Friday, April 16, 2010

Moving the House


My grandparents farmed in Letellier, Manitoba in a French Canadian area.  When they bought a new farm nearby in the "English" area they moved all the buildings including the house, across the river. Horse power really meant something in those days!

The move was scary as my mom remembered. The family spoke little English and in some respects it was like a move to a foreign country. The new farm was bigger and better and their standard of living improved.  My grandfather accumulated horses  - plow horses, a couple of "teams" and riding horses.  Grandpa was apparently a good horse trader and made money buying and selling the animals.

Many years later, my grandparents moved into the city and my grandfather, left with little to do, kept a vegetable garden in the summer and whittled odd little wooden figures in the winter. He was deaf and couldn't see very well by then so the painting is primitive. I have some of the figures - the red one was a mounted policeman? with a black eye, a red nose and a gnarly grimace- he's meant to be astride a horse, but alas the horse is gone;  the one in front is "Hector in the Sky with Diamonds"....because the figure has rhinestone eyes.

15 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh....these are absolutely fantastic. They're real treasures! Too bad about the horse. Are you sure it's not lurking in some relatives attic? I'd mount a major search. I imagine when he created them no one took him seriously and now they qualify as important folk art. You're so lucky to have them!

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  2. Truly fabulous. I have never seen a house moved by horses. Just fantastic. The wood figures are wonderful too.

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  3. To move a house is quite an undertaking, even today, with modern equipment! Your grandfather must have been quite a man, and the little wooden figures he carved are charming.

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  4. Your Grandfather was a fine Artist.Those figures are rather good .
    The Horses! "Moving House" had a literal meaning there!

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  5. The little wooden figures are charming.

    And the top photo of the two story house being moved by horse power was just amazing.

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  6. Those little figures are a wonderful bit of whimsical folk art, and even better, treasures made by your grandfather's hand. I think it's remarkable that you have a photo of the old farm being moved. What a piece of family history!

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  7. Imagine moving the house and all by horses! I have never heard of that effort nor seen a photo of it! This is such an interesting read down to the transition to whittling figures that are such treasures!

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  8. Fabulous pieces of primitive art!

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  9. I was so taken by the folk art that I forgot to mention how fantastic the photo of the house moving was. What a feat! I have a newspaper photo of my Uncle Glen's house being moved in
    Chicago. It was unusual enough to make the news but it was moved by a truck not horses--big deal!!

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  10. Wonderful picture of the house-moving and what great folk art!

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  11. I can't believe they could put a house on sleds and then pull it by horses. It made sense that you had a good house and you have land elsewhere, you just move the house. It is an interesting photo and the carvings are great.

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  12. Amazing to think of moving the house in a Manitoba winter--I suppose the sleds would be easier than rollers. The figures have a lot of charm.

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  13. That is a magnificent photo with the horses and the house.

    I love your grandfather's dolls—especially "Hector in the Sky with Diamonds". How lucky you are to have them.

    Kat

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  14. What an amazing story about the house move. And to have a photograph which records the event. Wonderful stuff.

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  15. That was a fun post! The wooden figures are elegant in their simplicity, and that first shot is terrific!

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