File:Country Butchering-Hog Killing at Browns.jpg

Summary

Big kettles heating up during a country butchering a long time ago. These community events often took place on Thanksgiving morning or the day after as many farm families and organizations prepared food for the less fortunate. From other photos we have, this butchering appears to have taken place at the Ida and Lev Brown farm on Quarter Branch Road in Lovettsville in the 1950s. What's going on here appears to be a hog killing operation.

According to Ronald Carbaugh: "The five gallon bucket has lime in it and when mixed into a scalding tank, it helps to remove the hair off the hog. The mattock is really a heavy duty hoe used to dig holes in the ground to even up the legs on the iron kettle. Beyond the saw horses is probably the scalding tank. It gets filled with water and heated to approximately 160° Fahrenheit. The hog is put in, scalded, pulled out and then the hair is removed."

Possibly the most "liked photo" in the history of Smoketown History at 1,400 likes, it elicited many memories from followers:

Ronald Carbaugh: IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY ARE BUTCHERING 6 OR SEVEN HOGS. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TOLD I KETTLE FOR EACH HOG, NO MATTER WHAT.

Michael Mills This family is related to me via my Paternal Grandmother who was born and raised in the Winchester Virginia area. The Browns arrived in New Jersey during the 1680’s.

Steven McDonough: About 1959 , as a child I'd go with my great grandfather, Luther (Bud) Howe from Zullinger Pa to his brothers family in Blue Ridge Summit to participate in the slaughter of hogs and butchering, while the women would use those kettles to make different rendering products, it was a real education.

Austin Collins I remember that we used to do it every Thanksgiving butchering time at home.

Stanley Stull Everybody that helped always took home some of everything. I remember we kids all fought over the tongues, delicious dipped in salt.

Larry Fritz I remember being around 7 years old keeping the fire stoked and keep stirring the pudding and scrapple in those same kettles. The whole family participated and it was a tall task cause they butchered steers and hogs. Everybody that participated had meat for all winter.

Kim Hildebrand Family and friends came. Women cooked, kids played, men butchered. Everyone had fresh tenderloin, pancakes, eggs, and fried potatoes for breakfast. Men ate dinner first, kids second, and women ate last. Everything was home cooked, and everyone helped. Best days of my life. Mountain ways are the only way for me.

Colleen Seabolt Trickey I remember my dad and my uncle butchering hogs, don’t know if it was Thanksgiving, but it was cold. And then I remembered the delicious meals of the fresh meat we had the most astonishing thing was a few days later when I came home from school, mom had a big pot on the cookstove And a hog head was sticking out of it. Oh my, what a shock, she and dad were making hogshead cheese. I never ever cared for it at all. Even when I lived in Germany, they had it in the butcher shops.

William C. York Growing up on a farm it was the ritual in our community to kill hogs and they did it at our house because of the setup of the scolding box and the big spring that supplied the clean water to wash down the butchering meat. I never had turkey until I entered the Army on Thanksgiving. The meat of choice was fresh pork Tener-loin and hot biscuits and gravy.

(From the Myer Kaplon Photo Collection at the Brunswick Community Library; Frederick County Public Libraries)