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Bushwick (Boswyck) Family Collection The
Bushwick Family (Boswycks)
Many of the objects in the Archives and
Collections belong to the Bushwick (Boswyck) Family Collection.
These objects date primarily from the first half of the twentieth
century and span the history of this significant Dutch
American farming family, and their belief in Source Energies. Fifty
years ago, in the kitchen of a Vermont farmhouse, a notable family
business was born. Earl Martense and Josephine Mary Bushwick, both
descendants of Dutch Brooklyn
families, married and relocated from Brooklyn to southern Vermont. Earl
and Josephine founded Bushwick Farms in 1958, giving many Americans
their first introduction to home made pumpkin butter. The first batches
of pumpkin butter were cooked over a woodstove, using Josephine Mary’s
traditional family recipe, and distributed to neighbors and friends. By
1960, word had spread and the Bushwicks began distributing the
pumpkin butter throughout the eastern states. The business was truly a
family affair, with Earl Martense, Josephine Mary and their sons John
and Joe, filling the eight-ounce glass containers by hand and
delivering them via the family truck.The Bushwick Farms 1979 Ford
pick-up truck and 1968 travel trailer are prized objects of the
collection.
Violet Gray and Joe Rotto Bushwick, The Traveling Variety Show Joe Rotto Bushwick, son of Josephine and
Earl Bushwick believed in keeping the name of Bushwick Farms
in the public realm. Joe, along with his wife Violet Gray traveled
America
for a number of years in the Bushwick Family 1968 travel trailer and
1979 Ford
pick up truck. Together they presented The Traveling Variety Show,
sponsored by Bushwick Farms, which traveled throughout America for four
years. Among the Bushwick (Boswyck) Family Archives are the original
road map and log-book pages kept by
Joe and Violet during their time on the road. During their travels
Violet and Joe preferred to travel secondary roads, living in the
desert with the use
of solar power, staying on free government camping land where possible.
When the weather got too cold in the winters, or too hot in the Nevada
summers, Violet and Joe would live in monthly motel rooms and perform
the show for very small audiences.
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