Published January 3, 2021
By Beth Lane
A hundred years
ago in Quincy, chickens were taken seriously. In January of 1920, a man named
Harry Little was arrested for stealing fifteen of Mrs. Margaret Monkton’s
chickens from her hen house near 26th and Chestnut. At the time Little
was charged with grand larceny. The chicken thief in question heard that the
police were looking for him and promptly moved to Mexico, Missouri, where he
stayed for nine months. In November of 1920, Mr. Little returned to Quincy,
where he was recognized by a deputy and arrested. On November 17, the chicken thief appeared
before the Justice of the Peace, where charges were reduced to Petit Larceny
and he was fined $25. This would be equivalent today of $325 or a bit over $21
per hen.
1920 was a time
when eggs, chicken and feed were relatively expensive, though the newspaper
reported that food supplies over the winter would be better than in past years.
Weekly food reports, called the Market for Housewives stated that the price of
turkeys would be about the same as the previous year at 60 cents per pound;
ducks at 35 cents; and geese and chickens 33 cents. Vegetable costs ranged from California celery
at 15 cents a stalk, to home grown celery at 15 cents a bunch; fancy western
eating apples averaged a dime apiece; green beans were 30 cents a pound, and
sweet potatoes were two pounds for 15 cents. If you were interested in serving
fish, shrimp cost 30 cents a pint; oysters 45 cents a pint, and Channel Catfish
cost the same as salmon and lake trout at 40 cents a pound.
Live
poultry was in the news that fall. The top chickens from the Midwest had been
gathered in Quincy in November of 1920 for the Illinois State Poultry
Association show and egg-laying contest. Over 600 hens from as far away as New
York and New Jersey, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota made the journey
here to compete. There were contests for the largest number of eggs laid in one
month by a single hen, or by a pen of five layers. For the single hen title, each
hen was assigned a number attached on a sealed leg band. She was given a nest
and when she stepped into it, was automatically locked in until an attendant
arrived to note her number, give her credit for the egg laid, and release her.
That way, each hen was individually tracked, with the most productive one
earning the cash prize.
The
competition was held at a facility located just east of 24th and
Locust. Local visitors were welcomed on Sunday when programs and information
was available on the care and raising of poultry, their diseases and
treatments, “how to weed out the drones in the flocks,” and other useful facts.
Many months had been devoted to planning by A. D. Smith, secretary of the state
poultry association in order to ensure a successful exhibit. He was ably
assisted by Miss Bakerbower, secretary to the secretary.
Henry Trafford,
International Poultry Expert and Breeder, and editor of Poultry Success, took
an ad in the November 11th Daily Herald and offered a free copy of
his “1,000 Egg Hen System of poultry raising” to anyone requesting it. He
explained that a pullet would lay 150 eggs the first year, 100 the second,
after which she was usually sent to market. But, he claimed, each hen contained
“over one thousand minute egg germs in her system,” and could profitably be
kept four to six years. His system promised to teach poultry growers to reap
large profits from winter eggs which could reach a price of one dollar a dozen.
Eggs were pricey in winter months when most hens stopped laying.
The
Quincy Poultry and Pet Stock association held a show at the Armory in
conjunction with the Illinois Rabbit Breeders association. Both of these
organizations held contests, drawing exhibitors from all over the Midwest. While
600 laying hens clucked on Locust street, another 400 chickens and more than
100 rabbits vied for other show honors. Among the rabbit breeds were Belgian
Hares, Flemish Giants, New Zealand Reds and Checkered Giants. Several of the
entrants were prize winners from a show in Syracuse, New York, and other local
rabbits had travelled to East St. Louis where they collected prizes.
Among
the chickens on exhibit was a pen of Buff Orpingtons, owned by R. D. Herleman.
His other hens were among the top contenders at the egg-laying contest. Unusual
exhibits included “American Runt pigeons,” owned by Frank G. Langebartel of
Quincy. These huge pigeons weighed in at about three pounds and laid eggs the
size of a bantam hen egg.
Results
of the month-long egg-laying contest were announced in early December. The
Herleman chickens won the heavy breed class with 69 eggs laid by the pen of
five chickens. First place for the individual hen laying the most eggs went to
a Single Comb Rhode Island Red owned by Guy Bugela of Cairo, Illinois. This
bird laid twenty-four eggs during the month of November, beating the other
hundred and one entries. Second place went to a White Leghorn owned by a
Jackson Michigan breeder, which produced twenty-one eggs in the thirty days. Eleven
states were represented in the contest, and the hens entered produced on one
Tuesday, a total of ninety-five eggs.
In
December of 1920, eggs were seventy cents a dozen – down from a high of eighty
cents. At 1,000 eggs per hen, that’s about eighty-three dozen eggs over a hen’s
lifetime. Figured at seventy cents per dozen it works out to just over
Fifty-eight dollars over the life of a chicken. That means Mr. Little got off
lightly at a fine of $25 when he stole about eight hundred and seventy-five
dollars-worth of un-laid eggs.
Sources
“1000 Eggs in Every Hen,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 11 November 1920.
“Chicken Stealer Is Given a Fine,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 17 November 1920.
“High Praise for Show,”
Quincy
Daily Herald
, 29 November 1920.
“Little is Arrested On An Old Warrant,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 8 November, 1920.
“Many Entries for Coming Poultry Show,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 20 November 1920.
“Market For Housewives,”
Quincy
Daily Herald
, 17 December 1920.
“Poultry and Rabbit Show Opened Today,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 24 November 1920.
“Red Wins Contest,”
Quincy
Daily Herald
, 3 December 1920.
“Show Is Best Ever Held Here,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 25 November 1920.
“Visiting Chickens to Hold Reception On Next Sunday,”
Quincy Daily Herald
, 8 November 1920.
