The Fruits of the Earth

Last Friday, September 26th,  was the 240th anniversary of Johnny Appleseed’s birth.   Although he died in 1845 and never visited the plains of what would become Nebraska,   growing, eating, and celebrating apples have become an important part of harvest time in Nebraska. Last Friday was also the first day of the  Applejack Festival  in Nebraska City.   At this time of year many of us enjoy going to the festival, visiting  an orchard, and bringing home apples to fill  freezers, pantries and bellies.  Plus getting  fresh cider to enjoy when the work is done. Women in orchardNebraska Memories participants have contributed several images about apples, from “start to finish”.   The smiling ladies in the  photo on the left from the Durham Museum collection are holding bouquets of apple blossoms from the trees in the orchard they are standing in.  After harvest growers displayed their best at the Nebraska State Fair.  Apples galore-Horticulture BuildingThe stereographic photo on the right in the Nebraska State Historical Society collection was taken by John Nelson.  A huge variety of apples were on display that year  in the Horticulture Building (now called Industrial Arts Building) .   Use your imagination to color all these beauties!    Canning Apples, Immanuel Deaconess Institute After harvest it was also time to preserve such bounty for later enjoyment.  The women canning apples in this photo from the Alegent Health Immanual Medical Center collection worked at the Immanuel Deaconess Institute.  They  already have quite a few jars made! Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials. Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.    
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