[Photo Album]: Farm Life and Farm Equipment in Upstate New York

Author: BECK, Irvin Roy
Title: [Photo Album]: Farm Life and Farm Equipment in Upstate New York
Publication: [Lancaster, New York: 1906-1922]

Description: Softcover. Oblong folio. Measuring 12.25" x 10.25". [110]pp. Very good contemporary limp textured black leather photo album with some chipping and edgewear, and lacking the spine, still a sound album with sharp photos in excellent condition. 227 original gelatin silver photographs, ranging between 3" x 5" and 5" x 7", most are glued down, a few tipped-in with black corners, and many with captions beneath in white ink.

An outstanding photo album filled with over 200 original gelatin silver photos exhibiting the Beck family farm, as well as some interesting images of the Moline farm engines and equipment used and sold by Irvin Beck for George Beck & Sons, as well as some later images when he was a salesman for United States Tires in upstate New York, all during the opening two decades of the 20th Century.

This album provides an insightful visual record of the compiler's career as both a farmer and a farm equipment salesman, with many particularly pleasing images of the Beck family farm. Beck began working at a young age on the family farms of his father George Beck, and his maternal grandparents, the Bruncks in Lancaster, New York. The album opens with an image of Moline Corn Binders awaiting delivery outside of the George Beck & Sons sales building, and then shows numerous photo images of Moline 7 horsepower and 9 horsepower gasoline engines employed to load oat bales, splitting and dragging logs, and providing power on the various farms, and even providing power to Herman Brunck's sawmill.

Beck had an obvious fascination for machinery, as evidenced by the number of photos showing various Ford Model T 4-doors and coupes, and a few depicting the trailer for delivering farm equipment such as plows, gasoline engines, and corn binders. Other images are present of the Moline Model C Tractor, a Moline Model D tractor, a 1916 contest where the Moline Flying Dutchman plow defeated the Oliver plow, a wrecked Mack Truck; a woman (possibly his wife) sitting on a 1915 Harley Davidson V-Twin motorcycle with coil springs in front forks and other add-ons; and even images of delivering a corn binder to the Syracuse, New York Fair in September, 1920.

The album also contains photos of drilling for gas on Handy Farm in 1916 with the drilling derrick and equipment, replacing a windmill in 1921, the Moline Universal Tractor and New Idea Spreader at the Batavia Fair, Batavia, New York in 1920, and more. The family farm and the equipment sales appear to have generated a good standard of living as evidenced by the quality of the automobiles, equipment, farm buildings, and the vacations the family afforded at Niagara Falls, Alden, Olcott Beach, Conesus Lake, N.Y., and the Ebenezer Colony Dams in West Seneca, N.Y. After World War I, Beck began selling automobile supplies, accessories, and tires for the United States Tires Company as well. At the time, the company focused on selling pneumatic rubber tires for trucks, and heavy equipment. Of particular interest are a wonderful series of 10 photos he has included exhibiting United States Tires Company advertising billboards across New York State, including Niagara Falls, Geneva, Hopewell, Lima, Pembroke, Seneca Falls, and Ithaca. He would eventually become an automobile dealer and salesman during the 1930s.

Pleasing and well composed images giving a good overview of a farmer and salesman in New York State.

Seller ID: 401329

Subject: Americana, Photography