya'll.

Your pictures were just amazin' and made me feel like I was right there beside ya.

Enjoy your new camera...I sure did! Heeehehehe!!!

From the happy hills and hollers of the Missouri Ozarks ya'll have a delightfully blessed and beautiful weekend!!! :o)

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Oh my, that looks like it was a fun time. I would love to visit a plantation.

Cindy Adkins said...

This is an amazing tour! And I forgot to tell you that I live on the grounds of what once was a huge plantation--We didn't know it when we bought the home!

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
XO
Cindy

The French Hutch said...

Hi Christine, Wow, after taking the digital tour of Frogmore I want to visit. I love touring any and all old homes with a history. This looks so interesting. Hope all goes well with the new floor installation, I know you will love it. I'll look forward to your photos. It great your going to FL to spend Thanksgiving. I know you look forward to being with family. I'm thinking of a new camera too, I'll love to hear how you like this pne. Have a great trip and a Happy Thanksgiving.

~Emily
The French Hutch

Beth said...

What a great historic site, Christine! It reminds me of a place here called Living History Farms. I enjoyed the tour, and I also enjoyed the photos in your home. I think it's great that you are making blog books - what a nice keepsake! Happy Thanksgiving to you, John and your kids and grandkids!
Hugs and blessings, Beth

Tami @ Creative girl Vintage said...

That was a very interesting tour..thank you for taking us along. You are taking really good pictures with your new camera.
Happy Pink Saturday..xo Tami

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Wow!! What a great tour. I would love to get there someday. It's not far from my Uncle.. Great pictures. hugs ~lynne~

C'est moi Claudette said...

I think I would have done without the hog killing ; (
Other than that, very interesting Christine.
Glad you had fun with your family.
LOVE the pinks.
Love Claudie
oxoxo

bj said...

O, Christiney...this must have been so much fun. Once, a few yrs ago, we toured a beautiful old plantation. The quarters out back for the black people were so sad to see. What a sad time in our history.
Thanks for sharing your tour with us.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving...
xo bj

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Wow Christine, what an interesting tour and sad to know they had slaves on that beautiful plantation. You took great pictures of almost everything, thank you for the history on it. I love your pitchers and your books are unique...hope I an do that some day, maybe on my first 100 at a time! The grands are adorable! Have a terrific weekend my friend.
FABBY

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Yeah! I saw that while I was trying to post this tea set...I am the one who should be honored tro be featured next to you, my sweet blog soul, china soul, decorating souls, same taste souls...but you my dear are sure one of a kind!! Luv ya! FABBY

Chubskulit Rose said...

Oh my, this is a great adventure Christine. Happy Thanksgiving!

J.Rylie.C said...

Very pretty! I really love Saturday because my Mom let me blog a little for Pink Saturday.

Here's my pink share, have a nice weekend!

Donna said...

What a great experience to visit the plantation, and get to pick cotton, too! Great photos:) We toured a plantation in South Carolina a few years ago. Have a great weekend!

Unknown said...

What a fun tour! I sure would love to take our kids there! Maybe someday! Thanks so much for linking up with my party this weekend. It's great to have you! I'm curious about your blog books. I've been wanting to print mine off too and am wondering if the comments print into the book too or if it's just your actual posts.

Have a great weekend!

HaPpY pInK sAtUrDaY!
Sarah

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

How interesting, Christine! My great grandfather grew cotton many moons ago. Thanks so much for your congratulations! I appreciate all the bloggy love!...hugs...Debbie

Cindy Adkins said...

That's an amazing tour, Christine! I love visiting historical places like that. I learned a lot, too. Thanks! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Cindy

Marlis said...

Living in cotton country, I was glad to see the old equipment. How much fun that must have been to see first hand. I love that you share your lovely trips with us.. Happy Thanksgivings, xo Marlis

Cindy said...

I enjoyed the tour! I look forward to reading more of your wonderful blog! Cindy

Sarah said...

Christine, you are always on the go. Thanks for sharing the cotton plantation. I grew up in south TX and cotton country. ;-)

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Looks like such an interesting tour Christine. I have watched cotton farming develop a lot just in my lifetime. The progress is really amazing. I know what you're talking about when you say that bag is heavy. We used to have a cotton picking contest in our town, and I tried picking cotton a time or two. Such a hard job! Your pictures of your pitchers were so pretty. laurie

Sue said...

What an amazingly interesting place that is preserving the past for future generations, Christine. Informative and enlightening... It had to have been a very rough life for those who were enslaved. Thanks so much for the tour. :-)

Traci said...

What an interesting place to visit!

The Tablescaper said...

Neat post. Great tour.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

- The Tablescaper

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