Joyful, California

Joyful is a former settlement and vegetarian colony in Kern County, California.[1][2] It was located 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Bakersfield, where Pennsylvania Lane now joins Ashe Road just north of Panama Lane.[1][3][4][5]

History

Californian fruit farmer Isaac B. Rumford and his wife Sara converted to a raw food vegetarian diet in 1881.[6] They advocated an "Edenic Diet" in which all animal foods were forbidden apart from honey. They held the view that "cooking destroys the vitality of the food, besides being a waste of labor and of time; it makes a slave of the one who cooks and shortens life."[6]

Joyful was founded by Rumford and his wife in early 1884 as a Utopian colony under the auspices of the Association of Brotherly Cooperation.[1][7] Joyful was located on the bank of Panama Slough, wetland adjacent to the Kern River that has been dry since before 1967.[8][3] Joyful was a vegetarian colony in which members followed a way of life influenced by the Biblical Adam and Eve before the Fall.[7] Members would eat a raw vegetarian diet of almonds, fruit juice, grated apples, raisins and a ground mix of oats and wheat called grainia.[6] They opposed cooking food as they believed it reduced nutritional value. Rumford and his wife founded the newspaper, Joyful News.[7] The Joyful post office operated from 1883 to 1884, when the colony was abandoned.[1] Although the other members abandoned the colony, Rumford continued to work as a fruit farmer with his family. In 1902 at age 68, Rumford wrote that his raw vegetarian diet consisted of starch foods such as dry flour with fruits and nuts.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Durham, David L. (1998). "California's geographic names : a gazetteer of historic and modern names of the state". Worldcat.org. Clovis, California: Word Dancer Press. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Iacobo, Karen; Iacobo, Michael (2004). "Vegetarian America : a history". Worldcat.org. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bailey, Richard C. (1967). Kern County Place Names. Annual Publications of the Kern County Historical Society and Kern County Museum (No. 29). Introduction by Ralph F. Kreiser (1st ed.). Bakersfield, Calif.: Merchants Printing and Lithographing Co. p. 12. LCCN 74018077. OCLC 158106.
  4. ^ Rumford, Isaac B (May 4, 1883). "Post Office Department, Office of the First Assistant P. M. General". The National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved February 24, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ Rumford, Isaac B. (May 4, 1883). "Diagram showing the location of the Joyful Post Office". The National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved February 24, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ^ a b c Hine, Robert V. (1983). California's utopian colonies. Internet Archive. Berkeley : University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-04865-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, James $. (2002). "The encyclopedia of cults, sects, and new religions". Worldcat.org. Amherst, N. Y.: Prometheus Books. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  8. ^ "Museum Alliance Marks Centennial". Bakersfield Californian (June 28, 1969).
  9. ^ "Starch Food Necessary". The Vegetarian Magazine. 6 (7): 163–164. 1902 – via HathiTrust.

Further reading

35°17′54″N 119°04′27″W / 35.2983°N 119.0742°W / 35.2983; -119.0742

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