Original artwork description:

The history of the cook car dates back to the 1800’s. They were restaurants on wheels where meals were prepared for threshing crews. The men sat at a long table with benches at each side. The car measured approximately 8 foot wide by 30 feet long and was usually pulled up into the farmer’s yard next to an artesian well or surface well pump for easy access to a water source.

They would feed a crew of 20 to 25 men for each meal. The cooks, usually women, were up before dawn getting ready to feed the workers at 5 a.m. Although the job was hard, forty cents an hour was considered good pay. Their first job was to see that there were clean towels, soap, and water outside for the men to wash before each meal. Bedtime for the cooks, if they were lucky, was 11 p.m., and often it was midnight. Most of the time, the cooks slept on a cot behind a curtain at the end of the cook car.

Although the cook car is mostly a thing of the past, its importance during harvest time will hopefully never be forgotten.

Harvest Rest is 24 x 18 inches, oil on stretched canvas. It is gallery wrapped, wired and ready to hang.

Materials used:

Oils

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