Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: May 25th, 2007
Turkey Farmers, Somewhere, Wisconsin, 1955
Light daiquiri ice colored walls behind them. Linoleum printed with a modern motif below them. Four men drink beer in a Wisconsin turkey farm house. Overalls are clearly a major fashion trend. Purple shirts are in too.
The room is as unpretentious and unselfconscious as they are. The table cloth and curtains are plastic. The table top radio is slightly stylized with a slant front.
Among other things on the table are a loaf of bread, newspaper, black banded fedora and a box of starch. Below the table is a teddy bear sideways in a baby doll cradle and a beach ball. Mother Nature makes an appearance in the form of spindly house plants. And never have I seen a more creative alternative use for a smart two toned dust pan than hanging it on a wall and using it as a wall pocket planter. Truly inspired.
Deep Fried Beer Batter Fish:
Speaking of beer may suggest you mix some with Bisquick until it makes the perfect batter. Dip fresh fish fillets in it just before you carefully toss them into a deep fryer full of hot oil. Fry them with pride until they are deliciously golden brown. Serve generously to friends and relations with fresh homemade coleslaw and…what else, beer. Your favorite homemade pie ala mode will be the perfect desert. Enjoy life. Deep fry more often!
Here’s to beer drinking turkey farmers, deep fried beer battered fish and YOU!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
May 2007
8 Comments on “Turkey Farmers, Somewhere, Wisconsin, 1955”
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May 25th, 2007 at 6:05 am
That dustpan on the wall must have been a decorating touch of the time for farm houses. My grandparents grew Valencia oranges and on the side of the cupboard next to the sink on their service porch was a small ceramic dustpan with a green border and strawberry motif. I now proudly hang that dustpan on my cupboard above my washing machine in my laundry room. I have added some artificial strawberries, leaves, and blossoms to finish the look.
Speaking of purple shirts, is that young man old enough to drink beer legally?
What is that contraption on the wall behind him and above Uncle Jed? It looks like it is powered by the extension cord that goes up over the window next to it.
I always enjoy your slides and commentary!
Sincerely, Donna
May 25th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I do hope I was missed around these parts! My busy, ladylike life just kept getting in the way of me doing any justice to any of Mr. Charles’ wonderful slides! However, when I see a bevy of gentleman enjoying a beer after a long day of work, I simply had to put aside my tasks and get to work on etiquette advice for men who might long for a good ol’ country time, but for whom proper dress in a rural setting eludes them.
Ah, men. What a confusing world of clothes that you live in! Might you wear a cashmere sweater to a hay ride? Should you pack that pork-pie hat when you visit Uncle Raymond on the turkey farm? Is a bow tie too much at a taffy pull? Never fear my fashion-hungry male etiquette counterparts! I have my trusty copy of _The New Esquire Etiquette_ by the editors of Esquire magazine, natch (1959). In the section titled “Social Etiquette,” the editors have helpfully included a section on dressing “outside city limits.” Does caring about what to wear in rural areas all seem very unnecessary? Well, lads, imagine yourself bumping along a dirt road only to come to a stop outside of Grandpa Wendell’s homestead, alighting from the car while smirking about your obvious good taste in clothes, you spy Junior in his purple shirt waving to you from the porch. Feel a little stunned? Maybe a bit sheepish at the recognition of a fellow fashionista fella besting you way out in the sticks? Then look to the guide, sirs, and fear no more!
“All the above restrictions [that is, restrictions present in city dressing], loose as they are, collapse when you move off concrete into village, suburban or country life. There, you want to avoid the ‘city look,’ but if your business clothes are single-breasted, in soft materials, rather than double-breasted pin-stripes and hard worsteds, there is no reason why you need build a separate wardrobe for your hours of relaxation way from the office. The main difference will be in the way you accessorize your basically casual clothes. The following clothes, too off-hour for the office, rate as ‘dress up’ in the country.”
Should we take a look at a few hits from the best-of list? Appropriate clothing includes: corduroy jackets, suede waistcoats, doeskin trousers, gabardine shirts, woven bow ties, wool socks in bright colors, brown moccasins, pork-pie hats, pigskin gloves, single-breasted overcoats not in dark colors, and finally jewelry “silver, leather, wood and the casually styled versions of gold. Sports motifs and figures appropriate.”
No overalls on the list, alas. However, those are best left to the professionals. Let’s admit that there is no way you’ll ever top Suspicious Slim’s (the jaunty man in the Eraserhead hairdo) overall styling, so don’t even try! Aside from an unsettling dependency on animal skins, the list above seems pretty doable, men. You know, however, that Junior has an incredible gold medallion beneath that flashy purple shirt. You go, turkey farmer!
Love and pork-pie hats!
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
May 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
…Talk about style…Check out the linoleum rug on the floor!! Wish I had one! Nancy B.
May 25th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Gosh! Grandma’s lino floor sure got around. I thought it was one of a kind. And those plastic curtains of the ’50’s. They turned yellow and brittle in no time but I remember being fascinated and afraid of them when a grease fire began in my aunt’s kitchen. They didn’t even have a choking warning on them.
Oh yeah. You could always drink at 18 in Wisconsin and drive (a tractor) at 14.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I feel for the poor guy in the purple shirt. Clearly out of place on the farm, he was all set to tell Dad of his true orientation when uncles Chester & Lester showed up to tip a few back and the moment was lost.
May 26th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Wonderful advice, Charles. There are a great many delicacies that can be made sublime simply by coating them in batter and deep frying to crispiness. Yum!
May 27th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Thank you, Charles for today’s tour. You are right about inspiring imagination and soaring spirits.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Thanks for the tour on Sunday! My friend Alex and I really enjoyed it. It is amazing that I have been in California for 23 years and only visited one place on your tour before (Olvera Street). Thanks again!