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February 2009, Ag Art
Dixie Lily
If an ordinary and perhaps even discarded item can serve as a canvas upon which ag art is displayed, then rural America is this country's largest and most diverse gallery.
When thinking of ag art, one tends to conjure up the image of an old, large, livestock barn, listing ever so slightly to the south in deference to the unrelenting assault of a brisk northern wind. In our mind's eye the barn is always wooden and always red and equally important, the paint is always faded. But the words, 'Mail Pouch Tobacco', are still visible and we don’t even care that they further an advertising message that may not be politically correct today.
But this is Americana art at its finest. It harkens back to a day when a barn was also a billboard and a rough-hewn piece of wood, nailed to a sturdy fence post, became what is now referred to in the world of advertising as an on-site directional sign: BOILED P-NUTS turn right!.
Back then, function, form and art conspired to sell the occasional passerby corn seed, or cattle feed or dog food or some other commodity that through its importance to the rural community, became vital to the rest of us.
This month I selected an old Dixie Lily sign found painted on the side of a trailer that used to bring the company's products to the marketplace. Dixie Lily started in Plant City, Florida and continues to market its foods as a "Southern Tradition since 1933". One glimpse of the comprehensive product list does not disappoint. Grits, blackeye peas and lima beans more than hint at the "southern flavor" Dixie Lily foods impart. The Dixie Lily brand still thrives though the company was purchased last year by China Doll Rice and Beans, Inc.
I invite all our readers to send photos of ag art they encounter in their travels to cindy@fieldandgrove.com. Be sure and include a name and address for the photo credit. Everyone who submits a photo will receive a much coveted FIELD AND GROVE MAGAZINE mug.
Cindy Cutright has spent the better part of the last 25 years engaged in marketing and advertising in Southwest Florida. And though her background is in print media, her embrace of the online publishing concept has been admirable to say the least.
