Peak Season at the Farmers Market — 1951
by Paula Bosse
Cute tomatoes… (click for larger image)
by Paula Bosse
Some of my favorite summertime memories are wandering around the Farmers Market as a child with my family — back when it was still gritty and still had real farmers and real farm families selling produce actually grown nearby. I loved moving from shed to shed and marveling at everything: the endless baskets of fruits and vegetables, the weather-worn farmers, and a vibrant marketplace comprised of the most diverse crowds I can remember seeing in one place as a child.
This photo — showing Peggy Mayne of Grand Saline selling tomatoes out of the back of her family’s pickup — was taken in 1951, during a summer of fruit and vegetable plentitude. July inventories and sales were breaking records — right before the effects of what would turn into one of the longest and worst-ever droughts in Texas history began to be felt by farmers and consumers.
I miss you, Dallas Farmers Market of yesteryear.
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Sources & Notes
Photo from the Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division, Dallas Public Library.
More Flashback Dallas posts on the Farmers Market area — which I realize more and more was one the city’s most interesting parts of town — can be found here.
More on the devastating 1950-1957 drought and its impact on everyday life in Dallas can be found in my previous post, “Whither Water? — 1956.”
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Copyright © 2016 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Sure not the same now. Miss it.
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Agreed.
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Actually, the way it’s set up now is only local farmers
No, it’s not as many as probably back in 1951 – but what is ?
I really like whats happening down at the Farmers Market now – the new shed with all the little mom and pop shops, Mudhen restaurant, and people actually LIVING down there – it’s a good thing !
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The photo of Peggy was so cute, I did a quick Google on her name. There is an obit for Peggy Mayne Gipson, and she just passed away May 30 of this year. She would have been 23 at the time, which seems to coincide with the age of the girl in the photo. Amazing!
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Thanks, Max. I hope family members might see this.
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