Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington, KY (2025)

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University Of Kentucky Libraries

11/24/2024

BLUE POTATOES IN KENTUCKY: The fist blue potatoes were grown in Peru in the Andes Mountains where potatoes were domesticated 7-10 thousand years ago. It has been written that blue potatoes were introduced in North American in the 1970s. That is part of the story. As early as October of 1815, blue nose potatoes from Ireland were sold aboard the schooner “Benjamin” at Magwood’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. By January of 1839, Robert Buckner had “fine blue potatoes” for sale in Louisville, KY. For several decades in Kentucky, blue potatoes were treated as an imported specialty vegetable that was advertised for sale in Louisville. By 1914, the M. C. Russell Co. had Blue Victor seed potatoes available for sale in Maysville, KY. The following year, J. Polk Burlew grew 24 Blue Victor potatoes in Falmouth, KY, which weighed 30 pounds. In 1916, blue potatoes could be purchased by the bushel during Dollar Week at J. A. Hobbs in Butler, KY. By 1935, there were blue potatoes grown on Kentucky farms in Lewis County, Mercer County, Pendleton County, and Bell County. Then, in 1950, there was a major campaign against blue colored potatoes. Kentucky newspapers carried stories of how federal chemists used the dye F. D. and C. No.1 to color 50,000,000 bushels of surplus potatoes blue to keep humans from eating them. It was said that the U.S. Government was selling the chemically blued potatoes back to farmers to feed to their livestock. There were other reports that the potatoes were dyed blue to keep the potato surplus bought by the government from being resold on the open market. During the fall 1950 GOP Congressional Campaign, New Jersey Republicans began giving away blue-dyed potatoes to convince voters that the Democratic Administration’s surplus potato program was “wasteful and extravagant.” The State Journal newspaper in Frankfort, KY, ran an article to explain why humans did not want to eat blue mashed potatoes. In 1952, there were reports of a potato shortage that had caused the black market for potatoes to flourish. Potato detectives were dispatched to fight the potato black market. After that, not much was said about blue potatoes in Kentucky newspapers beyond the occasional article about odd colored vegetables raised by gardeners. Columnist Ann Landers nixed blue potatoes in 1975. Today, most blue potatoes are grown in California, they are referred to as a specialty potato. There is no available data on the number of blue potatoes grown in Kentucky.

Sources:
Atkinson, Greg. “There’s joy in the blues — potatoes, that is.” 15 March 2009. The Seattle Times webpage. Accessed 24 November 2024, https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/theres-joy-in-the-blues-8212-potatoes-that-is/ #:~:text=Of%20course%2C%20blue%20potatoes%20aren,America%20only%20in%20the%201970s.

“Blue potatoes.” The State Journal, 22 March 1950, p.2.

“Blue Victor seed potatoes.” Maysville Bulletin, 26 March 1914, p.3. (ad attached)

“Five days. $Dollar Week$.” The Falmouth Outlook, 1916, p.8.

Landers, Ann. “Your problems by Ann Landers.” The Mayfield Messenger, 05 May 1975, p.4. (selections attached)

Larsen, Douglas. “The case of the missing spuds.” The Owensboro Messenger, 06 June 1952, p.8.

McCarty, Grant. “Beyond 'Yukon Gold': Growing Purple/Blue Potatoes.” 19 March 2020. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Extension webpage. Accessed 24 November 2024, https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/raise-grow-harvest-eat-repeat/2020-03-19-beyond-yukon-gold-growing-purpleblue-potatoes.

“No. 13.” The Falmouth Outlook, 10 September 1915, p.8.

Othman, Fred. “On Capitol Hill.” The Paducah Sun-Democrat, 17 March 1950, p.4.

“Potatoes.” Ad in the Louisville Daily Journal, 1 January 1839, front page.

“Republicans in New Jersey giving away blue potatoes.” The Courier-Journal, 26 October 1950, front page.

“Variety of notions,” Charleston Courier (South Carolina), 11 October 1815, front page. (ad attached)

IMAGE: Blue Potatoes from Grow Stuff webpage @ https://www.growstuff.org/crops/blue-potato.

VIDEO: 1st PURPLE potato harvest of the year! Bucket grown PURPLE POTATOES!! by My Edible Garden UK @ YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoX8G7gvdxU.

