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Stockyard memories

My friend Chuck Bloomberg, a cattle order buyer in Springfield, Illinois, says “It’s just a part of agriculture, Cyndi, that’s no longer around.”

I called Chuck last week to interview him about the upcoming Tenth Annual Stockyard Collector’s Auction which will be held June 6 – 7, 2008 at the Stoney Creek Inn in downtown Moline, Illinois. Chuck is Vice President of the Stockyard Collector’s Club, a group formed about a dozen years ago by people like Chuck who want to keep the memories of the great central public terminal markets alive.

“This was a great part of American Agriculture,” he said. “First Chicago Stockyards, then Kansas City, St. Louis and Omaha yards closed. Our goal is to re-live the memories of the great part of American agriculture that lasted more than a century.”

Chuck Bloomberg didn’t want to go to college. He wanted to become an auctioneer and go to work at the Chicago yards. Instead, he did go to college, did not become an auctioneer, but did indeed go to work at the Chicago yards. The year was 1965.

“I was told then that things did not look good for the future of central public markets,” he explained, “so I started collecting pictures and posters, bills of sale, tally books and other things related to the yards.”

Chuck left Chicago in 1967 to become the voice of the National Stockyards in East St. Louis. His collecting continued.

“My job under Larry Kane, who was head of the International Livestock Show, was to go out and see the shippers and take pictures of them and their livestock,” he said. “After developing the photographs, I would then send a copy to their home and to their local newspaper. One of my prize possessions is a picture I took of my Mom and Dad in 1966. They were standing on the fence watching their cattle being sold.”

“I was raised in Henry County, Illinois, which was for many, many years the largest cattle feeding county in the state.”

Henry County was also the largest shipper of livestock to the Chicago Stockyards in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

“Nationwide,” Chuck reminisced, “the largest shipper over the years was Clinton County, Iowa. That county had more grand champions at the International and more cattle and hogs that went to those yards.”

“Everybody up and down the road has a memory of the Chicago yards and Kansas City and Sioux City. But everybody up and down the road had cattle and hogs. That was only 35 and 40 years ago.”

The Chicago Stockyards came to be when a consortium of several railroad companies bought 320 acres in southwest Chicago in 1864. It was one of the biggest and most renowned of the major stockyards for a number of reasons. Those nine railroad companies hauled meat from Chicago to meet the demands of the East Coast consumer. Of course Chicago itself was a large and growing city with a great demand for meat.

Some producers would send their cattle, hogs or sheep on a train headed for the yards. Others would haul them by truck or trailer. Consigners at the yards would enter into contracts with those producers to sell the stock to a packer near the stockyards.

Restaurants and hotels like the famous Chicago’s Stockyard Inn welcomed livestock producers and consigners alike. For many producers, a trip to Chicago to sell livestock was a treat – not only because the sale of livestock was the culmination of hard work and investment, but because it was a rare opportunity for many to travel.

The National Stockyards in East St. Louis opened in 1873. The Omaha yards opened in 1884. At one time, Sioux City, Kansas City and St. Joseph were all operating at full bore.

As they say, “Nothing stays the same.” But the Stockyard Collector’s Club has plenty of memories!

The Tenth Annual Stockyard Collector’s Auction kicks off with a social hour and catered dinner at the John Deere Pavilion on Friday June 6th. Orion Samuelson will speak after dinner and a live auction of Stockyards memorabilia follow.

The Saturday morning auction and private treaty sales will begin at 9 am at the Stony Creek Inn and Convention Center.

If you want more information or would like to make dinner reservations give Chuck a call (217-793-1133) or call DeAnne Bloomberg (309-781-4073). Dinner reservations are needed before June 1.

In 1984 when the Joliet Stockyards was still operating, President Warren Overman presented this then- Illinois Beef Queen a key chain that is one of my favorite pieces of stockyard memorabilia. You won’t find it up for auction in Moline. I think I’ll hang on to it for a while.