This medal belonged to my grandfather, Charles Leroy "Roy" Larson. It was fashioned so that you could hang it from the button hole of your overalls. It looks well worn so I assume he wore it often and was proud to wear it.
According to Wikipedia, "...the lowest days of the Great Depression brightened for area dairymen...," because of area cooperatives. They "...provided milk checks to those who were members of the cooperative, enabling them to pay their taxes and provide food for their families."
My mother, a staunch Republican, balked at the thought that my grandfather would have been involved in anything as socialistic as a cooperative, but there you have it - proof that he belonged and that he wore that medal with pride. The cooperative folded in 1970.
I never met my grandfather - he died before I was born. But I know he worked hard as a farmer, dealing with both successes and failures. It wasn't easy. He worked as a sharecropper for a long time before he was able to afford his own land. He died in his 50s, from heart failure. Too much heart, spent too fast.
My father just passed away in January and going through his private papers we found that he still held one share in "Dairymen's Cooperative Creamery of Boise Valley" His share was issued in 1957.
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