10/20/2024

THE KENTUCKY DEVIL OF 1866: About a year after the U.S. Civil War ended, there was talk of a “Kentucky Devil” and no one knew what to make of the tale. On May 9, 1866, The Louisville Daily Courier newspaper seized the occasion to assure that freedmen (African Americans) should not fear the Kentucky Devil. It was only the personification of the unwelcomed U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. The Tennessee Home Journal newspaper suggested that the monster devil in Kentucky pay a visit to the radicals in the U. S. Congress and the Tennessee Legislature so the birds of feather could flock together. The Cincinnati Commercial newspaper aimed to set the record straight, there was a real-to-life “Kentucky Devil!” Several people had seen the Devil, and they were scared, especially given all the sightings in Bracken County, KY. The Devil was described as having luminous eyes, gnashing teeth, a scaly hide, cloven feet, large horns, a terrible tail, and he was impervious to bullets and buckshot. Several people had tried to shoot him with their guns. The Devil had to be stopped by man! At the end of March 1866, newspaper headlines all over Kentucky and in at least 20 other states read, “SATAN BOUND.” The Kentucky Devil had been captured and was secured in the Carlisle jail in Nicholas County, KY. Authorities and local citizens had tracked and lassoed the Devil and taken him down. His name was Oden, he was a Carlisle citizen who had been terrorizing the region. The man had clothed himself in horsehide over a chain coat and added phosphorous around his eyes. He had lashed ox horns onto his head. A calf tail was secured to his backside. His get-up had scared both African Americans and Whites out of their houses, then Oden burgled the empty homes. The Cincinnati Commercial newspaper suggested Oden’s punishment be a thousand years in prison and he be fed nothing but bread and water. And peas should be put in his shoes and pebbles sewn into the seat of his pants. He should be forced to sit on an iron stool and his prison cell be Nicholson-paved. Far too quickly, it was assumed that the tale of the Kentucky Devil had come to an end. But, in April of 1866, it was reported in the Paris Kentuckian and other newspapers that Oden was not in the Carlisle jail. In May of 1866, it was front page news that the Kentucky Devil or his brother had been seen near Middleton, NY, and in Brighton, a suburb of Chicago. As late as 2019, Jimmy C. gave his account of having encountered the Kentucky Devil while hunting in Kentucky. The audio recording is available on YouTube at the “Sasquatch Chronicles Blog: Nov 18 - Tonight’s Show: The Kentucky Devil.”

SOURCES:
1. Bracken County, KY, is two counties north of Nicholas County, KY.
2. “The Devil in Chicago.” The Manitowoc Pilot, 04 May 1866, front page.
3. Germer, Wes. “Sasquatch Chronicles Blog: Nov 18 - Tonight’s Show: The Kentucky Devil.” Accessed 20 October 2024, https://sasquatchchronicles.com/upcoming-show-the-kentucky-devil/.
4. “Kentucky Devil” in the column “New Albany Items: Various Items.” The Louisville Daily Courier, 09 March 1866, p.3.
5. “The Kentucky Devil, or his brother …” Cleveland Daily Leader, 11 May 1866, front page.
6. “A Mistake, Devil not caught.” The Tri-Weekly Maysville Eagle, 14 April 1866, p.2.
7. “Nicholson Pavement.” A Chicagology webpage. Accessed 20 October 2024, https://chicagology.com/prefire/prefire011/.
8. “In our paper to-day …” The Home Journal (Wi******er, TN), 10 March 1866, p.2.
9. “Satan bound.” The Louisville Daily Journal, 31 March 1866, front page. (attached)
10. Image by Vika_Glitter at Pixabay.

