An Ocean View housewife ordered 50 chicks in 1923 and received 500. DuPont Highway was completed in 1924. Demand for Kosher meat in New York City was high. Delmarva’s chicken industry was born.
Producer / director Michael Oates, 302 Stories, Inc., will introduce and be available for questions at the upcoming four screenings of his documentary, “Cluck, Pluck, and Luck: The Improbable Early History of Delmarva’s Chicken Industry.” The 70-minute show is FREE to the public.
IN DELAWARE
New Castle County: Tuesday, July 21, 2015, at 7 p.m. at the Hagley Museum and Library in the auditorium of Hagley’s Soda House, 298 Buck Road, Wilmington, DE. Reservations recommended. Contact Carol Lockman, clockman@hagley.org or 302-658-2400.
Sussex County: Wednesday, August 12, 2015, at 7 p.m. at Mariner’s Bethel United Methodist Church, 81 Central Avenue, Ocean View, DE. Hosted by Ocean View Historical Society.
Kent County: Saturday, August 15, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. at Milford’s Riverfront Theatre, 2 South Walnut Street, Milford, DE. Theatre located across from Milford’s Farmers Market.
IN MARYLAND
Thursday, August 13, 2015, at 7 p.m. in the Wicomico Room, Guerrieri University Center, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD.
The film, “Cluck, Pluck, and Luck,” takes viewers from a time when the Delmarva Peninsula south of Dover was isolated and most residents relied on subsistence farming to a time when chickens accounted for a multi-billion dollar industry.
According to producer Michael Oates, what differentiates the broiler industry from other American industries is that “its growth and success were not driven by captains of industry, but by the hard work and shared values of anonymous subsistence farmers, African Americans, and immigrant Jewish businessmen.” Throughout the film, viewers learn about chicken smuggling and World War II blockades, the formation of the Eastern Shore Poultry Grower’s Exchange, new chicken house architecture after Hurricane Hazel, and the rise of Perdue.
The film is funded by the Delaware Humanities Forum, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. and the generosity of its members, and Berkana, Center for Media and Education, Inc.
302 Stories, Inc. is an independent digital media storyteller for the people, communities, and organizations of Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula.
Since 1999, Berkana, Center for Media and Education, Inc., a 501(c) (3) non-profit, has proudly supported media and educational projects in Delaware that profile and examine environmental and social issues important to Delawareans and the larger regional population.