Kentucky's Aunt Lou?
 

A fellow that used to run a feed store in my area gave me some tomato seeds. He calls them "Aunt Lou" and said he got them from an older lady in Kentucky years ago, when he was a young guy. He's about 78 or so now, so a good long time ago. I got a plant off his nephew last year to try it and it was pretty good. It's a medium sized pink tomato, and was one of my last tomatoes to set fruit. Since I did not start it from seed, and got it as part of a cut up 6 pack, I can't really tell you if it's a late variety or not, due to not knowing how it was raised
So I was just wondering if anyone has heard of this?

Aunt Lou
 

Barbee, I have never heard this name before concerning a Kentucky Tomato variety. I hope you have success in growing it and letting us know how it does for you.
You have mail.
Gary

Gary,
I was hoping you'd respond :)
I got the plant last year in part of a cut up 6 pack sort of late into the season. The plant was already a little stressed and very rootbound. I got it in the ground about 4 weeks later than my other tomatoes. So I really don't feel like it got a good shot to do it's thing. That's why I requested seed to try this year.
You have a pm.

Hope you don't mind me posting the history of this tomato here it is pretty fascinating

Gary Millwood from Louisville, Kentucky is a grower and collector of heirloom tomatoes. Here is another fascinating story of the origin of one of his varieties.

———————————————————————-

My most recent heirloom tomato discovery.
Gary Millwood 2010

Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad ~ Historical heirloom carried through the Underground Railroad to Ripley, Ohio, from Kentucky – tangy red fruits about 4 – 8 ounces, IND, 70+ DTM

Tomato seeds of this variety, first called Aunt Lou’s , were carried by a black man as he traveled the Underground Railroad from Kentucky. We have provenance tracing this variety directly to this man; the tomato itself is characteristic of those grown in this era.
The black man (unfortunately we don’t know his name) came from Kentucky to Ripley, Ohio, where many slaves crossed the river to freedom.

Ripley is home to Rankin House, now a museum, a well known stop in the Underground Railroad.
This black man grew these tomatoes there, sharing seeds with a woman named Lou, who later shared seeds with her great nephew, Francis Parker.

Francis Parker was consulted, on the need to add “Underground Railroad” to the “Aunt Lou’s” to signify its history; he was pleased that others would be able to continue growing his Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad tomato.

Francis Parker died December 2009 after an extended illness.

Sixty years later Francis, who lived in Sardinia, Ohio, shared seeds with Wilfred Ellis, owner of Ellis’ Feed Mill.

Wilfred is still alive, though quite elderly.

Wilfred shared them with Susan Barber, who gave them to me (Gary Millwood).

I always share my seed with my friend, Maria Stenger, in Sonora, Kentucky.

I am getting older, my health is not the best; she can carry on the work I have done with these wonderful tomatoes.

[quote=Stepheninky;181194]Hope you don't mind me posting the history of this tomato here it is pretty fascinating

Gary Millwood from Louisville, Kentucky is a grower and collector of heirloom tomatoes. Here is another fascinating story of the origin of one of his varieties.

———————————————————————-

My most recent heirloom tomato discovery.
Gary Millwood 2010

Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad ~ Historical heirloom carried through the Underground Railroad to Ripley, Ohio, from Kentucky – tangy red fruits about 4 – 8 ounces, IND, 70+ DTM

Tomato seeds of this variety, first called Aunt Lou’s , were carried by a black man as he traveled the Underground Railroad from Kentucky. We have provenance tracing this variety directly to this man; the tomato itself is characteristic of those grown in this era.
The black man (unfortunately we don’t know his name) came from Kentucky to Ripley, Ohio, where many slaves crossed the river to freedom.

Ripley is home to Rankin House, now a museum, a well known stop in the Underground Railroad.
This black man grew these tomatoes there, sharing seeds with a woman named Lou, who later shared seeds with her great nephew, Francis Parker.

Francis Parker was consulted, on the need to add “Underground Railroad” to the “Aunt Lou’s” to signify its history; he was pleased that others would be able to continue growing his Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad tomato.

Francis Parker died December 2009 after an extended illness.

Sixty years later Francis, who lived in Sardinia, Ohio, shared seeds with Wilfred Ellis, owner of Ellis’ Feed Mill.

