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- Baldwin 62303
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- No expense spared
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- Lost in Toyland
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- If I were a blindfolded time traveler
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- Oh that stove!
- Possibly still there?
- What?!?
- $100 Reward
- Freeze Frame
- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
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- Icing Platform?
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- C&NW at Nelson
- Fallen Flags
- A dangerous job made worse
- Water Stop
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Biloxi Shrimps: 1911
March 1911. Biloxi, Mississippi. "View of the Gorenflo Canning Co., taken at 7 a.m. Many tiny workers here, some of whom began to arrive at the factory as early as 5 o'clock, an hour before they were allowed to begin work, and long before daylight on a damp foggy day. The whistle had blown and they came and stood around merely to hold their places. When the shrimp 'catch' has been good, they begin work early, but today it was not good so they were waiting for daylight. In this group I ascertained the ages of a few, as follows. One child of 6 years, one of 7, two of 8, one of 10 and there were many more." (Lewis Wickes Hine.) View full size.
Still shrimpin'
Gorenflos is still in the seafood industry, mainly the retail side.I would imagine the dogs kept the rats and cats away.The canneries do have a gut wrenching odor especially in the heat of summer.
Hard Work
Unlike most of these types of photos, you can make out more than a few smiles, and people seem to be conversing with one another. It must have been awfully stinky, but they seem to be rather content.
Got shrimp?
It makes me think of Bubba in Forrest Gump. "They knows all there is to know about the shrimping business."
Hard, cold work
Even Mississippi is cold in March, and that barefoot kid with the worried look was surely numb from the cold and the wet before the day was half over, and they all must have had numb, sore, and torn up hands by day's end. It looks like an integrated work force, and I spied what looked to me like a half-pint of whiskey, or a similar bottle, near a woman's shoe.
Toppers
This image from the past has a magnificent variety of headwear including a fedora, straw hats, caps, bonnets and scarves.
Shrimp boats are a-comin'
Peeling fresh whole shrimp is unpleasant work. There are lots of sharp pointy edges that make your fingers bleed. And eww - eyeballs, too! I know this was a lot less dangerous than some of the other jobs Hine photographed, but I certainly don't envy them having to stand around and peel shrimp all day long. And yet they look happy and grateful, for the most part. I'll have to remember this next time I grumble on a Monday morning.
Free dog III
Love the dog, among other thing a very efficient means of assuring that any shrimps that get dropped on the floor will never get returned to the tables. (Anyone who thinks dogs won't eat shellfish can visit my house.)
Hosed
There appears to be a watering hose, not unlike a fire-hose, the nozzle of which, is hanging on the first wooden post. It snakes to the right. Is it a fire-hose or used to wash the tables?
May swear off shrimp
Wow! I might be upset at the sight of 2 dogs in a food preparation facility if it were not for the condition of the whole area. Looks like the workers had to bring their own buckets and bowls. And look at the piles of, uh, debris on the floor and everywhere. What a charming fragrance this place must have had!
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