Did you know that there was a turkey farm near the Romeo area? There was one a long time ago. Since it's getting close to turkey time, let's explore it.
In the mid-1900s, there were plenty of turkey farms, including the Travis Turkey Farm. Located in Leonard, it was owned by Paul H. Travis and managed by Robert Smith. The November 26, 1953 issue of The Romeo Observer shows this photo of Verne Jewell - the turky flock master at that farm - selecting a plump hen "that will grace a festive board over the Thanksgiving holidays" while the other turkeys look on nervously. If I were a turkey, I would feel the same way. According to Jewell, over 10,000 turkeys are processed during the holiday season, and 4,000 have been sold for Thanksgiving alone.
The rest of the article entitled "Romeoites To Pay Respect To Big 'Tom'" goes on about how those unique birds are prepared for the holiday with 19 employees dressing over 300 of them in an eight-hour shift and placing them in the plant's freezer compartment. That freezer was so big that it could hold over 7,000 turkeys. Some were sold directly at the farm, while others made their way to the market or manufacturing concerns in Detroit. The latter presented the turkeys to their employees.
A fascinating aspect of this article is how it discusses how turkeys can't be hunted for Thanksgiving anymore. It claims that wild turkeys roamed the woods in Michigan, especially in the southern part of the lower peninsula, up until 1900. According to Professor Warren W. Chase, chairman of the University of Michigan Department of Wildlife Management, they were abundant until 1830-40 when "clearing of land for farms and logging distrubed their natural coverage."
But it wasn't all bad for wild turkeys, shooting them for market was banned in Michigan in 1894, and three years later, the animal was given complete protection.
In other words, they were safe from the hunter, but not from the farmer.
Let's all pay respect to the turkeys while we have our Thanksgiving feast next Thursday.
To learn more about the Travis Turkey Farm, you contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org.
Source: The Romeo Observer, November 26, 1953, p.II-6