Self-Propelled Cotton Picker, 1950
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This is the first commercially successful self-propelled cotton picker. The inventor, John Rust, worked for decades to develop a machine that would end the back-breaking labor of picking cotton that he experienced in his youth. The machine reduced the labor required to pick cotton by 80%, contributing to the Great Migration from the rural south to northern cities in the 1950s.
This is the first commercially successful self-propelled cotton picker. The inventor, John Rust, worked for decades to develop a machine that would end the back-breaking labor of picking cotton that he experienced in his youth. The machine reduced the labor required to pick cotton by 80%, contributing to the Great Migration from the rural south to northern cities in the 1950s.
Artifact
Cotton-picking machinery
Date Made
1950
On Exhibit
at Henry Ford Museum in Agriculture
Object ID
75.133.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Allan R. Jones.
Material
Steel (Alloy)
Color
Red
Inscriptions
RUST COTTON PICKER / MFD. BY / BEN PEARSON, INC. / UNDER ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING PATENTS / [List of 22 Patent Numbers] / OTHER PATENTS PENDING / MODEL T SERIAL NUMBER 34
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