Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two

This was taken back in the 1920’s by an unknown photographer.  I wish that I knew something about the guys in the photo or the photographer who made the image, but as usual, I know only what I see.  It looks as if it could have been in just another cotton field somewhere on Hwy 87 in north Santa Rosa County.  Maybe they are brothers, maybe two strangers who just met on their first day in the field, whatever the the case may be, they have a long, hot, hard day a head of them.  Notice that their bags trail another few feet once it touches the ground.  They look pretty fresh at this point, so I imagine that their day has just begun.  I read somewhere that pickers were only paid a dime for a full bag and on a good day they were lucky to fill two of these bags.  Twenty cents for eight to ten hours in the hot sun and one hundred degree heat.  That sounds , well, you know how that sounds … I wonder how many lined up to work on this day?  We see two men that did.  The cotton crop in this field looks thin.  Must not have had much rain this growing season.  My father used to tell me stories of him and his brother Ben going to visit their Aunt and Uncle in Pineapple Alabama.  My father was young, maybe eleven or twelve, and he would go out in the fields and pick cotton with all of the workers.  He loved it. Ben hated it.  Ben could not wait to get back to Pensacola.  I have horn that was given to him by his Uncle who would use the horn to call in the workers at the end of the day.  I am sorry to say that I did not take very good  care of horn, but I will photograph it and post a photo later.  Usually at this point in my post I would say something like … If you want to share your experiences picking cotton, we would love to hear them.  But, for some reason, I do not think that I would have many comments.  Thanks for looking, and if you like,  you can share experiences picking peas, string beans, radishes, etc, etc.  Or you could tell us about your backyard garden.  Again, thanks for looking … Frank