To commemorate their work and to enlighten visitors to the Museum, Moore and his staff have set up an authentic mock kitchen from the mid 1950’s that would have been used in tobacco farm kitchens throughout Norfolk and surrounding areas to feed the tobacco gangs.
If you grew up in Norfolk County then you have, no doubt, seen your fair share of tobacco fields and kilns and watched the progression of its harvest over the years. Delhi Tobacco Museum Curator, Andrew Moore, is very proud of one of his latest displays ‘Feeding The Gangs: Culinary Arts On The Farm’ commemorating the work of ‘tobacco wives’ on the farms over the years.
“In the 50’s and 60’s, at the height of local tobacco production, women played a huge role on the family farm. I wanted to highlight the women’s labour on the farms from raising the children, managing the farm, feeding 15 to 22 workers 2 to 3 times a day (largely done by themselves), hanging the kilns…they were Jacks of all trades. Back then it was ‘all hands on deck’.”
To commemorate their work and to enlighten visitors to the Museum with the early days of tobacco harvest and the primary role of the women, Moore and his staff have set up an authentic mock kitchen from the mid 1950’s. The appliances, utensils, cookbooks, ‘food’…everything there will give you a very good idea of just how things were and the challenges the farm wives faced and overcame.
The second part of the display features cookbooks and recipes from some of those farm wives and on my visit, they were featuring Shirley Glendenning. The Glendinning family grew tobacco locally from about 1953 to 1988. “Planning was extraordinary for them. They fed the workers ‘regional meals’ depending on their heritage be it Belgium, Chinese…wherever they came from. I wanted to highlight the multiculturalism of the day.”
Moore adds “Their stories are all slightly different. There was a lot of change over 3 to 4 decades and I wanted to feature that. When refrigeration came in it made things much easier for the farm wife. The display is going to run for a few months, probably until about the end of the year, and each month will feature a new farm wife and new recipes. Their stories are all slightly different…we’ve been getting a lot of good feedback” adds Moore. “Our next farming wife to be featured will be Mrs. Henry Chanda, publisher of two cookbooks”.
Moore has been Curator at Delhi Tobacco Museum and Heritage Center since April 2023 and prior to that he was Assistant Curator. “People are really nice here. A lot of people have taught me so much about Norfolk County’s history and helped whenever help was needed.”. Moore encourages visitors to the Museum to stroll through the entire Museum – upper and lower floors – to get an even better understanding of not only tobacco life in its early days but a history of the entire area as well.
Adds Moore,” We will be featuring a large photo exhibit, in May, highlighting some of the old kilns still standing”. This, along with his culinary display and the many old, original tobacco artifacts offer a step back in time, to ‘the good old days’. The Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and admission is by donation.