VINTAGE CORN CRIB

WIRE MESH CORN CRIB

I noticed this storage structure on a very small abandoned farm. I really was unsure of its use and so, of course, I roamed around the internet to see what I could put together. Well, finally I deduced that it was a a crib used to store corn. I figured one could store a heck of a lot of it in this metal structure. 


The closest I could date this vintage corn crib, as to when it might have been used, was perhaps early to mid-twentieth century. The little one-story farm house on the property was probably of the 1920s. I figured that, as a farm, I was looking at one that was viable during the early to mid 1900s. 


Apparently these storage cribs are going out of fashion as some people are buying them off  farms and transporting them home to be turned into gazebos. I figure that is a recycling plus for these hard working old ladies of the farm.

ABANDONED HOUSE

Ted Kooser wrote a poem titled  "Abandoned House." In his poem he paints a picture of a family that lived a rather destitute life in a country house. I have selected a few of Kooser's lines to portray the depravity that led ultimately to the house's abandonment.

He was a big man, says the size of his shoes . . .

A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall
papered with lilacs . . .

Money was scarce . . .

Something went wrong, says the empty house . . .

she left in a nervous haste.

Perhaps the family lived in an old country home like the one I have pictured here. Now almost biting the dust.

I'm sure you have had  thoughts about who the persons were that once occupied an uninhabited house along some farm road. 

Mr. Kooser uses words to draw pictures, attempting to capture the lives that once existed in his poem's vacant house.

Ted Kooser was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 -2006.He has had nineteen books published on poetry. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his book titled Delights and Shadows. He also has illustrated children's books. 

Source: "Abandoned House," Sure Signs, New Selected Poems, Ted Kooser, Zoland Books

Photos: abandoned farm house, Madison County, Kentucky