09/22/2024

ARMY GOODS STORES IN KENTUCKY (1861-Present): Researching the history of U.S. Army goods sales and stores in Kentucky is a work in progress. Army goods are military equipment, clothing, soap, to***co, gear, and other commodities. Recent articles give the starting date for this history as sometime after the U.S. Civil War ended in 1865. The sale of Army goods actually started a few years earlier in Kentucky. Army goods were offered to the public as early as 1861 in Louisville: coats, dress and sword belts, mattresses, rubber blankets, spurs, etc. The merchandise was sold at wholesale and retail prices at John M. Stokes and Son, located at 229 Main Street in Louisville. After WWI, the term “Army surplus” was used along with the term “Army goods.” For a brief period after the war, the Army surplus included animals. In January of 1918, the U.S. Army sold 45,000 cavalry, artillery, and draft horses, mules, and pack animals. The sales took place at Army camps around the United States. The following year, the U.S. Government opened surplus chain stores in selected U.S. cities. It was soon realized to be much more efficient and profitable to sell the surplus in bulk to wholesalers who would in turn sale to retailers. Army surplus food was sold through the parcel post system and postmasters in 1919. None of the Kentucky Army surplus stores were near the immense facilities as Bannerman’s in New York City, NY. Francis Bannerman is credited with starting the first military surplus company in the United States in 1865. Public sales in Kentucky have been on a much smaller scale for more than 150 years in 74 of the 120 Kentucky counties. Other sales were restricted to veterans, such as the 1946 sale of surplus Army jeeps and trailers at Fort Knox, KY. Less available were WWII Army tanks that were requested for farm work, museums, parades, artificial reefs, etc. The sale of surplus aircrafts to U.S. citizens was heavily contested. There was also the sale of military dogs to the public after WWII. These types of sales occurred at the same time as a record number of Army surplus stores operated in the United States. Then, in the 1990s, the number of Army surplus stores started to decline. There are still Army surplus stores in Kentucky.

SOURCES:
1. “Army Goods,” ad in The Louisville Daily Journal, 14 October 1861, p.2. (attached)
2. “Army to sell 45,000 mules and horses,” The Paducah Evening Sun, 27 December 1918, p.8.
3. “Army to sell surplus jeeps to veterans,” The Courier-Journal, 24 July 1946, p.12. (attached)
4. “Government stores.” The State Journal (Frankfort, KY), 03 September 1919, p.4.
5. Guide to the Bannerman Family Papers1788-2001 (bulk, 1890-1968) MS 2906 at New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Accessed 22 September 2024, https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/nyhs/ms2906_bannerman_family/.
6. McKay, Brett and Kate. “The Rise and fall of the Army surplus store,” Character, Featured, Military, 24 October 2021. Online at The Art of Manliness webpage, accessed 20 September 2024, https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/military/rise-fall-army-surplus-store/.
7. “Orders can be placed here for surplus Army food Monday; postmaster gets U.S. price list,” The Lexington Leader, 15 August 1919, p.2.
8. “Reconverted tanks,” The Courier-Journal, 24 April 1946, p.2. (picture with byline attached)
9. Ashby, Helen. “Susie would rather play,” The Lexington Herald, 26 December 1944, p.3.
10. Tragle, J. Frank. “What it means. Surplus in the air.” The Daily Messenger (Madisonville, KY), 20 December 1945, p.4.
11. Photo image of military uniform by Brett Sayles @ Pexels.

08/25/2024

USA FIRSTS IN KENTUCKY: A lot that happens in the United States started in Kentucky. Many of these historical firsts have been forgotten. Here is a list of some of the notable moments.

