The Great American Breed

[Iron Buzz]

I found two of these today. The site, among other things, was a horse pasture at one time, if that helps. It is the large brass/copper disk that reads "The Great American Breed" that I'm curious about. Googling it in various ways hasn't helped.

 

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[Tony in SC]

The great American breed was a type of horse (I don't remember which one ) in the 60's/70's?

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Don't know much about horses. But if there was a Great American Breed it would be the Morgan horse. And some would argue the later Quarter Horse.

Appaloosas being a Spanish feral breed. ;-)

 

[Iron Buzz]

Don't know much about horses. But if there was a Great American Breed it would be the Morgan horse. And some would argue the later Quarter Horse.

Appaloosas being a Spanish feral breed. ;-)

I think I would expect a medallion to the Morgan to actually just say "Morgan", and maybe have a picture of one, not of ears of corn.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Corn would be a strain. "Breed" usually refers to animals. Corn & Maze after all are ALL American breeds. ;-)

What's on the back-side?

Perhaps it refers to a dog or chicken?

 

[SWINGER1969]

Don't know but looks like you had a great day of swinging congrats. I pulled my first Barber half today 1892 at a 1860 farm.

 

[Retired Sarge]

If you are on Facebook you can reach out to this guy and see if ever got an ID for his. It's the first entry on the link provided. Don't know why the link is coming in that way. I typed the following under Google.

"the great american breed" token

https://www.google.com/search?q="the+great+american+breed"+token&client=ms-android-att us&hl=en&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02idTSMC54RMeR7pEiCWh0RKQGEZw:1592978850276&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv_oTU5JnqAhXDMd8KHcc_DSsQ_AUICigC&biw=798&bih

 

[Tony in SC]

Looking around a bit I think it's a corn token. After all corn was bred here in America! Maybe from a company, festival, etc?

 

[Red-Coat]

Make of this what you will, but I think the medal/token may be chicken-fancier related and specifically to “Plymouth Rock” chickens. The bold type is my emphasis.

From “Standard-bred Plymouth Rocks, barred, white, buff, silver penciled, partridge and Columbian; their practical qualities; how to judge them; how to mate and breed for best results" by Williiam C Denny, jointly published by the Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company and the American Poultry Publishing Company in 1911:

Indian-corn-fed hogs and corn-fed poultry are popular with the American buyers. Personally, we do not believe that poultry produced on any other ration equals the properly corn-fed bird as a table delicacy…
We were brought up on the quick-grown, soft-full-meated, corn-clover-and-beef-scrap-fed chicken, and after that, no "white-fleshed", flabby-meated fowl appeals to our palate…
Right here the White Plymouth Rock, grown for utilitv purposes, gets in on a bed-rock foundation. It has a bright yellow skin, clean yellow legs, and grows quickly to a large size. As a market fowl there seems to be no doubt that It has come to stay….
The name Plymouth Rock touches a responsive chord with any patriotic American, as attaches to no other breed. All things betoken a more general devotion to it as the fowl of manifest destiny - always the great American breed, warmly welcomed in every land where beauty in fowls finds favor - great also in utility, it must ultimately become great in financial possibility to the successful breeder.

More recently (and more in relation to exhibiting these birds at farming show competitions rather than eating them) from “Poultry Papers, 1999-2001, of S. Robert Powell, Carbondale, Lackawanna County, PA” in an article titled “South of the Border” by Kirk Keene:

The Plymouth Rock has been fortunate to have a dedicated and able following of breeders and exhibitors. While the aforementioned faults can be a problem, there have been many tremendous birds exhibited in both large and bantam from coast to coast. As fancier's of this personable breed, allow the Standard of Perfection to be your guide and continue to promote the “Great American Breed”.


That wouldn’t answer the question of what the item is for… except perhaps that the prominent corn cobs and absence of any chicken imagery might point towards some kind of token relating to rearing for consumption or feed-practices rather than this being, say, a show medal for prize chickens.

 

[Iron Buzz]

If you are on Facebook you can reach out to this guy and see if ever got an ID for his. It's the first entry on the link provided. Don't know why the link is coming in that way. I typed the following under Google.

"the great american breed" token

https://www.google.com/search?q="the+great+american+breed"+token&client=ms-android-att us&hl=en&prmd=sinv&sxsrf=ALeKk02idTSMC54RMeR7pEiCWh0RKQGEZw:1592978850276&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv_oTU5JnqAhXDMd8KHcc_DSsQ_AUICigC&biw=798&bih

Nice find... I asked him in a comment on his post. If I learn something from him, I'll post it here.

 

[Iron Buzz]

Corn would be a strain. "Breed" usually refers to animals. Corn & Maze after all are ALL American breeds. ;-)

What's on the back-side?

Perhaps it refers to a dog or chicken?

Both that I found have a sign that something was soldered to the center: