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Jerry "The Avery Steer" Banner at the Fair

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Regional fairs brought farmers together and highlighted innovative and high-performing agricultural practices. Farmers in the Middle Connecticut Valley region were famous for raising immense stall-fed oxen who were then sold to drovers who walked them to the cattleyards at Brighton, Massachusetts, near Boston. Jerry was a particularly impressive example of an animal renowned for his stature. Note how his handlers hid Jerry from view to passers-by. The banner aroused curiosity, but only those willing to pay ten cents to view this ox of extraordinary size could enter the tent.

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