Hulling Collection

Child labour in the USA 1910. "hulling"strawberries
3524198 Child labour in the USA 1910. " hulling" strawberries by Hine, Lewis Wickes (1874-1940); (add.info.: Child labour in the USA 1910)

Chinese Apparatus for Hulling and Coarse Grinding Rice, 1855 (colour litho)
1272381 Chinese Apparatus for Hulling and Coarse Grinding Rice, 1855 (colour litho) by Meffert, (19th century); Free Library of Philadelphia; (add.info.: Ackerman, James, NY|Meffert, J.B)

Hulling Berries, C1900

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1910. Mother and children hulling strawberries for two cents a quart at Johnsons Hulling Station, in Seaford, Delaware. Photograph by Lewis Hine, May 1910

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1910. Five-year-old Helen and her stepsisters hulling strawberries for two cents a quart at Johnsons Hulling Station, in Seaford, Delaware. Photograph by Lewis Hine, May 1910

MIGRANT WORKERS, 1910. Families of migrant workers hulling berries for two cents a quart at the Johnsons Hulling Station in Seaford, Delaware. Photograph by Lewis Hine, May 1910

Hulling strawberries with a knife, close-up

Vietnam, Hanoi - Rice Husking
Two young girls working at the decortication (husking/hulling) of rice in Hanoi, Vietnam. Date: circa 1903

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Hulling: A Timeless Agricultural Process Through the Lens of History From the strawberry fields of California in the early 1900s, where children as young as five worked tirelessly to hull berries for two cents a day, to the rice paddies of Vietnam and the Chinese apparatus for hulling and coarse grinding rice in the mid-1800s, the process has been an integral part of agriculture for centuries. In the 1910s, during the height of the migrant labor era in the United States, families worked together to hull strawberries, a labor-intensive task that required dexterity and precision. The image of a mother and her children hulling berries is a poignant reminder of the harsh realities of farm labor during this period. The process strawberries involves removing the green caps or hulls from the fruit, leaving only the red, edible part behind. This was traditionally done with a knife, as depicted in an early 1900s photograph. In contrast, the Chinese apparatus for hulling and coarse grinding rice, created in 1855, was a more sophisticated solution to the labor-intensive process of rice production. This color lithograph shows the intricate machinery in action. Fast forward to modern times, and the process rice has become more mechanized, but the importance of this agricultural process remains the same. In places like Hanoi, Vietnam, rice husking continues to be a communal activity, bringing families and communities together. Despite the advancements in technology, the image of a woman hulling strawberries in the 1930s, as captured by Madame Yevonde, remains a powerful symbol of the human connection to the land and the enduring nature of agricultural labor.