It's three degrees Fahrenheit today in Madison, and the snow is falling, which makes this advertisement from 1907 in "Bürger und Bauer," a magazine for German-American farmers, very appealing:
“German farmers, come to Louisiana! Are you inclined to leave the cold, freezing North? If so, and if you want to find a good homeland in the sunny South, then write us. Write in German. We will answer in German. This is a German settlement area. We would like to send you an illustrated brochure in German for free. We already provided a new homeland for many German farmers from the North. Here you will find an amazing opportunity to purchase excellent farmland for a low price, make a lot of money, and to enjoy the best climate in the world…. You do not need to stay in a place where you spend half of your life shoveling snow.”
2 comments:
This interesting post may help explain why my great-grandfather's brother settled in Alabama. Our family has always thought that he served in the civil war (although even the National Archives search couldn't prove that). He married a girl in the South and became a sawmill operator in Louisiana. The Wisconsin snow was something we never considered as a motivator. Thanks for sharing. Love your blog!
Thank you, Kathy! It would be interesting to know how many people actually followed ads like these, and how many Northerners were motivated by the weather to move South.
Post a Comment