1. 1792: Kentucky became a state and was the first west of the Appalachian Mountains to be admitted to the Union. Isaac Shelby was governor. Frankfort was the state capital. Source: “Kentucky State Resource Guide,” Library of Congress webpage @ https://guides.loc.gov/kentucky-state-guide.
2. 1775: The first h**p crop in Kentucky was produced in Danville, KY. The state of Kentucky would become the greatest producer of h**p in the 19th and 20th centuries, producing 75% of the U.S. h**p fiber. Source: Hopkins, James F. A. History of the h**p industry in Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky, 2021.
3. 1780: The first circular racetrack to run counterclockwise was built by William Whitley at the Sportsman’s Hill Estate in Lincoln County, KY. Source: “William Whitley House,” Kentucky Tourism webpage @ https://www.kentuckytourism.com/explore/william-whitley-house-241. See also Whipps, Heather. “Why run races counterclockwise?” January 26, 2013. Online @ Live Science https://www.livescience.com/32442-why-are-races-run-counterclockwise.html.
4. 1795: The subscription library in Lexington, KY, was the first library west of the Alleghany Mountains. See “Lexington” in the section “Sketches of Public Libraries,” Kentucky Library Commission Fourth Biennial Report, 1915-1917, pp.52-54. Online at Google Books https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kentucky_Public_Documents/nJUlAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Alleghany%20Mountains%22
5. 1798: Jean-Jacques Dufour established the first commercial wine industry in the United States in Jessamine County, KY. Dufour was a Swiss vintner. Source: “Kentucky Wine, History in a Glass,” Drink KY webpage @ https://www.drink-ky.com/kentucky-wine-history/.
6. 1806: In Bardstown, KY, Dr. Walter Brashear performed the world's first successful amputation at the hip joint. The procedure was performed on a 17-year-old boy enslaved to the St. Joseph monks. The boy had a badly fractured leg that could not be saved. Source: “Dr. Walter Brashear,” Bullitt County History webpage @ https://bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/walterbrashear.html.
7. 1818: The oil well in Burkesville, KY, was the first commercially operated oil well in the United States and predates the industry by about thirty years. Source: “Burkesville, Kentucky,” Kentucky Educational Television [KET] webpage @ https://ket.org/burkesville-kentucky/.
8. 1861: Abraham Lincoln, born near Hodgenville, KY, was the first of three US presidents from Kentucky. The other two were Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis. President Lincoln served from 1861 until his death in 1865. Source: Hamilton, Holman. The Three Kentucky Presidents: Lincoln, Taylor, Davis, University Press of Kentucky, 2014.
9. 1800s: The first to***co baskets were made in Kentucky in the latter part of the 1800s. North Carolina would become the primary producer of the baskets starting in the late 1800s. Source: Smith, Donna Campbell. “To***co baskets,” Carolina County webpage @ https://www.carolinacountry.com/departments/departments/feature-story/to***co-baskets.
10. 1908: The Louisville Western Colored Branch Library was the first Carnegie colored library building in the United States. The library was first in a house in 1905 and moved to the Carnegie building in 1908. The Western Branch Library continues to operate at 604 S. 10th Street. Source: “Western Library,” Louisville Free Public Library website @ https://www.lfpl.org/western-1.
11. 1908: The Kentucky State Board of Health created the nation’s first full-time county health departments in Jefferson County. Source: Historia Sanitaria online @ https://www.wiki.sanitarc.si/1908-2/.
12. 1940: The Louisville-Jefferson County Health Department established the nation’s first health centers as part of the housing projects. The centers were located at Clarksdale and Beecher Terrace. Source: “Wants more nurses," The Courier-Journal, 10/29/1944, Section 3, p.6.
13. 1955: The first Dollar General Store opened in Springfield, KY. There are now more than 10,000 Dollar General Stores in the United States. Source: DG History webpage @ https://newscenter.dollargeneral.com/company-facts/dg-history/.
14. 1962: Kentucky was the first state in the nation to take control of nuclear energy materials from the federal government. The new responsibility gave the state control over the manufacture, sale, and transfer of atomic devices in Kentucky, along with licensing, user inspection, and disposal of atomic waste products. Source: “Vision and energy make Kentucky first in nation in nuclear planning,” McClean County News, 02/22/1962, p.2
15. 1967: Bardstown was one of the first cities in the nation and the first in Kentucky to adopt historic zoning and preservation guidelines. Source: “Bardstown,” City of Bardstown webpage @ https://www.cityofbardstown.org/government/historic_preservation/index.php.

IMAGES from Pixabay:
1. Library books by StockSnap
2. Red wine in a glass by Quadronet_Webdesign
3. Old Oil Rig by jplenio
4. President Abraham Lincoln by Wikilmages
5. Nuclear power plant cooling tower by distelAPPArath

IMAGES:
1. To***co basket image from "A traditional North Carolina to***co basket" webpage @ http://www.inseason.com/baskets/to***cobasket.html.
2. Dollar General Store sign clipped from home page. https://www.dollargeneral.com/.

08/17/2024

TARANTISM: The term “tarantism” has been around for centuries, having first been described in the 11th century. From the 15th to the 17th century, the city of Taranto, Italy, was said to have been hit by the impulsive dance craze and hysterics known as “tarantism.” The malady was said to have been caused by the bite of the tarantula spider aka the European wolf spider. The cure for tarantism was called “tarantella” and today it has come to be known as an Italian folk dance. The dance initially developed from the movements of the victims who were said to be involuntarily compelled to dance in a frenzy to workout that which had been injected into their systems via the spider bite. The term “tarantism” never completely disappeared after the 17th century and it has spread around the world. At the start of the 1900s the term began to be used in Kentucky newspapers. In 1913, in the Society section of the Lexington Herald, the ragtime dance craze in the United States was likened to the Tarantism of the Middle Ages in Europe that had since been diagnosed as a veritable epidemic, a neurotic phenomenon, and a contagious mental disease. In 1961, the Matter of Fact column in the Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer advised parents that a teenager who was crazy about dancing was of little concern, “think what it would be like if he had tarantism.” More recently, there are videos of dancers doing their version of the tarantella dance as a spoof on the dance becoming a 2028 Olympic sport in Los Angeles, CA.

