Need a history lesson; when did keeping chickens become unpopular?

[Adventurefamily5]

In our neighborhood, Falls River of Raleigh, NC, we built a coop. A nearby neighbor also built a coop. We got a letter saying coops were not allowed, which is a whole controversy in itself. However, my neighbor got a letter saying that chicken coops are not in keeping with the architectural continuity of our neighborhood.

This is laughable because the style is Colonial Revival, Craftsman, and Prairaie style! Those folks had chickens!

I've seen the thread with the ad for people to keep chickens from 1918. But when did people stop keeping chickens in their back yards? Only a generation or 2 later and we have a group of people who find it unbelievable that we would be so uncultured as to keep chickens.

I am preparing an argument to go before the board of directors on the 19th. Can anyone tell me about when chickens became out of vogue? I'd guess when food became fast and refrigerators were a household staple. Thanks for your input.

 

[Judy]

My parents stopped raising and processing chickens around 1950. I suspect you are correct, more foods available in the grocery, refrigerators becoming more common, instead of labor intensive ice boxes, etc. I remember my grandparents' icebox in use in the late 40's. The first McDonald's, as I recall, had not opened yet. It wasn't so much fast food as it was better transport of fresh food and better means to store it at home. You could then buy a processed chicken at the corner grocery, when not so long ago they were alive, and did not have to haul ice home or wait for the iceman to save you food from spoilage. When did refrigerated railway cars become common? Where are the American history buffs?

 

[ivan3]

There were ice houses along the Erie Canal (mostly to move ice for sale - though I'm sure the cold was put to other uses). Refrig. cars date from the late 1860's - not very efficient).

Pretty good Hx of the demise of backyard chooks: http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1996/5/1996_5_52.shtml

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Awesome article! I enjoyed it!

I remember hearing stories about my grandparents having chickens in their backyard. It was around 1950's when they quit having chickens (RIRs and White Leghorns) and tore down the chicken coop. The kids (including my dad) would go out there and collect the eggs BAREFOOTED! Nor did they wipe their feet before entering house either. Hygiene was not practiced much and all of them were pretty healthy....grandpa works as a milk delivery man so he would bring home two gallons of milk every other day. There were 8 kids in the family in a small two bedroom house.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We became a mobile society in the 50's as well. People could travel, the car was in every driveway, the Eisenhower era Interstate system was born, Super Markets replace corner butcher shops, etc.

I mention the traveling because people before 1950 rarely travelled or had to worry about who would take care of the chickens.

In a word, the modern era began, following WWII. Societal changes were broad and far reaching in the effects.

 

[EweSheep]

Now, at this day and age, why are we getting chickens BACK after a very long hiatus of not having chickens in cities?

I think all of us KNOW the answer to this one LOL!

 

[jaj121159]

Fred's Hens :

We became a mobile society in the 50's as well. People could travel, the car was in every driveway, the Eisenhower era Interstate system was born, Super Markets replace corner butcher shops, etc.

I mention the traveling because people before 1950 rarely travelled or had to worry about who would take care of the chickens.

In a word, the modern era began, following WWII. Societal changes were broad and far reaching in the effects.

Not only did the car make it easy to travel to the store, etc. it made it easier to live in BFE. Changes in farming practices on a farm have changed. Most big cities were populated after the war with people leaving farms. They kept chickens for a while, but realized it was easier to go to the store and get cellophane meat. Now many people want to get back to nature and in turn want to monitor their personal food supply. in the 1960's and 70's cities became a place void of farming practices and even gardening slowed. Cities were urban places and the country was the country a place for farming, big or personal. People who wanted to get back to nature could move outside of town, raise chickens, horses, have gardens, but people in town relied on stores. Now people want to get back to nature, but they live in town so they start raising chickens and gardens. Most city living folks want city life without the country and feel if they wanted country life they would move there. Unfortunately, that isn't always possible for a lot of folks. It not only chickens and gardens. People have started getting more toys, like boats, RVs, etc. Now they want to build pole barns in twon to store teir toys. The pole barns, especially those larger than 1,200 square feet are getting a negative reaction from city folk.​

 

[Adventurefamily5]

What an interesting article.

I also did not consider that with the luxury of a car in every driveway, that grocery stores would be even easier to get to.

 

[michickenwrangler]

What everyone else was saying. My grandfather grew up in Detroit and his parents used to go out to the country every weekend (had a car since great-grandpa worked for Ford) but they would buy chickens, turkeys and piglets and keep them in the backyard to slaughter as needed. Occasionally my great-grandmother would buy beef at the butcher shop but by and large they took care of their own meat.

She stopped with her old timey practices in the 1960s when the suburbs spread out and it was too hard to get to the "country" and grocery stores were much more convenient. She died before I was born but my mother told me she never trusted store bought food. Never used margarine or shortening, used only butter and lard. Drank whole milk and lived to be in her late 80s.

 

[Willowsong69]

Funny...I was having a similar conversation with my husband last night. Why so many people DON'T have chickens?