Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression · North Carolina Collection

2. The workers11

Mrs. Cornelia Neal

Three women sitting on a bed stringing bags.

(More about the photograph)

NEAL, MRS. CORNELIA, (colored), age 66, husband 70; two children and four grandchildren living with her.

INCOME: They raise some of their food and a little tobacco.

HOME CONDITIONS: The house has eight rooms and there are 62 acres of land. they own 2 mules, a cow and about 50 hens. House is in bad shape but is well kept. Food costs them $3.50 a week and taxes are $41 a year. They have had to borrow money on their home and are trying to pay it back. She has been stringing for 35 years and makes about $26.00 a month. They need this money badly. It tires her a little to string bags because she is so old.

Source: “Tobacco Bag Stringing Operations in North Carolina and Virginia.” Richmond, Va.: 1939. North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.