22 – The Forest in Nivernais – Loggers – Coming back home

The twenty-second postcard of the series “The Forest in Nivernais” depicts around fifteen loggers on their way back home after their hard day’s work in the cuts of the forest of Bertranges. Most of them carry on their shoulder a frame saw and a tool to split the wood.

At the time the photograph was taken, around 1900, the vast majority of loggers in Nivernais were farmers working in fields during summer and in woods during winter contrary to the sawyers, the wood splitters and the charcoal burners who were expert in forestry activities.

Achille Millien complements the postcard with verses of poetry about loggers on their way back home: “Vient le soir. On quitte la coupe. / Doucement on chemine en groupe / Et l’on s’en va tout en causant / Vers la maison où cuit la soupe / En un fumet appétissant.”