BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Richmond -- Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) -- Exhibit: At Work

VA -- Richmond -- Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) -- Exhibit: At Work:

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Description of Pictures: Virginians at Work
A long-term exhibition on display at the Virginia Historical Society
What Virginians do to make a living has changed dramatically through time. Initially, almost all Virginians worked the land. Now, only a few do, but output is greater than ever, and agricultural products are still Virginia's leading "industry" in terms of value of sales.
Technological improvements meant fewer workers were needed on farms. Farm laborers then shifted to jobs in commerce and manufacturing. The continual development of more efficient machines meant fewer manufacturing workers were needed. As a result, since World War II, many Virginians have moved out of mills and factories and into service jobs in government, health, and educational institutions as well as in many small businesses. This process is not always neat and clean. Technological change ended certain occupations and created new ones as buggy whip makers gave way to auto mechanics and typewriter repairmen to computer technicians. But in the end, most of the tremendous increase in our standard of living since colonial times has been the result of technology.
It is not only economic forces that determined how Virginians earn a living. Social prejudices have been important as well. For centuries, jobs were segregated not only by race but by gender. The civil rights and women's movements of the late twentieth century began to remove these barriers to full economic opportunity. A more inclusive society has also meant a more inclusive economy.

An Agricultural Economy, 1607–1790
The economy of Virginia's Indian peoples was a mixture of agriculture, hunting, and fishing. With the arrival of English settlers, Virginia developed a colonial economy highly dependent on the sale of wheat, corn, and especially tobacco in British markets. Manpower, animal power, and running water were the sources of energy. Wagons were the most common form of transportation. Because of poor roads, trade with England was often far ea ...More...

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. VHSWRK_101222_042.JPG: African American Business: In the late 1800s, Virginia adopted laws that made racial segregation mandatory in education and transportation, and by custom white-owned businesses, from funeral and beauty parlors to hotels and restaurants, would not accept black customers. White banks seldom made loans to blacks, and white newspapers seldom covered developments in African American communities. African Americans has to establish a whole parallel series of businesses to cater to their own needs. Black business districts emerged, like Richmond's Jackson Ward, Charlottesville's Vinegar Hill, Roanoke's Henry Street, and Martinsville's Fayette Street, and the owners of these shops, theaters, restaurants, and banks became role models to the black community. In an ironic consequence of integration, many of these businesses failed because of competition from better-financed white enterprises in the 1960s and 70s.
2. VHSWRK_101222_056.JPG: AOL free trial discs. Telephones and Computers: Telephone service -- and, much later, faxes, cell phones, email, and the Internet, dramatically improved people's ability to communicate and transmit and receive information. Each technology spawned an industry. In 1969, the Department of Defense began work that led to the Internet, which led to a cluster of high tech firms in Northern Virginia that expanded from military to civilian applications. Today, tens of thousands of Virginians work in systems integration, software engineering, telecommunications, wireless technology, and information services. By bringing buyers and sellers together, however, the Internet threatens such traditional jobs as travel and real estate agents, stock brokers, and auctioneers.
3. VHSWRK_101222_066.JPG: Philip Morris: Philip Morris owes much of its success to two phenomenally successful advertising campaigns. One was "Call for Philip Morris," inspired by John Roventini, a bellhop at New York's Manhattan Hotel. One of his uniforms is shown here. Marlboro cigarettes were a minor brand until the image of the Marlboro Man as a rugged westerner took hold. By 1977, Marlboro (manufactured in Richmond) was the nation's best seller, Philip Morris was the largest cigarette producers, and the company had 8,640 employees. Radio and Television: Virginia's first radio station, WTAR in Norfolk, began in 1923. A few years later, Richmond and Roanoke also had stations. Early radio was commercial-free and depended on volunteer musical talent, but rising operating costs led to reliance on advertising revenue. Radio was at the height of its popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. By 1952, Virginia had fifty-eight stations. In April 1948, WTVR in Richmond became the South's first television station. WTAR Norfolk came two years later, and in 1952 the industry employed 1,016 Virginians. That year, two stations opened in Roanoke. Television, too, depended on advertising income. Stations employed salesmen as well as on-camera talent, cameramen, sound technicians, electricians, accountants, and office workers.