Wilfred is still alive, though quite elderly.

Wilfred shared them with Susan Barber, who gave them to me (Gary Millwood).

I always share my seed with my friend, Maria Stenger, in Sonora, Kentucky.

I am getting older, my health is not the best; she can carry on the work I have done with these wonderful tomatoes.[/quote]

Note that the two posts above yours were from 2009 and in the meantime Gary did get the seeds for Aunt Lou and has posted the history at several message sites, especially at two other sites. He has been wonderful about spreading the info about varieties he comes across.

And note that he also refers to Maria in KY and I just referred you in the seed source Forum to her Blue Ribbon Seeds where she features many KY heirlooms and many from Gary as well as ones she's IDed online as well as ones she's found herself.

I'm growing Aunt Lou this year, seeds from Gary in return for some seeds I sent him.:surprised:

Interesting history. Sounds like a nice tomato. Thanks for
posting.

Being from Louisville myself, my only input is about a pink tomato my mother grew for her entire adult life with much success and acclaim. We called it "Winsall" but in fact it is an Heirloom called "Wins All" from the early 1920's. Its a large pink imperfectly shaped tomato that is very meaty. Hope this is relevant to the issue!

[QUOTE=boats1947;421782]Being from Louisville myself, my only input is about a pink tomato my mother grew for her entire adult life with much success and acclaim. We called it "Winsall" but in fact it is an Heirloom called "Wins All" from the early 1920's. Its a large pink imperfectly shaped tomato that is very meaty. Hope this is relevant to the issue![/QUOTE]

Actually it isn't an heirloomvariety forit was a selection from Ponderosa made by the Henderson Seed CO , but let me link to Tania's page for it and if I think more needs to be said, I'll do that after thelink.

[url]http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Winsall[/url]

Tania mentioned the naming contest, but in the meantime manyof us knew it just as Winsall but then found out that it won the naming contest and was therefore really named Wins All, b'c it did.:)

So, being selected from Ponderosa it isn't an heirloom, but I know many who have grown it, as I have myself, and I think very highly of it.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]I know many people have called it Wins All but if you look at the catalog pages on Tania’s page you’ll see it is indeed ‘Winsall’.[/SIZE][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]One word.[/SIZE][/FONT]

I'd love to hear any feedback about Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad from anyone who has grown it, especially someone in the northern states. Seed for it were included in my package from Tormato's swap and I haven't quite decided if and when to make room for it in my garden.

[QUOTE=JerryL;422071][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]I know many people have called it Wins All but if you look at the catalog pages on Tania’s page you’ll see it is indeed ‘Winsall’.[/SIZE][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][SIZE=3]One word.[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Jerry, if you look at Tania's link again, you'll see it as Wins All at the bottom of that page.

Tania was in error in saying that it was originally named Winsall, b'c it was the Henderson Seed Co that named it Wins All after it won the naming contest.

Tania posts it as Winsall b'c that's the way most folks know it.

I can't remember right now who discovered it was originally named Wins All, it could have been Craig L who has a large collection of old seed catalogs.

I think it's best that we stick with the original name of Wins All, and when I remember it I'll let Tania know she might want to change what she wrote/

Regardless, as I said above, I've grown it several times,I think I used to SSE list it.

[url]https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Wins+All+tomato[/url]

Above is a Google search and I think you can see that all seed vendors list it as Wins All, except for Tania. The SESE link says quite clearly that Henderson Seed Co named it Wins All.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

Father'sDaughter:

By northern I think you may want someone from the northeast but here in the upper midwest, also considered a northern state, Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad has become an "every year" tomato.

As some may remember, I like to grow tomatoes with a theme. In 2011 the theme was family member's names in tomatoes. Like Paul's Pink Pride, Andy's Orange and Big Ben, Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad worked for sister-in-law Lou. The seeds did come from Maria of Blue Ribbon Seeds who received them from Gary Millwod (see above).

The first year from one plant ALUR produced 87 tomatoes totaling 35 pounds. From July 24 to Sept 1 the fruit was very large, the biggest single tomato weighed 25 ounces. Later in the season the size was much smaller. 2012 season the production was way down and the sizes were smaller. This was a hot dry year. 2013 was a better year for production and size but not like the initial year. Average size was about 10 ounces and production was in the 30 pound range. Plenty for a home garden. The plants were very large and bushy. The flavor indications were all in the 8 to 9 out of 10. Not too sweet, not too tart and juicy. A very pretty tomato. This year it is in Aunt Lou's garden (a couple blocks from mine and I will keep watch on it).

