Endangered Species of Country Life: A Nostalgic Look Back

By Winston C Fraser

Endangered Species of Country Life takes the reader on a very special journey. For those of
the younger generation, who have grown up with the Internet, the iPad and the smartphone,
this book will lead you on a fascinating voyage of discovery. For those who are a bit longer
in the tooth, the book will usher you on an odyssey of

• Language: English
• Publisher: Winston Fraser Consulting Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780995084278

Winston C Fraser

A computer consultant by profession, Winston Fraser is a widely published photographer and writer. A book of his photographs, Historic Sites of Canada, was published in 1991. Fraser was the major supplier of photos for National Geographic's Canada Travel Guide. Most recently he has self-published Endangered Species of Country Life. He is a first cousin, once removed, of Charles Clark Fraser.

Book preview

Copyright 2019 Winston Fraser Consulting Inc. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-9950842-6-1

ISBN: 978-0-9950842-7-8 (e-book)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section I: Classic Conveyances

Section II: Mechanical Marvels

Section III: Rustic Structures

Section IV: Tools and Trappings

Section V: Furniture and Fixings

Section VI: Common Containers

Section VII: Crafts and Trades

Section VIII: Fun and Games

Section IX: Country Gatherings

Section X: Odds and Ends

About the Author/Photographer

Introduction

Endangered Species of Country Life takes the reader on a very special journey. For those of the younger generation, who have grown up with the Internet, the iPad and the smartphone, this book will lead you on a fascinating voyage of discovery. For those who are a bit longer in the tooth, the book will usher you on an odyssey of nostalgia and reminiscence. But regardless of whether your years are fourteen, forty or fourscore and ten, you are sure to enjoy the sights that await you at every stop along your journey. Your eyes will feast upon a smorgasbord of species of country life -- all of them endangered and some of them already extinct. Not only will your emotions be kindled, but your every sense will be touched by the images that you encounter.

You will read by the flickering flame of a kerosene lamp, you will be guided by the faithful light of a lonely lighthouse, and you will watch time slowly and silently pass into history on the expressionless face of the grandfather clock. You will hear the scratchy melodies of the old gramophone, the babbled chant of the country auctioneer and the deafening clatter of the threshing machine. You will feel the bumps of the rumble seat ride, the warmth of the fire in the pot-bellied stove and the cold of the hoarfrost crystals in the hayloft.

You will savour the aroma of freshly baked bread from the outdoor bake oven, you will remember the smell of hot dogs and fried onions at the county fair, and you will experience the foreboding fragrance of the venerable outhouse. You will taste maple taffy served on a wooden paddle, eat turkey roasted on a wood stove and devour fresh strawberries topped with whipped cream at a church-sponsored Strawberry Social.

This book is not intended to present an exhaustive portrayal of every aspect of country life of yesteryear. Nor is it intended to be an authoritative compendium of North American antiques. Rather it offers a selective but significant sampling of more than a hundred images to illustrate important elements of life in rural North America during the past couple of centuries.

The endangered species that this book highlights are organized into the following subspecies:

Classic Conveyances

Mechanical Marvels

Rustic Structures

Tools and Trappings

Furniture and Fixings

Common Containers

Crafts and Trades

Fun and Games

Country Gatherings

Odds and Ends

Endangered Species of Country Life will entertain you, inform you and amuse you. Perhaps it will also sensitize and motivate its readers to preserve and protect the treasures that have been passed on by previous generations. Maybe it will encourage some to support their local historical society, others to learn a classic pioneer craft and still others to take some action to rescue an endangered species of country life from likely extinction. If this book has accomplished any of the above, then it has achieved its purpose.

So, sit back, fasten your seat belt and begin your journey back in time. Bon voyage!

CLASSIC CONVEYANCES