Sources:
1. “Fringe Cures.” Image within the article. Marianna Gatto, “How Southern Italy Found Its Groove With the Restless Tarantella,” Italian Sons and Daughters of America webpage, 30 December 2020. Accessed 16 August 2024. Online @ https://orderisda.org/culture/music/how-southern-italy-found-its-groove-with-the-restless-tarantella/.
2. “Matter of Fact,” Owensboro Messenger & Inquire, 05/21/1961, p.10C. (attached)
3. “Society: The sweetest thing on Earth,” The Lexington Herald, 05/17/1913, p.6. (4 paragraphs attached)
4. Tarantella dance image from Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 16 August 2024, https://www.britannica.com/art/tarantella #/media/1/583343/7703.
5. Tarantella definition at Britannica online @ https://www.britannica.com/art/tarantella .
6. Tarantism definition at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary webpage. Online @ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tarantism.
7. “Fark break dancing. Tarantella dancing is the future!” by Sooshi Mango. A YouTube video @ https://youtu.be/53ALMoKAb1Q.

07/19/2024

FROZEN FOOD BANKS IN KENTUCKY: Decades before the first food banks were established in Phoenix, Arizona in 1967, there was a different kind of food bank in the United States. The frozen food banks were businesses that developed shortly after Clarence Birdseye invented the quick-freezing method in 1924. Food preserved by quick-freezing have smaller ice crystals which allows for the foods to retain taste and texture. Slow frozen foods have large ice crystals that breach the cell membranes, and when thawed, the food is watery with a lack of flavor and texture. Birdseye’s quick-freezing method started with prepackaged food that was held between two metal plates that chilled the food to -45°F using a chloride solution. The method was upgraded to freeze food at -25°F. Initially, quick-freezing worked best with meats but was not so good for vegetables and fruits. A conference was held in New York in 1931 to discuss the issues and find solutions. As the quick-freezing method improved, it was followed by the development of frozen food banks. These were businesses that would quick-freeze a customer’s excess food stuff and store the food in a rented food freezer locker. The customer could visit the food bank to withdraw from his/her/their frozen food stash as needed. Frozen food banks were chartered in Kentucky in the late 1930s, and by October of 1940 there were 12 facilities with another one scheduled to open in Danville, KY. Four years later, there was a notice in the Danville, KY, newspaper that a frozen food bank would be built in Pendleton County, KY, and 300 lockers had already been rented. The United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service published a list of Commercial Fisheries MDL in 1956 that included the frozen food banks in each state. In Kentucky, there was Mt. Sterling Frozen Food Bank, Versailles Frozen Food Bank Inc., Flemingsburg Frozen Food Bank, the Henry Clay Frozen Food Bank in Lexington, Jessamine Frozen Food Bank in Nicholasville, Slack’s Frozen Food Bank in Maysville, and Mercer County Frozen Food Bank in Harrodsburg. As late as 1972, the Pendleton County Frozen Food Bank was in Falmouth, Kentucky. The individual accounts at frozen food banks began to decrease as stand-alone, home deep-freezers became more available and more affordable. Frozen food locker facilities are still available today. They are no longer called frozen food banks.

