Beef ring

Beef rings were common among farmers in the early to mid 20th century. Beef rings was the process of always having a fresh supply of meat during the summer before the days of the refrigerator.

Beef rings was an operation run by an operator (usually the local Butcher, that contained members (local farmers). Once a week a different member of the beef ring would supply a cattle to the slaughterhouse and the meat would then be shared among all members. Once the meat was divided up, it would then be placed into either cloth bags or Butcher paper and rushed home before it would spoil. Once it arrived home it was then inspected. The largest piece of meat would usually become the roast that was eaten immediately, while some of the rest would be cooked and put away in a cool place, while the final bit was canned into quart jars and stored until the winter.

The member that provided the animal was the one who received all of the oddities such as the beef liver, ox tail, heart, tongue, kidney, etc.

The beef ring operation ended once the refrigerator became common.