Empty Shells : The Story of Petaluma, America's Chicken City (Chicken House Chronicles) (Hardcover)

by Thea S. Lowry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...stuffed with photos. Lowry is a lively, entertaining writer...a history book that is fun to learn from." -- Katie Watts, Petaluma Argus-Courier

"Graphically…more attractive than any poultry book…well-chosen illustrations...add greatly. Extensive research...makes this a well-documented historical account." -- Roland C. Hartman, founding editor, Poultry Digest

"So well-written…loaded with scholarly references, fascinating insights bringing characters to life, I couldn’t put the damn thing down!" -- Jud Snyder, Community Voice

About the Author
Lowry also published Petaluma's Poultry Pioneers, a collection of first-person narratives by five dozen early ranchers, and two other books plus many articles on psychology and human sexuality. She has made her living as an actor and dancer; as a scientific researcher; as a marriage counselor, a travel agent, riding instructor and college teacher. She was first published while still in grade school. She has a commercial pilot certificate with seaplane rating and her prizes and honors include recognition as a writer, painter, actor, scholar and equestrienne. The character Rhoda Ryder in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums is based on Lowry. She divides her time between Gig Harbor and Marin County.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Manifold Press (December 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0961011610
• ISBN-13: 978-0961011611
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #804,382 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eggshellent book!, February 8, 2001

By	Julian P Killingley (Wakefield, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This is a fascinating book and well worth reading - even if, like me, you have no connection with Petaluma or chicken ranching.

Thea Lowry has meticulously researched the history of Petaluma and how it came to be the Colossus of egg production in the USA - in its heyday producing 450 million eggs a year. She also catalogs the subsequent decline of the industry and records the vanishing traces of its former prominence.

A book such as this could easily have turned into one of those numerous local history books recording the facts and figures of Nowheresville, USA. Ms Lowry has, like her birds, a beady eye and brings alive the history of Petaluma and its industry through dry wit, judicious use of anecdote and magnificent photographs.

This book was more than 10 years in the writing. The product of such effort is evident in every aspect of it. The book has some truly amazing photographs - from the cover picture of a collapsing chicken shed to the memorable picture of a rancher standing next to such a shed but dwarfed by what can only be described as a mountain of egg shells outside it.

It's a great book - I loved it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvelous work of local American history, March 15, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Empty Shells: The Story Of Petaluma, America's Chicken City is the meticulously researched and superbly presented history of Petaluma, California. A small town 38 miles north of San Francisco and straddling a gentle river, Petaluma was justifiably known as "The World's Egg Basket". In the 1920s, millions of glossy white eggs were shipped by train to New York City where they brought top market prices because of their uniform high quality. Empty Shells is the story of the rise and fall of this unique poultry oriented community and the contemporary presence of abandoned hen houses scattered over the southern Sonoma County landscape. Illustrated throughout with period photography, Empty Shells is a marvelous work of local American history which makes for informative, fascinating reading.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mirror of America, February 20, 2001

By	Robert E. Kinford (Gardnerville, NV USA) - See all my reviews

Empty Shells: The story of Petaluma, America's Chicken City is much more than the title implies. Beginning in the 1500's with the "discovery" of California's coast, Thea S. Lowry chronicles the social changes and technological advances of America through the eyes of Petaluma's poultry industry. She notes the changes within the poultry industry, from assembly line manufacture of incubators, to the advances of transportation and roadways, to progress in the medical field (from using nicotine and mercury cures to modern day Coccidiostats and Tetracyclines). From marketing a few dozens of eggs or birds a year by individual farmers to the million bird co-operatives, the poultry industry has led the way, and reflected much of modern day business models. As the majority of these changes happened in the last century (or in the span of two lifetimes), Empty Shells is a must-read for anyone interested in a true perspective as to where our society is today.