REFERENCES:
1. “An innovation for Danville: tried and proven one.” Danville Advocate-Messenger, 23 October 1941, p.4. (attached)
2. Commercial Fisheries MDL by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1956 (Federal Document). Online at Google Books https://www.google.com/books/edition/Commercial_Fisheries_MDL/AM5GAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22frozen+food+bank%22&pg=RA2-PA4&printsec=frontcover.
3. “Discuss quick freeze mode.” The Courier-Journal, 19 January 1931, p.3.
4. “Freezing and Food Safety,” a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service webpage, accessed 18 July 2024, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/freezing-and-food-safety.
5. “Freeze Drying,” a Wikipedia webpage, accessed 18 July 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_drying.
6. “Frozen foods bank is granted charter.” The Lexington Herald, 24 September 1940, p. 2.
7. “Keeping foods fresh by quick freezing.” The Courier-Journal, Magazine Section, 16 August 1931, p.7.
8. “Produce Storage Tips, Season Produce Guide,” a Kentucky Proud [Kentucky Department of Agriculture] information guide, accessed 18 July 2024, https://www.kyagr.com/marketing/documents/FM_ProduceAvailabilityGuide.pdf.
9. Quick-freeze definition, a Merriam-Webster Dictionary webpage @ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quick-freeze.
10. Report to the Congress: Consumer protection would be increased by improving the administration of intrastate meat plant inspection programs by the Comptroller General of the United States, 1973. Online at Google Books https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consumer_Protection_Would_be_Increased_b/awWOl6i-08kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22frozen+food+bank%22&pg=PA43&printsec=frontcover.
11. The Frozen Food Locker – 1950s – Charlie Dean Archives / Archival Footage on YouTube @ https://youtu.be/dg8RzoI3cQc.
12. “Three hundred lockers …” Kentucky Advocate, 16 January 1944, p.6.
13. “Who invented frozen food?” Library of Congress web page, accessed 18 July 2024, https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/technology/item/who-invented-frozen-food/.
14. Image of bowl of frozen raspberries by Daria-Yakovleva at Pixabay.

07/02/2024

"Higher Education in Kentucky: The Early Years, 1780-1865" by Evelyn Rowe McGill (2019). Archived webpage converted to jpeg pages. Shared with permission from Ruth Bryan, University of Kentucky Archivist.

06/24/2024

There are many newspaper articles that mention the EARLIEST higher education institutions in Kentucky. In 2019, Evelyn Rowe McGill completed an annotated timeline titled "Higher Education in Kentucky: The Early Years, 1780-1865." The timeline is an archived webpage at the University of Kentucky, Special Collections Research Center.

Images from McGill's work. Newspaper notice from Louisville Journal, 19 Nov 1836, p.2.

06/07/2024

TO CHURCH FAN or NOT: The church fan is a handheld device used by a congregant to cool down a bit during church services. They are mass produced at print shops throughout the United States. The old-school church fan has a single blade made of card stock that is attached to a stick with one or two staples. During the 1900s, church fans belonged to the church and they were kept in a pocket on the back of each pew. Or the ushers would distribute the fans to the congregation and collect them at the close of service. The front of the fan had an image of Jesus, praying children, or some other image deemed to be appropriate for the particular church. On the back of the fan there was often an advertisement for the local funeral home. The term “church fan” is mistakenly said to be a U.S. term. No one knows who invented the church fan, but the start date has been given as the early 1900s, with the most prominent use in Southern churches before electric air conditioning became an expected convenience. Other uses of the hand fan are to respond to the sermon, to cover a shared whisper, to entertain infants, to swat the misbehaving attitude out of restless children, and to shoo away annoying bugs. On the other hand, there have always been those who were not in favor of the church fan. It was published in The Observer (1796, London, England) that the proper church and meeting fans contained printed prayers and hymns used by the church. During divine worship, it was inappropriate for congregants to use dance fans, fortuneteller’s fans, charade, etc. In other words, do not bring your private fan to church! Get a real church fan from wholesale and retail fan-makers and haberdashers. In 1884, there was an article in the Hickman Courier (Kentucky) that emphasized “Fans should never be carried to church.” Several years later, an article in an 1890 issue of the Interior Journal (Stanford, KY) reported the positive responses to the Ohio clergyman who asked the congregation to stop fanning themselves during his services because it made him so nervous that he could not preach. In 1919, the publication, “The Spirit,” adamantly advised “… that people should not fan themselves in church or eat chocolates or look at their noses in a bag-mirror.” Check with the church to help you decide to fan or not to fan.

*[Author G. W. Rhead gives the date 1776 for the first church fan in England.]

