New York Winters: The Fun and Foils of Snow

By: Christina Ely, Registrar for Plowline: Images of Rural New York
In a small way, I think that I moved north just in time.  That may sound a bit odd, so let me explain.  In May I moved back to Upstate New York, having lived in Southcoast Massachusetts and in New Jersey for the last nine years.   While living in both places, I really can’t say I experienced more than a handful of snowstorms on par with those experienced annually in Upstate New York.  I will admit though that I did get accustomed to school or work closing each time a few inches or flurries fell or sometimes when snow was simply forecasted!   So, needless to say, getting accustomed to a fifty mile round-trip commute and winter driving again has been a little bit of a learning curve for me this winter.  Given the number of winter storms, whether Nor’esters or Blizzards this year that have hit the areas where I formerly lived – I do think that I moved at the right time.  For this year anyhow.  But, I know that even though we have been fortunate that the coastal storms didn’t track more inland and all that record snow didn’t fall on us…we well know Central New York sees and has seen its fair share of the white stuff.  Evidence of this can be seen in images from the Plowline: Images of Rural New York collection.   I would like to share with you a couple images that I like (and some that I find a bit scary) from this collection.

First of all, I wouldn’t want something like this happening to me:

Do you see that little black speck (in the photo above) to the left of center? Yes, that is a nearly buried car!

The above photo seems more like what I remember as far as upstate winters when I was a child growing up in Washington County.  I can remember snow banks almost this high along my grandparent’s long driveway-they lived at one of the highest points in the town.   I especially remember driving my sister back to SUNY Oswego with my Father, getting to Fulton and seeing walls of snow like this on either side of the road. My sister and I didn’t think it was so funny, but my Father couldn’t stop laughing at my sister’s “good fortune” and choice of school.

Snow can also mean a lot of work, regardless of age:

Aside from the not so fun and hazardous side of snowstorms, some fun lies in them too.

And of course, it does give a serene and tranquil look to the landscape, no matter where you live.

Images above, in order of appearance:

Snowstorm in Oneida County, NY, 1947.  Dante Tranquillle.  Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0001.2010(165)j.
Winter Scene with Snow Plow, 1969.  Dante Tranquille. Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0001.2010(051)b
The Dezemos Shoveling Snow, ca. 1940-1945.  Photographer unidentified.  Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0006.2010(168).
George Dezemo on the Farmall H, Date and Photographer unidentified.  Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0006.2010(076).
Maple Sugaring in Lewis County, NY, 1950.  Dante Tranquille. Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0001.2010(069)dd
Haymarket, New York, Date unidentified. Dante Tranquille. Plowline: Images of Rural New York, The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY.  F0001.2010(182).