What are these men doing?

Bigcypresshunter

Bigcypresshunter

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There was a discussion at my Moms, last time I visited, over a plate that she has. We cannot figure out what these men are doing. Does anyone know? I told my Mom that TN would have the answer. ;D
 

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Bill is on to something. We have to remember that when these guys were alive, all the old stuff we are looking for now was new stuff then. It also did not have time to bury itself in the ground or rust up so you couldn't tell what it was. There were no pop tops or pull tabs. So all they had to do was use small forked sticks with some netting to scoop all the stuff up. They had no running water so they had to use small cleaning stations designed to clean but not damage the finds. They would pour their finds in the pool, stir them around a little to clean off the dirt, and scoop them back out. It was a very popular pastime. People would spend large sums of money on the best netting for their forked sticks. They figured out ways to let the "bad" stuff pass through and only retain the most valuable things. They tried for years to make netting that would only trap gold but that was never successful. They had to take the silver with the gold and separate it later. May of the upper class would have their forked sticks hand carved out of the finest wood so they would be light and easy to use for long periods of time. Many were waterproof and could be used safely and not rot away. It is unclear why the practice stopped. The cleaning areas were abandoned and the price of netting and forked sticks plummeted. They were so cheap that some unemployed people started making slingshots with them and started a new industry that continues today. Only the material has changed but the basic design still resembles the original forked stick coin and jewelry scooper.

I think this picture on the dish is almost like a treasure map and will lead to great discoveries. I have heard of nobody that has researched and located any of these washing pools. Even though the netting technology was very advanced, the recovery from these pools could not have been 100%. None of them could have been "fished clean." There should be much left behind to find. These places may be hard to find but all you good researchers should be able to find them without too much difficulty.

I look forward to seeing numerous styrofoam plates heaped with the material left behind in these long forgotten spots.

Daryl
 

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you know im wondering if its just a simple tool for keeping the irrigation ditches clear an free flowing from debris they didnt have specialized machrinry back then just cheep manpower
depending on the time period an knowledge of yellow fever it would have allso been used to aid in the control of those pesty mosquitos by preventing stagnent water

its not a collector is a mover type tool
 

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the answer is very simple and oddly florida related too ----the "workers" are cleaning the ditches used to feed water to the rice feilds--the fruit or nut trees are there between the river area and the rice marsh area (dual cropping plus the tree roots held the dirt between the canals in "place" so they didn't washout -- long canals from the river were cut to provide water to make the flooded marsh areas were used for rice farming--the canal had to have the debris or "muck" raked out so the canals didn't fill up as proper water supply was vital to rice farming-----the term "muck raking"----as in tabloid news---comes from this practice---the kingsley plantation (near jacksonville,fla) was a well known one and highly successful too-- this would account for the "odd" foreign dress manner of the workers on the plate---(their asians) although for the most part the bulk of the laborers were african slaves ---the slaves had to be taught how to "properly" handle the rice plants ---thus some "asian" help was used to train them---the rice merchants that bought the rice often brought trade goods over with them --- often plates and pottery ---from asia.--- being that they were "rice traders" that brought the plates over-- finding asian rice "farming" related pituces would be quite normal---that explains the high boots and waders and odd hats and such-- I would think--by the way the "kingsley planatation" is now a state patk kind of thing and you can come and see some of the old "tabby" houses the slaves lived in that have been restored--Ivan
 

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If they are harvesting anything where is their harvest? No baskets or sacks... I doubt that the artist would leave that detail out.
 

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thier "tending" the "water ditches" keeping them clean and cleared of muck--- proper water flow was vital to rice farming--- you must have wet marshy conditions to grow rice--- blocked water ditches would hamper the water flow and hurt the crop.---- ever seen rice patties areas in the movies maybe?---I have seen them in real life overseas in asia----and that is my guess as to what their doing---the asian rice farmers often wear large brimmed hats to keep the sun off them similar to the ones the "farmers" have one in the plate--- Ivan
 

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WORKING IN THE WOODS.
That was easy!
 

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::)cant be cranberries , they have to be harvested and specially sorted, deer berries have the same specific gravity. They have to be hand sorted. or then maybe the picture was someones wild imagination and needed to decorate the plate so they could go for a cold one????????? hehehe
 

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underware Lady Printers plate???

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