RESOURCES:
1. A. Seth Pringle-Pattison et. al. “The Spirit: God and his relation to man considered from the standpoint of philosophy, psychology and art.” Macmillan and Co., London, 1919. Quote on p. 301. Online at Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Spirit/z7Lc9P8XgVcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22that+people+should+not+fan+themselves%22&pg=PA301&printsec=frontcover
2. “Church fan,” a Wikipedia webpage @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_fan.
3. “Fanin’ the heat away: a celebration of the art and social history of the handheld church fan,” a Carolina Arts News Blog @ https://carolinaartsnews.wordpress.com/tag/fannin-the-heat-away-a-celebration-of-the-art-and-social-history-of-the-handheld-church-fan/.
4. “Fashion Notes,” The Hickman Courier, 19 Sep 1884, front page.
5. “Handheld Church Fan, 1970s,” a National Museum of American History webpage @ https://www.si.edu/object/handheld-church-fan-1970s%3Anmah_214151.
6. “Just published, a proper church fan, - a ditto for meeting.” The Observer (London, England), 10 Jul 1796, front page. (attached)
7. Rhead, G. Wolliscroft. “History of the Fan.” J. B. Lippincott Co., London, 1910. Online at Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Fan/8wA2AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22church+fan%22+The+Spirit&pg=PA251&printsec=frontcover.
8. “The question of fans at church …,” Semi-Weekly Interior Journal (Stanford, KY), 05 Aug 1890, p.4. (attached)

05/27/2024

WHITE GROUNDHOGS IN KENTUCKY: Albino groundhogs are said to be extremely rare. There have been newspaper reports about the animals since the 1800s. No documentation is available to verify just how common white groundhogs are in Kentucky. Though, groundhogs [or woodchucks] are one of the most abundant animals in this state. They are hunted year-round in Kentucky. Some have been kept as pets or placed in zoos. In 1910, the Daily Public Ledger published an article about a white groundhog in Lexington. The animal was in the miniature zoological garden owned by James Bradford, a saloon keeper at the corner of Front and Limestone Streets. In 1928, farmers in Mason County, KY, complained that white groundhogs had become numerous, and they were destructive. George J. Dwelly, in Sardis, KY, found a litter of seven white groundhogs on his farm. No reason was ever given for the number of white groundhogs in the Mason County area. In 1934, Ilbra Gaunce captured a white groundhog on his farm in Franklin County, KY. The Franklin Favorite newspaper explained that albinism occurs among humans and animals. Other sightings have been reported in Adair County, Daviess County, Franklin County, Harrison County, and Jessamine County. In 1948, A. D. Seely, from Indiana, came to Nicholas County after reading the report of an albino groundhog on the farm of M. D. Turner in Barterville, KY. Seely wanted the animal captured and preserved. Dr. A. L. Medekel, a wildlife expert in Harrison County, was of the same mind. He too had found an albino groundhog. Dr. Medekel captured the animal and donated it to the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. News of albino groundhog sightings continues to be reported in newspapers today. As rare as they are said to be, albino groundhogs are often seen in Kentucky.

*Sardis – a home rule-class city in Mason County and Robertson County, KY.
* Barterville – an unincorporated community in Nicholas County, KY.

SOURCES:
1. “What is it?” Daily Public Ledger [Maysville, KY], 27 May 1910, front page. (attached)
2. “White groundhog family,” The Lexington Leader, 22 June 1928, p.24. (attached)
3. “Albino groundhog,” The Franklin Favorite, 29 Nov 1934, p.6.
4. “Richmond’s groundhog comes up, dives back,” The Lexington Leader, 3 Feb 1935, p.23.
5. “Albino groundhogs [from Cynthiana Democrat],” The State Journal [Frankfort, KY], 29 Sep 1948, p.4.
6. “Albino groundhog found by Cynthiana physician,” The Kentucky Post, 12 Nov 1948, front page. (attached)
7. “Kentucky furnishes rare albino groundhog,” The Courier-Journal, 22 Nov 1948, p.8.
8. “Albino Groundhog Captured [image caption], Lexington Herald, 7 Aug 1974, p.23. (image attached)
9. “A Rarity, but not unheard of in Adair County are albino groundhogs. … [Photo image caption]” Adair County News, 5 Dec 1975, front page.
10. Barnes, Thomas G. “Managing woodchuck problems in Kentucky,” FOR-44, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, pp.1-4. Online .pdf @ https://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/for/for44/for44.pdf.
11. See “Groundhog” at the Kentucky Wildlife Center webpage @ https://www.kywildlife.org/groundhog.
12. See “Other Species Hunting,” a Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources webpage @ https://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Other-Hunting-Seasons.aspx #:~:text=GROUNDHOGS,round%2C%20with%20no%20bag%20limit.
13. “Albinism in Wildlife” a Purdue University, Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources webpage @ https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/extension/albinism-in-wildlife/.
14. Light brown groundhog by HK_Notishuman at Pixabay.
15. Dark brown groundhog by KanadianKaur at Pixabay.

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