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"Old Red" Cotton Picker
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"Old Red," the "first commercial cotton picker," and a new International 622 cotton picker en route to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "Old Red" was donated to the National Museum by Producers Cotton Oil of Fresno, California. The picker was built by International Harvester in 1943. The cotton pickers are parked on a trailer outside International Harvester's Memphis Works. The men in the photograph are (L to R) Dr. George S. Buck, Jr., director of research, National Cotton Council; Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb; J.W. Wegener, IH Memphis Works manager; and Charles M. Albright, IH supervisor of cotton picker sales. At a press conference in Memphis, Wegener pointed out that 96% of the 1969 U.S. cotton crop was harvested by machines, and Dr. Buck said "the development of the cotton picker was the most important single factor which enabled the American cotton industry to stay alive."
1969
International Harvester Company
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Collection Information
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W012SWL
WHi 11187
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Cotton Picker on Display at "A Century of Progress"
June 3, 1933
Farmall tractor and mounted experimental cotton-picker on display in the International Harvester exhibit at the "A Century of Progress" world's fair. The cotton picker appears to be painted white f...
McCormick-Deering H-10-H Cotton Picker
1944
Nineteen-year-old Dorothy Hutchinson, a student at Fresno State College, operates a McCormick-Deering H-10-H cotton harvester in a field of cotton on the Hotchkiss Estate.
Memphis Foundry
1954
An aerial view of the International Harvester Memphis Works in Memphis, Tennessee, with a view of the surrounding neighborhood and Loosahatchie River. The factory, built to assume production of man...
Two Men with Farmall A Tractor and Cotton Picker
1947
View from front of man driving a Farmall A tractor pulling a wagon. Beside the wagon on the left is a man driving a cotton picker. The cotton picker basket is tipped over and is dumping cotton into...
Pneumatic Cotton Picker
September 2, 1924
Men are holding a white backdrop behind an experimental version of an International Harvester cotton picker. The original caption reads: "This was an early attempt to apply the pneumatic principle ...
McCormick-Deering M-11-H Cotton Picker
1947
Man operating a McCormick-Deering M-11-H cotton picker in field. Decals and/or stencils are on the machine. The picker is mounted on a Farmall tractor.
