4-H flower identification contest, circa 1975

Eating watermelon, examining alfalfa fields, certifying oats? Building a flume, holding a flower, finding some fruit? Must be another set of images from Extension Services! It’s an amusingly mixed bag of shots that didn’t link directly to a specific county set, so we’ve culled them all together in a big set with a statewide focus.

Mobile Kitchen, 1938

Full of what can only be called “Extension magic,” you’ll find images of turkey and beef exhibits at the state fair, a corn show, and people talking about tuna.

Dan Panshin and Bob Jacobson talk to an albacore tuna fisherman, 1965

Apart from being full of fabulous photos, this set is also a gem historically. I love the demonstration trains and traveling instruction sessions, which allowed agents to visit communities throughout the state, teaching people skills in canning, provide information about the cost of electricity, give stump burning and dairy demonstrations, demonstrate poultry culling, display the “mobile kitchen,” or provide lectures on wool production and marketing. There are also pictures of traditional “brick & mortar classes,” such as flower identification or “Furnishing the Modern House.”

Furnishing the Modern House course announcement, 1930

You’ll also find a man with a beaver, woman with a cow, man with a fish, and a boy with a sunflower — I told you it was eclectic!