#52Ancestors asks bloggers to "have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”
This week's blog post is about a wonderful 1906 photograph that was sent to me recently by family historian, genealogist Vicky Hess with whom I share ancestors in our Hess-Annal-Coughlin family tree.
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| Hess & Annal Feather Renovator Joe Hess (pictured in the derby hat) with James Hess and other unidentified men Source: Vicky Hess family archive photos |
It was difficult to locate information online about the occupation of Feather Renovators.
On the need for feathers to be renovated, I found this 1872 advice from Alexander E. Youman to housewives on the daily care of their feather beds:
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| Source: A Dictionary of Wants 1872 (Free eBook) |
If feather beds had not been cared for on a daily basis (as suggested above), The Southern Cultivator and Dixie Farmer (1887) advised "lady readers" to "put them on the grass where rain pours heavily, and let them become thoroughly wetted.":
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| The Southern Cultivator and Dixie Farmer (1887) (Free eBook) |
Thankfully, at the turn of the last century, there were many patents submitted and granted for inventions of new and improved mechanical "feather-renovator" devices to do this work instead of the methods described above.
It is wonderful to know that our Annal-Hess ancestors provided this valuable service to the residents of Kent county Ontario in the early 1900s.
I am grateful to Vicky Hess for passing on this wonderful photograph that I had never seen before and sharing facts about our ancestors that I would have never known.
- Vintage Wallaceburg on Facebook
- Wallaceburg News from 1896-1983 at Wallaceburg branch of Chatham-Kent Public Library; indexed from 1896 to 1956.
- Ontario Genealogical Society’s Kent Branch.
Feather Renovator Links
I was so surprised to see this occupation, Cindi! Who knew? What a wonderful photograph to go along with the knowledge that your ancestor was in this business. :)
ReplyDeleteI was quite surprised as well Lisa. I just love the photo!
ReplyDeleteI recently obtained a birth certificate record for my grandfather from the 1800's. I noted on the form that his father, my great grandfather was a "Feather Renovator". I of course had never heard of such an occupation and the ladies at the local Historical Society and DAR had not either. How exciting to find your post, mystery solved. Thank you for your informative post.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you enjoyed this post and thanks for leaving a comment.
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