4. VHSWRK_101222_116.JPG: Agriculture: Between the Revolution and the Civil War, increasing numbers of Virginia farmers switched from growing tobacco to wheat and other grains. New methods of crop rotation and better fertilizers helped restore worn-out land, and the mechanical reaper invested by Cyrus McCormick of Rockbridge County allowed farmed to work more land with the same amount of labor. His invention was used throughout the Shenandoah Valley, but is sold best in the Midwest, where slavery was forbidden> Seeking to solidify his hold on this market, McCormick moved to the up-and-coming city of Chicago in 1847. Virginia's economic health depended on the fluctuating price of tobacco. Tobacco farming was hard work. After planting, crops had to be constantly monitored for weeds and pests. Once the plants were cut, they had to be dried in barns, the leaves removed from the stalks, and packed into a hogshead. These wooden containers, which could weigh a thousand pounds each, were literally rolled to market if water transport was unavailable. After the Civil War, many former slaves became sharecroppers. They paid a percentage of the crop they grew as rent for the land they worked, usually one-third to one-half. Unfortunately, this gave landlords a great deal of control. They could insist on being paid only in a certain crop. A relatively small number of African Americans eventually made the transition to become fixed-rent tenants or own their own farms. Virginia wheat farmers faced intense competition from the Midwest, and some, especially in the Tidewater, began to grow fruit, vegetables, and peanuts. Similarly, market forces pushed tobacco farmers to switch from dark to bright tobacco, which had a taste, small, and color that consumers preferred. In the 1900s, tractors and trucks replaced horses and mules. The size of the average Virginia farm dropped from thirty-two to twenty-three acres between 1880 and 1930, but yield per acre soared because of mechanization, which also decreased the need for farm labor. Displaced agricultural workers increasingly moved to towns and cities, in and beyond Virginia.
5. VHSWRK_101222_121.JPG: Water wheel from Beavers Mill, northwest of Danville, which produced flour and cornmeal. In 1792, Major William Beavers (1763-1822) erected a mill on the site where this wheel was found. The grist mill burned and was rebuilt several times before ceasing operations in the 1870s. Probably this shop-made water wheel fell into Sandy Creek after a fire and, over time, became covered with clay that preserved the wood. Iron nails, bolts, washers, and some tools were also recovered at the site by the water wheel's donors.
6. VHSWRK_101222_161.JPG: Metalworking: Iron was virtually the only significant industry in colonial Virginia. The first iron was produced in 1619 in Falling Creek in Chesterfield County. Iron production ceased for a century, however, when the Indian uprising of 1622 destroyed the Falling Creek furnace. In the 1700s, iron once again was forged for local production of pots and tools, and also for export to Great Britain -- 6,411 pounds in 1733 and 15,562 pounds in 1773. Before the Revolution, a few crude iron tools were manufactured at Providence Forge in New Kent County. At a furnace near Winchester, Isaac Zane, Jr., began producing kettles, pots, mortars, and pestles, firebacks and stoves. The Shenandoah Valley's economy, based on many small farms, also created a considerable demand for blacksmiths.
7. VHSWRK_101222_168.JPG: Beverages: Because their drinking water was unsafe, colonial Virginia produced beer for their own use, but there were few breweries. Indeed, Virginians produced less beer than other colonists. English beer was more alcoholic, darker, and flatter than most modern beer, which derives from German beer or lager, with a focus instead of lightness, dryness, clarity, and carbonation. Soft drinks began as imitations of mineral water, which was thought to have medicinal properties. Sold as tonics, they were mostly consumed at soda fountains in drugstores. Carbonated beverages had to be bottled to keep in the bubbles, and the invention in 1899 of a method of mass-producing glass bottles led to a proliferation of soda pop brands, which began to be sold to take away. Companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola sold their syrup to independent bottling companies in Virginia who were licensed to sell the drink. Wineries: In 1773, Filippo Mazzei, an Italian friend of Thomas Jefferson, imported 10,000 wine-grape cuttings from Europe to Williamsburg, but they did not thrive. Despite the setback, a viable wine industry existed in Virginia until the Civil War. After a pause, some Virginia wines won prizes at world's fairs in the late 1800s. There was another pause until interest in wine-making revived in the 1970s. From six wineries in 1979, there now are more than fifty, mostly in the Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville, and Middleburg areas. Department Stores: Department Stores became popular at the end of the 1800s. They allowed shoppers to browse a wide array of products and styles within a single store. Inventories varied, but most had clothing, cosmetics, and appliance departments. They employed sales clerks, managers, tailors, accountants, display specialists, custodians, and restaurant workers. Department stores were able to get good prices from wholesalers by buying in larger quantities than small stores could. Critics called them "commercial vampires" and said they would put all small stores out of business. Department stores originally were located in urban centers, but in the 1950s they began relocating to the suburbs, where they anchored new shopping malls.
