We travelled to Poland in May of this year. These photos were taken from the exihibits at the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum of Kraków.
The photo above is of women picking bilberries in the forest, probably in the early 20th century. If we want to imagine our ancestors gathering berries and mushrooms in the forests, the exhibits in this wonderful museum offer a more detailed view of this favorite seasonal activity for people who lived in the shtetls.
CORRECTION: The above photo is of women picking berries in Poland in 1967. The timeless quality of the image reminds me of the universality of this activity. When I remember the story my mother told me about my grandmother picking berries in the forest that surrounded their shtetl in the early decades of the twentieth century, this photo helps me imagine what the outing must have been like.
Photo credit:
BIlberrying
Droginia, Myślenice district, Małopolska Region, 1967
photograph H. Hermanowicz
Handcarved brush tools used to gather the bilberries from the bushes.
Handwoven baskets for gathering the berries.
Explanatory panel on berry gathering in the forests of Poland.
