Tipp City Finds 1

My father raised Chester Whites. What are Chester Whites? They are a breed of pig. Originally, Chester Whites were known as Chester County Whites because, in the early 1800s, the breed was developed in Chester County, Pennsylvania, between Philadelphia and Lancaster. To the untrained eye, Chester Whites look like the more numerous Yorkshires, a different and more popular breed. The ears speak volumes about the difference between the breeds. Yorkshire ears point up. Chester White ears flop down.

A Grinning Pink Chester White Piglet

Carved and Painted Wooden Folk Art

From Tipp City, Ohio

In an earlier blog, I described the excellent shopping in Tipp City, Ohio. Many years ago, I found a carved folk art Chester White piglet smiling on a shelf in an antique store in Tipp City. He was life-size and adorable, so, of course, I bought him.

Whenever my father’s sows were ready to bring a litter of piglets into the world, he coaxed the mothers-to-be into individual hog houses, which were portable structures. Built on skids, the houses could be pulled behind a tractor to any desired location. Particularly in the winter, my father dragged the hog houses within reach of extension cords that were plugged into the electrical system of our human house. The extension cords led to heat lamps within the houses. The heat lamps provided warmth for the piglets and light for us to see the litter.

How often have I knelt within the circle of reddish light from a heat lamp while awaiting the birth of a piglet! As soon as one was born, I swabbed its mouth with a gloved thumb to ensure that nothing blocked its breathing and handed the piglet to my father, who carefully placed it in a basket filled with hot, dry towels and whisked it away to our house. My mother kept the piglets in two more baskets beside the heating stove in our kitchen. Once the entire litter of nine or ten piglets had been born and the sow had rested from her exertions, the litter was returned to its mother so that the piglets could begin nursing.

Obviously, we were raising Chester Whites in the days before pigs were grown in vast confinement buildings (where nearly all commercially raised pigs are held today). Our hogs roamed in pastures, ate corn, wallowed in mud after spring showers, and worshiped the sun all summer long.

Occasionally, litters included a runt, a piglet too small and, therefore, too weak to survive. Runts were mercifully disposed of, rather than permitting them to suffer. Once, I asked my father if I could raise a runt. He explained that the piglet most likely would die, but I begged and he relented. I named my runt Heathcliff after entertainer Red Skelton’s seagull, and I hand fed the piglet until he was strong. He became a pet. Throughout his relatively long life, he followed my father around the barnyard as if he were a favorite dog.

When I spotted the pink wooden pig in Tipp City, I thought of Heathcliff when he was a pup … er, piglet. Whoever carved the Chester White knew how to arrange the cute wrinkles above the friendly nose.