A virtual exhibit in progress...
featuring your stories and photos
Audio/video stories
Bob Skrok on working tobacco in Hatfield for General Cigar in the late 1950s.
Tom Osley on working tobacco (click to play)
Evie (Vachula Hahn) Prucnal grew up working tobacco on her father Paul Vachula's farm at 249 West St., North Hatfield, MA, along with the rest of her large family. At age 92, recorded on a Zoom call, she tells about some of her jobs. (Recorded 4/20/20.) Image shows the Vachula family during the 1959 harvest, with Mark Vachula (Evie's nephew) driving the tractor.
What does harvesting field-grown tobacco look like?
|
Tobacco has been commercially grown in Hatfield, MA, for more than 150 years, with many large and small tobacco growing operations. In 2018, only three farms were continuing the tradition: the Wendolowski Farm (shown above), the Malinowski Farm, and the Zgrodnik's Honey Pot Farm. Does this make you nostalgic for working tobacco? Send us your story and your photos!
* Thanks to the Wendolowski family and their workers for letting us document what they do, and saving it for posterity.
* Thanks to the Wendolowski family and their workers for letting us document what they do, and saving it for posterity.