Page 65 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2021

NVS Ireland presents “Virtual” Vegetable Competition 2021
Rules
1. This competition is confined to residents of Ireland.
2. The competition is free to enter.
3. Each entry must consist of four varieties of different vegetables.
4. Each entry to consist of the following:
a) A Photograph or video of the garden as the vegetable’s seeds are sown.
b) A Photograph or video of the garden during the growing season
c) A Photograph or video of the garden just before harvest
d) A Photograph of the 4
different varieties of vegetables harvested, washed, and presented as one large exhibit. Supportive text should be included with each entry including naming of the
variety of vegetable. A current newspaper should be included with the final image of the presented vegetables for verification of date and which clearly shows the main headline.
5. Entries to be emailed to: higgins.raymond@gmail.com
6. Entries can be submitted throughout the summer but close on Friday September 1st, 2021. Winners will be published on our Facebook page and in the winter edition of our “simply vegetables” magazine.
7. Prizes for first, second and third will be awarded along with two special awards for Best Garden and Best display of vegetables.
The man who made a fortune out of showing vegetables – without taking them anywhere!
Between 1908 and 1912 the U.S. Photographer William H. Martin produced photographic postcards featuring exaggerated images of vegetables imposed on backgrounds
and people who were
actual size, which became
a sensation.
and pasting together pieces from different photographs, he composed an out-of-scale scene in which tiny people were juxtaposed with immense images of produce or game.
Rival companies sprang
up also producing the ‘Tall
Tale’ cards, but Martin’s
company sold 7 million
cards in 1909 alone. People
in the states couldn’t get
enough of the cards which
they excitedly posted to
friends at home or in ‘the old
country’ which could be as
far away as Britain or Ireland
and the continent, who collected them in albums for family entertainment, similar to the way people now share Memes among their friends on social media sites.
The Martin family emigrated from Ireland to America in the mid-19th Century and settled in Kansas. William became a photographer and mostly did family portraits. He kept a vegetable garden and after work sometimes took photographs of samples
of his very best veg. One photo of potatoes was taken when a family portrait was behind it. The picture developed looked like the family gathered around enormous potatoes. The idea grew from there. Martin perfected the technique of photomontage. Cutting
He composed an out-of-scale scene in which tiny people were juxtaposed with immense images of produce or game
He then re-photographed this altered picture and printed it on postcard stock. This was at a time when cinema was still in its infancy and this was the origin of the techniques later used extensively in films such
as King Kong. Martin sold the business at its height in 1912 when it was producing 10,000 cards a day. Spotting a new opening he switched to making Road traffic signs. Some years later he retired
and set up a restaurant, which he supplied with vegetables from his own experimental farm. He died in 1940.
Simply Vegetables 65