"Picking Cotton", circa 1903
Singer Sewing Machine Company
USA, TX
circa 1903
paper
overall: 4-3/8 x 7-1/8 in.
Print; "Picking Cotton", circa 1903; print from 2005.34.124 in the collection of Captain Richard C. Mears (1829-1899); copy of a photograph showing laborers picking cotton in the field; printed on front "PICKING COTTON"; printed on back (above dividing line) "COTTON PICKING AND/ WEIGHING/ THIS is a typical scene in the South during the cotton/ harvest season from September to January. All/ cotton has to be picked by hand, as no inventor has so/ far been able to produce a practical machine that will/ take the place of the negro cotton pickers of the South./ Many of the cotton pickers become very expert, picking/ as high as 500 pounds of seed cotton in a day./ The records show that it was about 1770 that the/ planters in the Southern States first commenced to plant/ cotton, and in 1792 the amount raised in the United/ States was less than 3,000 bales. This has increased/ in 1860 to 4,824,000 bales; and the production for the year 1904 reached the enormous quantity of/ 13,500,000 bales."; printed on back (below dividing line) "Visit the Singer Store/ Before Buying Sewing Machines by Mail/ Prices are Good,/ Terms are Better,/ Machines the Best./ You are assured of proper Instruction,/ Supplies and Accessories./ GET A SINGER GUARANTEE./ Singer Stores in/ Ever City/ See Singer Store/ in YOUR City."
2005.34.124.8