8. VHSWRK_101222_180.JPG: Peddlers: Peddlers were constantly on the move, offering a range of merchandise to Virginians who were not served by nearby stores. Some carried their goods in a backpack, while the peddlers with more extensive inventories used a horse and card. Business was often conducted on court day at county courthouses, and peddlers had to pay a license fee to the clerk of each county visited. Sometimes, shopkeepers in towns sent peddlers into the countryside as store representatives, but peddlers often underreported how much they had been paid for the items they sold. Others simply absconded with the consigned merchandise. It was difficult for merchants to establish long-distance trade until better transportation and communication networks were in place. Wholesale: Wholesale merchants obtain goods from manufacturers and sell them to retailers rather than directly to individual consumers. During the 1800s, the network of commerce extended beyond localities as consumers increasingly made purchases from retailers close to home who, in turn, obtained their goods from distant wholesalers. As the century progressed, wholesalers in urban areas began to specialize, dividing goods into separate departments. Virginia merchants developed tied with northern firms, especially those in New York that dominated the import trade. A problem of dealing with remote sources of goods was the uncertainty consumers experienced about the quality of the products. To deal with the problem, wholesale firms assigned managers to branch offices in different regions, put a trademark on their products, and assumed responsibility for what they sold.
9. VHSWRK_101222_191.JPG: Spices: There have been several spice manufacturers in Virginia, but by far the most successful is C.F. Sauer Company of Richmond. While working as a pharmacist, Conrad Sauer became aware of the demand for pure flavoring extracts, which were then only available in pharmacies. The company he founded in 1887 at age twenty-one became the first in the country to offer prepackaged flavoring extracts for sale in grocery stores. By 1927, Sauer was the largest extract and spice producer in the country. The family pursued an aggressive strategy of acquisition and mergers beginning with Duke's Products in 1929.
10. VHSWRK_101222_201.JPG: Oystering: The harvesting, processing, and wholesaling of fish and shellfish provided a livelihood for coastal Virginians as fishermen, oystermen, boat builders, and seafood processors. From the mid-1800s, oysters were extremely popular on menus across the country. It was a line of work open to both black and white oystermen on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Beginning in the 1950s, however, pollution and overharvesting caused a sharp drop in the oyster population and forced oystermen to seek alternative employment. Peanuts: As tobacco wore out the soil of Tidewater, Virginia, farmers looked for alternative crops. In 1842, Sussex County, south of the James River, was the site of the first crop of commercially grown peanuts, which previously were found only in the wild. Nearby Southhampton, Nansemond, and Isle of Wight counties also became major peanut producers. In 1999, Virginia was the sixth-larger peanut producing state.
11. VHSWRK_101222_211.JPG: Bakeries: In 1900, about 95 percent of Virginia bread was baked at home, and only 5 percent was made commercially. By 1950, those figures had completely reversed. Corby Baking Company of Richmond was the largest bakery in the South by 1917. Its workers made 100,000 loaves daily, shipped to all parts of the region. Richmond's Nolde's Bakery began in 1892 as a retail store but became a wholesale supplier of cakes, breads, and other baked goods to grocery stores in Virginia, and later North Carolina. By 1917, Nolde's employed 130 workers and had thirty delivery wagons. Within twenty-five years, it became Virginia's largest independent bakery, employing 450 people at factories in Richmond, Petersburg, and Norfolk.
12. VHSWRK_101222_230.JPG: Ham: Smithfield, Isle of Wight County, on the south bank of the James River, is the "Ham Capital of the World." The Smithfield ham process involves hardwood-smoking salted hams made from peanut-fed pigs. The hams were hung up to age for at least 180 summer days. The result was a unique, flavorful product with a smoky aroma. Because of climate-control technology, hams can be made year-round. Smithfield Foods owns the last smokehouse in town and is the nation's largest fresh pork processor. It also markets hot dogs, sausage, and deli items.
13. VHSWRK_101222_234.JPG: Fruits and Vegetables: Fruit and vegetable farming became important to the Eastern Shore and Norfolk area in the late 1800s. Crops there ripened earlier in the season than in Maryland or New Jersey, which gave Virginia farmers an advantage. Trains and steamships provided fast and reliable service to northern markets such as Philadelphia and New York. The apple industry has been important to the Shenandoah Valley since the late 1800s. Some of the most famous Virginia orchards were owned by Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., Virginia's one-time governor and longtime senator. His 1,500-acre orchard with 65,000 apple trees was one of the largest in the eastern United States owned by an individual. In 2005, Virginia ranked sixth in national apple production.
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2010 photos: My office at the main Commerce Department building closed in October and I was shifted out to the Bureau of the Census in Suitland Maryland. It's good to have a job of course but that killed being able to see basically any cultural events during the day. There's basically nothing of interest that you can see around the Census building. Overnight trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences (Lexington, KY and Nashville, TN), and my 5th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles). Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs until the third one broke and I started sending them back for repairs. Then I used either the Fuji S200EHX or the Nikon D90 until I got the S100fs ones repaired. At the end of the year I bought a Nikon D5000 but I returned it pretty quickly. Number of photos taken this year: about 395,000..
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