Cargo Hook
date: label: date made
content: ca 1960
notes: label: Description
content: Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales. The hooks, held firmly in a gloved hand, extended their reach and helped them lift heavy items. Most longshoremen owned several different types of hooks for moving different materials—from burlap sacks to wooden boxes—and altered the handles to suit their grip.
label: Description
content: Longshoreman Herb Mills used this small cargo hook for lifting burlap bags of coffee. Its wooden handle has been whittled to fit comfortably in the palm. The small, sharp iron hook fits through the entire diameter of the handle and is attached with a metal washer. One side of the handle is slightly rounded at an angle for a comfortable thumb grip. Mills used this hook during his career as a longshoreman in San Francisco. Mills was a member of Local 10 of the ILWU—the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—from 1963 to 1992.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Herb Mills
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2002.0026.06
label: accession number
content: 2002.0026
label: catalog number
content: 2002.0026.06
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Cargo Hook
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (hook material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (handle material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/4 in x 2 7/8 in x 1 1/2 in; 8.255 cm x 7.3025 cm x 3.81 cm