Agriculture

From butter churns to diesel tractors, the Museum's agricultural artifacts trace the story of Americans who work the land. Agricultural tools and machinery in the collections range from a John Deere plow of the 1830s to 20th-century cultivators and harvesters. The Museum's holdings also include overalls, aprons, and sunbonnets; farm photographs; milk cans and food jars; handmade horse collars; and some 200 oral histories of farm men and women in the South. Prints in the collections show hundreds of scenes of rural life. The politics of agriculture are part of the story, too, told in materials related to farm workers' unions and a group of artifacts donated by the family of the labor leader Cesar Chavez.

John Deere Plow
John Deere Plow, 1830s
Photograph: Braceros stand at the entrance to a movie theater in Watsonville, California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros stand at the entrance to a movie theater in Watsonville, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.29.42
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.29.42
Photograph: An official distributes documents among braceros outside of the San Joaquin County Farm Production Association building in Stockton, California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: An official distributes documents among braceros outside of the San Joaquin County Farm Production Association building in Stockton, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.39.24
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.39.24
Photograph: An official distributes paychecks to braceros outside an office in California.
Description
Photograph: An official distributes paychecks to braceros outside an office in California.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.44.17
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.44.17
This shipping crate side originally contained Parowax, made by the Standard Oil Company of New York during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side originally contained Parowax, made by the Standard Oil Company of New York during the early 20th century. Parowax was Standard Oil’s proprietary name for paraffin wax that could be “used for sealing Jelly Glasses, Fruit Jars, Bottles, etc.”
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Standard Oil Company of New York
ID Number
1979.0441.305
catalog number
1979.0441.305
accession number
1979.0441
This shipping crate side originally contained embalming fluid manufactured by the Dodge Chemical Company of Boston, Massachusetts during the early 20th century. The Dodge Chemical Company was founded in 1893 by A.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side originally contained embalming fluid manufactured by the Dodge Chemical Company of Boston, Massachusetts during the early 20th century. The Dodge Chemical Company was founded in 1893 by A. Johnson Dodge, who also established a permanent embalming school called the New England Institute of Anatomy, Sanitary Science, and Embalming. The Dodge Chemical Company continues to this day as a manufacturer of embalming fluids.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Dodge Chemical Company
ID Number
1979.0441.361
catalog number
1979.0441.361
accession number
1979.0441
Photograph: Two officials speak with each other while braceros wait in an office in Stockton, California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Two officials speak with each other while braceros wait in an office in Stockton, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.24.14
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.24.14
Photograph: A U.S. Border Patrol official reviews a bracero's documents while others wait in line to be processed at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.
Description
Photograph: A U.S. Border Patrol official reviews a bracero's documents while others wait in line to be processed at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.14.22
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.14.22
Photograph: Braceros walk outside their living quarters at the Gondo Labor Camp in Watsonville, California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros walk outside their living quarters at the Gondo Labor Camp in Watsonville, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.27.30
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.27.30
Labels are an important marketing device.
Description (Brief)
Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
This Kershaw brand apple crate label was used by the Kershaw Fruit and Cold Storage Company of Yakima, Washington during the early 20th century. The lithographed label was produced by Stecher-Traung of San Francisco, California. The label has a blue background with a central representation of an apple.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Kershaw Fruit and Cold Storage Inc.
ID Number
1979.0441.086
accession number
1979.0441
catalog number
1979.0441.086
Photograph: Braceros walk over a field in crepuscular light in California.
Description
Photograph: Braceros walk over a field in crepuscular light in California.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.54.04
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.54.04
Photograph: Braceros sit at the edge of a field in California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros sit at the edge of a field in California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.45.04
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.45.04
Labels are an important marketing device.
Description (Brief)
Labels are an important marketing device. They often go beyond merely identifying contents and are designed to help establish brand distinction and generate customer loyalty for a largely interchangeable product.
This apple crate label was used by Spark’s Orchards during the beginning of the 20th century. Spark’s Orchards was based in Wenatchee, Washington, a region that was well known for its apple production, especially in the early 1900s.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Sparks Orchards
ID Number
1979.0441.010
accession number
1979.0441
catalog number
1979.0441.010
Photograph: Dr. Stanley Savoy examines a bracero's back to check for respiratory illness in his clinical practice in the Salinas Valley, California.
Description
Photograph: Dr. Stanley Savoy examines a bracero's back to check for respiratory illness in his clinical practice in the Salinas Valley, California.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.51.17
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.51.17
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1786
maker
Harmon, Reuben Jr.?
ID Number
CL.128343
catalog number
128,343
128343
accession number
18980
Photograph: Parked cars sit in front of bracero insurance and service facilities near Hidalgo, Texas.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Parked cars sit in front of bracero insurance and service facilities near Hidalgo, Texas.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.11.17
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.11.17
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
maker
Plowden, David
ID Number
1986.0711.0696
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0696
Photograph: Braceros board trucks at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.
Description
Photograph: Braceros board trucks at the Hidalgo Processing Center, Texas.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.12.29
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.12.29
Photograph: Braceros wash up in a bathroom at a camp in California.a Californian camp.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros wash up in a bathroom at a camp in California.
a Californian camp.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.38.07
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.38.07
Photograph: Braceros load lettuce while men assemble lettuce boxes in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.
Description
Photograph: Braceros load lettuce while men assemble lettuce boxes in a field in the Salinas Valley, California.
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.43.10
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.43.10
Photograph: A bracero sits at the edge of a field in California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: A bracero sits at the edge of a field in California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.50.01
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.50.01
Photograph: Braceros gather around a vendor and his car at a camp in the Salinas Valley, California.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros gather around a vendor and his car at a camp in the Salinas Valley, California.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.24.30
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.24.30
Photograph: Braceros sit in a waiting room at the clinical practice of Dr. Stanley Savoy in the Salinas Valley, California, while a nurse takes a bracero's temperature.Currently not on view
Description
Photograph: Braceros sit in a waiting room at the clinical practice of Dr. Stanley Savoy in the Salinas Valley, California, while a nurse takes a bracero's temperature.
Location
Currently not on view
date photographed
1956
photographer
Nadel, Leonard
ID Number
2004.0138.47.08
accession number
2004.0138
catalog number
2004.0138.47.08
This shipping crate side contained Hawaiian Chief brand sliced pineapple that was packed by the Pearl City Fruit Company Ltd., of Honolulu, Hawaii during the early 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This shipping crate side contained Hawaiian Chief brand sliced pineapple that was packed by the Pearl City Fruit Company Ltd., of Honolulu, Hawaii during the early 20th century. George Lycurgus founded the Pearl City Fruit Company in 1892, and competed with the Hawaiian Fruit and Packing company for packing and shipping pineapples. This crate contained four dozen 11-ounce tins.
Location
Currently not on view
referenced business
Pearl City Fruit Co. Ltd.
ID Number
1979.0441.263
catalog number
1979.0441.263
accession number
1979.0441
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.1071
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1071

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