I've grown it the last 2 years, but not this year. It has done well for me, but I did not get the large sized PaulF got initially. Mine were in the 8-10 ounce range. I agree with PaulF's taste assessment also. I did not have any particular disease issue and the plant produced until frost. I, too, got my seeds from Blue Ribbon Seeds. I figured if someone thought enough of this tomato to remember to bring seeds on the harrowing journey up the Underground Railway, it was a worthwhile candidate for my garden. I have not been disappointed.

Thanks Paul and Nancy. I think I set it off to the side for this year because I could not find much about it. Plus, the story above and Tania's site list it as a red slicer, but the Blue Ribbon Tomato ad on Ebay calls it a "dark pink canner or cooking tomato."

I prefer balanced to tangy flavor in my tomatoes. My son and his wife, who get any of my extras, prefer a not-to-tart tomato. Sounds like one that could make everyone happy and produce more than enough to go around!

Aunt Lou's should be a pink tomato.

Okay, I'll change it to pink on my list. But how should I classify it -- eating, canning or multi-purpose?

I would call it a slicer. I guess that could be eating or multi purpose?

I will tell you that I was never overly impressed with the taste of it. To me, it's just okay. Others rave about it. It was always one of the earliest tomatoes to ripen in my patch and it pumped out tomatoes all summer. I hope you will give it a try next year and report back on your experience with it.

[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Carolyn[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]I looked at the references you sighted but still believe the correct name for this variety is “Winsall”. I can see what SESE and others have on their website/catalog but must disagree with their statement. Most of the statements seem to be ‘cut & pastes” of one another. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Below is a portion of the full text version of the 1925 Peterson catalog. It clearly states that the first year No. “400” was given a ‘real’ name it was “Winsall”.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Follow the first link below, and then do a ‘Find on this page’ search for ‘Winsall’. It will take you to the text I show below.[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]If you follow the second link below it will take you to the actual 1925 catalog. Move to pages 14 & 15 to see the actual catalog ad which clearly states the correct name in 1925, the first year it is named by the contest winner, was “Winsall”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]----------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]THE [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]PRIZE [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]FOR A [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]NAME [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]FOR THIS WONDERFUL NEW TOMATO OFFERED LAST YEAR UNDER THE NUMBER "400 [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]HAS NOW BEEN AWARDED. SEE FULL PARTICULARS ON OPPOSITE PAGE [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]PETER HENDERSON & CO., 35 and 37 Cortlandt St., NEW YORI [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]From PETER HENDERSON & CO., NEW YOR K [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]915 HENDERSON'S [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Newly Developed Prize Tomato [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]15 [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Winsall [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Shown in Colors [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]on opposite page [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]It Wins Approval from 40,000 People— It Wins Prizes Wherever Shown—It Wins by its Qualities of [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Sweetness, Solidity and Seedlessness — It Wins because of its Wonderful Size and Gorgeous Color. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]When we described Hendersoo's Winsall Tomato offered as No [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]"400" last year "as bigger and better than Ponderosa" we were aware [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]that many of our friends might be somewhat incredulous ; but we now [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]know that they must be convinced of the truth of that statement, [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]because of the thousands of letters of praise for Henderson's Winsall [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]received from them during and since the growing season of last year — [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]a few of which we publish on this page. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Some of the letters describe Henderson's Winsall so well as almost [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]to render further description by us superfluous. We will however add to [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]the encomiimis of our friends a few words telling of it according to oxu' [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]own experience in our soil and climate. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Henderson's Winsall is about five days later than Ponderosa In [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]maturing its first fruits, but its second fruits seem to ripen more rapidly [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]than do the fruits of Ponderosa. The coloring is indeed perfection; the [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]bright red extending close up to the stem end. Henderson's Winsall [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]is undoubtedly the most meaty tomato ever produced; the entire fruit [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]being edible, tender, and delicious, and remarkable for an almost entire [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]absence of seeds. This latter characteristic is so pronounced that many [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]of our friends proposed to call it "Giant Seedless." [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]As for smoothness and formation Henderson's Winsall is a great [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Improvement upon Ponderosa, and as time goes on we propose to still [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]further improve it by careful supervision. [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"] [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT="Courier New"]Price— 25c. pkt [/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT][/SIZE]
[URL="http://archive.org/stream/EverythingForTheGarden1925/PeterHendersonCo.0002_djvu.txt"][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]http://archive.org/stream/EverythingForTheGarden1925/PeterHendersonCo.0002_djvu.txt[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[URL="https://archive.org/details/EverythingForTheGarden1925"][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]https://archive.org/details/EverythingForTheGarden1925[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/URL]

