Agriculture - Overview
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.
"Agriculture - Overview" showing 149 items.
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Varnish Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This Glidden Varnish crate side was used by the Glidden Varnish Company of Cleveland, Ohio during the early 20th century. The crate side bears the image of an Eagle-like creature on the left, with plain black text that reads “Factories Cleveland, Ohio, Toronto, Ontario/ Branches New York Chicago Boston St. Louis Atlanta.” In 1875 Francis Glidden, Levi Rackett, and Thomas Bolles started a varnish company called Glidden, Brackett & Co. In 1894 the company became the Glidden Varnish Company, and in 1917 was renamed simply the Glidden Company when it diversified its product line by adding paints.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Glidden Company
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.142
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.142
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tobacco Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This shipping crate side contained tobacco from Middletown, Ohio manufactured by the P. Lorillard Company during the late 19th century. The wooden crate side features an extensive block of text that claims that the “manufacturer of this tobacco has complied with all the requirements of law” and warns against re-using to crate to ship tobacco.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- P. Lorillard Company
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.174
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.174
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tobacco Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This shipping crate side contained tobacco manufactured by the American Tobacco Company in Middletown, Ohio during the early 20th century. The P.J. Sorg Tobacco Company was the dominant tobacco manufacturer in Middletown before it was bought by the American Tobacco Company around 1898. The crate has a label noting that taxes were paid, and the bottom of the crate cautions “under the penalties of law” against reusing the packaging for tobacco shipments.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- American Tobacco Company
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.224
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.224
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Catsup Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This is a Snider’s Catsup shipping crate end. Thomas A. Snider started the T.A. Snider Preserve Company of Cincinnati in 1879, and was renowned for his “catsup” recipe made from fresh tomatoes without preservatives. Snider was one of the largest ketchup makers at the turn of the 20th century and produced a variety of tomato related products and canned goods such as relish, tomato soup, oyster sauce, and pork and beans.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- T. A. Snider Preserve Co.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.284
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.284
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soap Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This shipping crate side contained Ivory soap flakes manufactured by the Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, Ohio during the early 20th century. Soap flakes combined with water could be used for a variety of cleaning tasks
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Procter & Gamble Company
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.302
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.302
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Match Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This is a patented iron case panel for “Race Match” matches, made by the Barber Match Company. The panel features the portraits of five women of different races titled Indian, Mongolian, Negro, Malay, and Caucasian. The text reads “5 races, 5 colors, 5 cents.” The Barber Match Company was founded in 1864 in Akron, Ohio. In 1881, the Barber Match Company united with eleven other match manufacturers to create the Diamond Match Company, which remains the company’s current name.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Barber Match Company
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.329
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.329
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ammunition Shipping Crate
- Description (Brief)
- This shipping crate side originally contained Peters small arms ammunition manufactured by the Peters Cartridge Division of the Remington Arms Company in King Mills, Ohio during the early 20th century. Peters was once a Remington competitor and enjoyed financial success during World War I, before Remington bought Peters during the Great Depression.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced business
- Remington Arms Company, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1979.0441.345
- catalog number
- 1979.0441.345
- accession number
- 1979.0441
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Samuel K. Rahn]
- Date
- 1800s
- Company Name
- Samuel K. Rahn
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_8571
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Carbon Limestone Co.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Carbon Limestone Co.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_9699
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Centaur Tractor Corp.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Centaur Tractor Corp.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_10290
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
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