Cotton Weigh-up Scale
notes: label: Description
content: This cotton weigh-up scale was a gift of James W. Butler and came from the H. H. Hopson Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Such scales were customarily used in cotton fields to weigh each worker's daily pickings, which were the basis of pay. Because cotton is so light, only the most proficient workers could pick 300 pounds.
label: Description
content: Cotton that was planted in April or May and chopped and cultivated through the summer would be ready for picking by September. The picking season could last into December. Once the cotton had been picked, it was taken to a gin where the seeds were separated from the lint. The baled lint went to textile mills, and the seeds were crushed to make vegetable oil and cattle feed.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Mississippi, Clarksdale
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
label: See more items in
content: Agriculture
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of James W. Butler
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0423.01
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0423.01
label: accession number
content: 1989.0423
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scale
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)