Thanks so much Jerry for what you posted above.

And now someone has to find out when and how it got changed to Wins All for so many folks to use that form. Probably a website somewhere that changed it.

In a way it reminds me of the situation with the blueberry cultivar that was listed as Tophat for so many years and then several places started calling it Top Hat.:)

I have no idea what the original name was.

Carolyn

This novice Kentucky guy thinks that the name was meant to signify "Wins All" meaning that the tomato variety won everything concerning tomatoes that year! The word evolved into "Winsall" due to normal slang/shortcuts, and poor grammatical practices, etc!

[QUOTE=boats1947;422833]This novice Kentucky guy thinks that the name was meant to signify "Wins All" meaning that the tomato variety won everything concerning tomatoes that year! The word evolved into "Winsall" due to normal slang/shortcuts, and poor grammatical practices, etc![/QUOTE]

but Jerry posted above from the Henderson catalog and it was called Winsall.

I'm going to e-mail someone I know to see if that person knows when and where the name was changed by so many to Wins All.

Carolyn

Hey gang - and thanks Carolyn for removing me from transcribing days of audio recordings taken over the week into my Excel spreadsheet (gets tedious!)...

So - Henderson did call it Winsall - that is the "official" name.

Someone in NC, in 1994, sent me seeds for a tomato which he clearly spelled as "Wins All" in the letter and on the seed packet - to keep true to the source, I believe I may have listed it in the SSE as that (with the history) - and it may well be "Winsall" as released by Henderson.

I've grown them both (Winsall from Gary Staley sent to me in 1988 which he spelled as "Winsall" and "Wins All" as sent to me by the North Carolina fellow - and they were essentially both tasty regular leaf, large fruited pink beefsteak types - which is what one would expect, being essentially a selection of Henderson's original Ponderosa.

Isn't this fun!

Thanks again for pinging me, C!

I am confused, did this thread turn into talking about 2 separate tomato's?

[QUOTE=loudog;436359]I am confused, did this thread turn into talking about 2 separate tomato's?[/QUOTE]


Yes, it did.

Aunt Lou's is a contender for a spot next year, but I won't make a final decision for a few more months.

I find it interesting... were there many pink tomatoes around in the 1800s?

[QUOTE=Direct Sunlight;453240]I find it interesting... were there many pink tomatoes around in the 1800s?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely!

But the word purple was used back then to indicate pink by most of the seed companies that were introducing new varieties.

If you google Victory Seeds you'll see Mike has a who section devoted to the varieties that the Livingston Seed C, to name one company, introduced in the late 18 hundreds.

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;453301]Absolutely!

But the word purple was used back then to indicate pink by most of the seed companies that were introducing new varieties.

If you google Victory Seeds you'll see Mike has a who section devoted to the varieties that the Livingston Seed C, to name one company, introduced in the late 18 hundreds.

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Didn't see the part you spoke of but I did join their Facebook page. Looks like a great organization!

[QUOTE=Direct Sunlight;454856]Didn't see the part you spoke of but I did join their Facebook page. Looks like a great organization![/QUOTE]

Mike no longer lists all of the Livingston varieties, but here are some using the search feature.

[url]http://www.victoryseeds.com/search.asp?keyword=Livingston+varieties&search.x=16&search.y=7&search=GO[/url]

Carolyn

Uhoh. I picked up some Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad seeds from Mad River Seeds, and they're apparently striped, not pink? My plants haven't even started blooming yet, but this is the photo the seller provided. Do I not have the true thing, then?

Never heard of it before but would love to have a few seeds of it as I'm straight across the river from Ripley Ohio.