65/320

Tally basket,

Land ladies: Women and farming in England 1900–1945, All Work and Low Pay: The story of women and work, Baskets - an exhibition of craftmen's work

Gilbert Thomas Hambrook Nason (Manufacturer)

Hops were 'tallied up' at the end of the day. That is, the tally man would come round with a basket like this and call tally at 5.30 or 6.00 pm. Odd bushels were measured with this basket and put to the account of the picker. This example was made by G. T. H. Nason of Canterbury, Kent. It is a round five-bushel basket made of white willow and, with four bands of buff to mark the bushels. It also has two small roped handles on the sides and a small foot on the bottom for holding when tipping. Nason is said to have repaired between 400 and 500 of these baskets every year. Of these there were always 14 or 15 with the bottom pushed in. This was the result of a dodge to make the basket hold less by pushing up the domed bottom and so get more money for less (very little less!) work.'

1 basket: willow (white and buff); cane; good condition

MERL 'Handwritten catalogue' form - 'BASKET (HOP) tally ['HOP' has been scored through and has been replaced by 'tally'] // Harvesting - Hops // 65/320 // neg. 60/6337, 6338, 6343, 6344 // G. T. H. Nason, Canterbury, Kent. // A hop tally basket used by pickers. Full tallies were taken during the day, but at the end of picking smaller amounts were measured by the marked bands on the basket. All hops had to be in the oast house by night. This basket was made in a day by Nason. Carpenter of Sandwich says that this is slow, but Nason is old. // [pencil sketch]', MERL 'Catalogue index' card - [Accession file contains two 'duplicate' index cards for this artefact, which feature copy prints of images 60/6343 and 60/6344 but provide no further additional information not already transcribed from other related documents], MERL OLIB database note - 'Hops were 'tallied up' at the end of the day. That is, the tally man would come round with a basket like this and call tally at 5.30 or 6.00 pm. Odd bushels were measured with this basket and put to the account of the picker. This example was made by G. T. H. Nason of Canterbury, Kent. Nason is said to have repaired between 400 and 500 of these baskets every year. Of these there were always 14 or 15 with the bottom pushed in. This was the result of a dodge to make the basket hold less by pushing up the domed bottom and so get more money for less (very little less!) work.', MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: Basket (Tally) (G. T. H. Nason) // Acc. No.: 65/320 // Group: HARVESTING – Hops // Neg. no.: 60/6337–8 & 60/6343–4 // Place of origin: Canterbury // Period in use: // DESCRIPTION // Materials: White & buff willow. Cane. // Shape and construction: Round. A small foot is worked on the bottom for holding when tipping. Deep upset. Side slewed. 4 bands of buff mark the bushels. Heavy body wale at 22” into which the small roped handles are worked. Border 5-behind-2. 8 sticks. 32 stakes. // Dimensions: Diam. top: 30” Diam. bottom: 20” Depth 26”. Holds 5 bushel. // Use: At the end of the day in the hop fields when they are picking the hops are “tallied up”. That is the tally man comes round with this basket & calls tally at 5.30 or 6 o’clock. Any odd bushels are measured in the basket & put to the account of the picker. // Dialect names: // Distribution: East Kent. The West Kent is a 6-bushel basket. // Additional notes: see Illust. W.S.8. & PWH earlier hop baskets // The maker of this basket used to repair 4–500 a year. Of these there were always 14 or 15 with the bottom pushed in. this was the result of a dodge to make the basket hold less by pushing up the domed bottom & so get more money for less (very little less!) work. // See National List. 1945. p.80 & 1916 p.128. // “ [National] “ [List] 1956. p.79'

Canterbury

1930-01-01 - 1965-12-31

Mid-twentieth century

Wood, willow, white, Wood, willow, buff, Plant fibre, rattan

Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)