Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-01-06
FRESH PORK CLUBS.
Curious Organizations Formed In the State
of Maine.


of Maine.
There are more than 1000 fresh
pork clubs in Maine today, and some
of them have been in existence for
over a century. Though the state
assessors and census enumerators
furnish no statistics bearing on the
subject, it is probable that the total
membership of the Maine fresh pork
clubs exceeds 10000 persons.
A fresh pork club is organized and
maintained to distribute fresh pork,
every member coming in for as
much sparerib, chop or shoulder as
he is willing to distribute. For OBJ
vious and anatomical reasons the
membership of any individual fresh
pork club is limited to the amount
of lean pork which an average pig
is able to furnish. AS the best fed
pig is not all fat, and as one family
is unable to consume the lean meat
of killing before it spoils, the fresh
pork club comes in and eats the I'M
sailed meat, thus saving the expense
OF putting up ice and buying refrig-
orators.
The workings Of a fresh pork club
are easy to understand. An average
Maine pig when fat enough to kill
weighs about 300 pounds, and of
this perhaps so pounds are in spare
ribs, chops and other lean parts that
are unfit to salt and unsuited for the
smokehouse. In the absence of ice
houses and refrigerators much of
this pork would spoil before the
family could eat it, so the so pounds
are divided into ten parcels of five
pounds each and nine of these are
sent to as many members of the
fresh pork club, while the tenth is
kept to be eaten at home.
It is seldom that club contains
more than ten families, because
every additional member divides
the pork into smaller parcels. APP
plications for membership to the
different clubs often are filled years
in advance, and whenever a vacan-
cy occurs the new member is mott
fed of his election by receiving a
portion of the first pig that is killed
by member of the club. When the
number Of waiting applicants
reaches nine OF ten, they are mott
fed OF the fact, and they organize
as new club, with full powers to
distribute pork, choose new mem
bers or discharge old ones.
The advantages to be gained from
active membership in fresh pork
club are obvious. The pig killing
begins in September and continues
at intervals until Christmas. The
family which is not member of a
club can have more fresh pork than
it needs for perhaps week and
must salt all the rest. By joining a
club the same family can prolong
the fresh pork season from the time
the first member kills a pig until
the last porker in the club is sailed
down for winter Instead of eating
fresh pork once year, the club
members can have it ten times a
year and keep up the revels from
Labor day to New Years. So i'm
portant have the fresh pork clubs
become in many communities that
weddings, parties and many social
events are arranged so they may
come off in pig killing time. In
case of birthday or wedding ami
versary one Of the club members
kills his pig few days before the
festival in order to supply the
guests. The men who make and sell
ref1igerators complain bitterly, and
the ice carts never visit the neigh
borhoods where fresh pork clubs
flourish, but the members care little
about what people may say as long
as the proper amount of fresh pork
comes around on time.-New York
Sun.